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Charmed Pie Shoppe Mysteries #1
Pies and Prejudice
When the going gets tough, Ella Mae LaFaye bakes pies. So when she catches her husband cheating in New York, she heads back home to Havenwood, Georgia, where she can drown her sorrows in fresh fruit filling and flakey crust. But her pies aren't just delicious. They're having magical effects on the people who eat them—and the public is hungry for more.
Discovering her hidden talent for enchantment, Ella Mae makes her own wish come true by opening the Charmed Pie Shoppe. But with her old nemesis Loralyn Gaynor making trouble, and her old crush Hugh Dylan making nice, she has more than pie on her plate. and when Loralyn's fiancé is found dead—killed with Ella Mae's rolling pin—it'll take all her sweet magic to clear her name.
Discovering her hidden talent for enchantment, Ella Mae makes her own wish come true by opening the Charmed Pie Shoppe. But with her old nemesis Loralyn Gaynor making trouble, and her old crush Hugh Dylan making nice, she has more than pie on her plate. and when Loralyn's fiancé is found dead—killed with Ella Mae's rolling pin—it'll take all her sweet magic to clear her name.
291 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 2012
About the author
Ellery Adams
69 books4,722 followersUSA Today and New York Times bestseller author Ellery Adams has written over forty novels and can’t imagine spending a day away from the keyboard. Ms. Adams, a Native New Yorker, has had a lifelong love affair with stories, food, and rescue animals. She likes to spend her free time rearranging the bookshelves in her home in central North Carolina.
Ellery's Series Include: Secret, Book, & Scone Society (Kensington) Book Retreat Mysteries (Kensington) Books By the Bay Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), Charmed Pie Shoppe Mysteries ((Berkley Prime Crime), Molly Appleby Antiques & Collectibles Mysteries (Beyond the Page), and Hope Street Mysteries (Beyond the Page).
For book club guides, bibliotherapy lists, and recipes, please visit www.elleryadamsmysteries.com
Ellery's Series Include: Secret, Book, & Scone Society (Kensington) Book Retreat Mysteries (Kensington) Books By the Bay Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime), Charmed Pie Shoppe Mysteries ((Berkley Prime Crime), Molly Appleby Antiques & Collectibles Mysteries (Beyond the Page), and Hope Street Mysteries (Beyond the Page).
For book club guides, bibliotherapy lists, and recipes, please visit www.elleryadamsmysteries.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 691 reviews
February 9, 2013
Wow. Yet another example of how bad a book can be when an author writes what they do NOT know. The idea of this book is right up my alley. Cozy mystery, a little magic, a little romance - I was really looking forward to it. Yes, the trope of food with magical qualities has been done A LOT, magical pies specifically are certainly not new, but I enjoy it & could always have more.
However, so disappointing to start the actual reading! First of all, if your main character is going to specialize in making pies & you are going to describe the process, maybe you should learn how to actually do it? And don't create revolting pies involving tomatoes with mayonnaise. Second, if you are going to set your story in NW Georgia, how about actually getting to know people from there? Instead, the author overdosed on cramming together every outdated stereotype & cliché possible. Characters with names like Ella Mae and Loralyn? Check. Housekeepers who spend their entire life with a family & talk like Scarlet O'Hara? Check. Swimmin' holes? Of course. Confederate Balls? Naturally. People who are scared & ignorant of "The Big City", quaint & formal notions of propriety, families who have lived & feuded together in the same small town for centuries? Why not. Did I mention the story is set in the 21st century? Because you wouldn't know it from the details. (Why yes my mother's family is from NW Georgia, I have spent a good amount of time there, and I was raised to be sensitive to ridiculous Northern & Hollywood ideas about the South, such as in this book.)
Then add a cartoonishly over the top nemesis - a grown woman who drops into businesses she dislikes just to pull fire alarms & announces proudly, to someone she hasn't seen in years, she has hired prostitutes & cheerleaders to get lucrative divorces. Her non-stop threats would be overblown even for a teen soap and quickly become excessively tiresome.
Mix in some crazy coincidences - one moment Ella Mae reminisces about a childhood crush, the next moment she stumbles on him skinny dipping at said swimming hole, only to have him be the hunky fireman who responds to said false alarm the next day!
