2022 book 119

 Misha Popp's Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies

This book is kind of weird because it is basically a cozy mystery, except the protagonist is technically a serial killer? So she comes from a long line of magic crafters, and she can bake magic pies full of confidence or concentration or whatever, but she also has a specialized referral service where she bakes pies that will kill horrible abusive men. The author spends a lot of time trying to make this sympathetic/justifiable, and in fact apparently if the man is capable of change he will stop being a horrible abuser, but mostly they just die. But like if that is your deal, be a fucking gleeful vigilante, don’t waffle about it so much! Then we can enjoy a dark comedy about murder pies! It is very weird to have a cozy story about a murderer! (I also had too many questions about the logistics of her murder pie operations.) Anyway, the plot kicks in when a mysterious dude starts blackmailing her, and then she enters a pie baking contest, and she also has a couple of love interests (an apple orchard farm guy and a radical girl college student), so there is a lot going on. I put this down a couple times in the first half but then things kind of hit their stride. Lots of fun and interesting characters in this, I loved the idea of her RV pie shop, but not entirely successful for me. B.