Then there's the character of Ella Mae herself. Just returned from New York City after seven (?) years. Apparently her marriage was perfect until she caught her husband having sex with neighboring twins. By "perfect" I mean there are no details because that would require depth and character development - a trend to be followed throughout the book.
So she runs away to Georgia literally only with the clothes she had on her. How she will get her belongings back she simply has no idea. She is so traumatized she simply can no longer be expected to set foot into her old apartment building or deal with something like packing. She seems to have done nothing in NYC over the years except NOT finish culinary school. She seems to have no friends (or maturity), she's never cooked for any one but family or at school, she has zero business experience. Yet she is literally handed a pie shop & catering business to run all by herself, like it's the easiest thing in the world.
I know MANY women have woefully low standards for romance & chick lit. Not me. I couldn't finish this dreck.
However, so disappointing to start the actual reading! First of all, if your main character is going to specialize in making pies & you are going to describe the process, maybe you should learn how to actually do it? And don't create revolting pies involving tomatoes with mayonnaise. Second, if you are going to set your story in NW Georgia, how about actually getting to know people from there? Instead, the author overdosed on cramming together every outdated stereotype & cliché possible. Characters with names like Ella Mae and Loralyn? Check. Housekeepers who spend their entire life with a family & talk like Scarlet O'Hara? Check. Swimmin' holes? Of course. Confederate Balls? Naturally. People who are scared & ignorant of "The Big City", quaint & formal notions of propriety, families who have lived & feuded together in the same small town for centuries? Why not. Did I mention the story is set in the 21st century? Because you wouldn't know it from the details. (Why yes my mother's family is from NW Georgia, I have spent a good amount of time there, and I was raised to be sensitive to ridiculous Northern & Hollywood ideas about the South, such as in this book.)
Then add a cartoonishly over the top nemesis - a grown woman who drops into businesses she dislikes just to pull fire alarms & announces proudly, to someone she hasn't seen in years, she has hired prostitutes & cheerleaders to get lucrative divorces. Her non-stop threats would be overblown even for a teen soap and quickly become excessively tiresome.
Mix in some crazy coincidences - one moment Ella Mae reminisces about a childhood crush, the next moment she stumbles on him skinny dipping at said swimming hole, only to have him be the hunky fireman who responds to said false alarm the next day!
Then there's the character of Ella Mae herself. Just returned from New York City after seven (?) years. Apparently her marriage was perfect until she caught her husband having sex with neighboring twins. By "perfect" I mean there are no details because that would require depth and character development - a trend to be followed throughout the book.
So she runs away to Georgia literally only with the clothes she had on her. How she will get her belongings back she simply has no idea. She is so traumatized she simply can no longer be expected to set foot into her old apartment building or deal with something like packing. She seems to have done nothing in NYC over the years except NOT finish culinary school. She seems to have no friends (or maturity), she's never cooked for any one but family or at school, she has zero business experience. Yet she is literally handed a pie shop & catering business to run all by herself, like it's the easiest thing in the world.
I know MANY women have woefully low standards for romance & chick lit. Not me. I couldn't finish this dreck.
July 11, 2020
Newest Adeventure Details:
Where: Havenwood, Georgia
Who: Ella Mae
Georgia here I come! It was going to be fabulous….was finally going to meet Ella Mae, try all the pies in her new pie shoppe (gimme, gimme, gimme), and spend some time with her Aunts. Ella Mae had recently returned home to Havenwood after she separated from her cheating husband. She and her aunts have always been close, but Ella Mae and her mother have been estranged since she married and took off for New York. They are working on mending fences with the help of her aunts and the opening of her pie shoppe. For Ella Mae...when the going gets tough the tough gets to baking. A store front in the small town of Havenwood has become available and it is perfect for this new adventure...everyone thinks so. Well that is not exactly true Ella Mae’s high school nemesis Loralyn doesn’t. She wants to open a second hair salon in that same location, and resorts to threatening Ella Mae to get it. Ella Mae’s response...she charges full speed ahead with the help of her aunts to get the shoppe and start renovations to design her perfect space. This isn’t any ordinary shoppe and Ella Mae isn’t any ordinary baker she doesn’t quite understand, but her pies have magical effects on people. One thing she does understand is that her customers LOVE her new treats! When Loralyn’s fiancée turns up dead...the murder weapon the rolling pin from Charmed Pie Shoppe...her and I turn our focus to finding out what really happened….
My thoughts:
The narrator for this book was ok. Neither good nor bad...which if you have been reading my reviews...this seems par for the course.
This is the first in a series. I would say this book is 3.5 stars. I loved this debut!! The small southern town, the pie shoppe, and the secondary characters were fabulous!! I loved her aunts, mom, her dog chewy, and even loved to hate Loralyn! The mystery was really interesting...the horse racing world seems fascinating! I was 100% invested. I would say up until the very end this book was easily a 4 or even 4.5. I liked the little enchantments and how the pies influenced her customers. I liked that it wasn’t Ella Mae waving a wand, but instead her emotions baked into the pies. It just got a little too bizarre for me when she was trying to learn about her magic, and that of her mothers and aunts. Now I realize this is a magical series, so maybe it's me. I will for sure be reading the second in the series. I’m also going to try my hand at baking one of Ella Mae’s delicious recipes...who knows maybe I'll be able to bake a little magic in it!
For more book fun subscribe to my blog @ http://beachbumbookworm.com/.
Where: Havenwood, Georgia
Who: Ella Mae
Georgia here I come! It was going to be fabulous….was finally going to meet Ella Mae, try all the pies in her new pie shoppe (gimme, gimme, gimme), and spend some time with her Aunts. Ella Mae had recently returned home to Havenwood after she separated from her cheating husband. She and her aunts have always been close, but Ella Mae and her mother have been estranged since she married and took off for New York. They are working on mending fences with the help of her aunts and the opening of her pie shoppe. For Ella Mae...when the going gets tough the tough gets to baking. A store front in the small town of Havenwood has become available and it is perfect for this new adventure...everyone thinks so. Well that is not exactly true Ella Mae’s high school nemesis Loralyn doesn’t. She wants to open a second hair salon in that same location, and resorts to threatening Ella Mae to get it. Ella Mae’s response...she charges full speed ahead with the help of her aunts to get the shoppe and start renovations to design her perfect space. This isn’t any ordinary shoppe and Ella Mae isn’t any ordinary baker she doesn’t quite understand, but her pies have magical effects on people. One thing she does understand is that her customers LOVE her new treats! When Loralyn’s fiancée turns up dead...the murder weapon the rolling pin from Charmed Pie Shoppe...her and I turn our focus to finding out what really happened….
My thoughts:
The narrator for this book was ok. Neither good nor bad...which if you have been reading my reviews...this seems par for the course.
This is the first in a series. I would say this book is 3.5 stars. I loved this debut!! The small southern town, the pie shoppe, and the secondary characters were fabulous!! I loved her aunts, mom, her dog chewy, and even loved to hate Loralyn! The mystery was really interesting...the horse racing world seems fascinating! I was 100% invested. I would say up until the very end this book was easily a 4 or even 4.5. I liked the little enchantments and how the pies influenced her customers. I liked that it wasn’t Ella Mae waving a wand, but instead her emotions baked into the pies. It just got a little too bizarre for me when she was trying to learn about her magic, and that of her mothers and aunts. Now I realize this is a magical series, so maybe it's me. I will for sure be reading the second in the series. I’m also going to try my hand at baking one of Ella Mae’s delicious recipes...who knows maybe I'll be able to bake a little magic in it!
For more book fun subscribe to my blog @ http://beachbumbookworm.com/.
May 4, 2022
I always enjoy Ellery Adams’ stories and she has the amazing creativity, to dream up numerous premises that are wholly original. I was nonetheless surprised by how enraptured I became with this mystery début. It seemed like “Pies And Prejudice” would be fluffy with southern clichés: the bitchy nemesis, the crush from highschool, the sassy home employee. As I read, the story became magical. That employee and 4 women of Ella Mae’s family were no cardboard personages. All 5 of them are magnificent, loveable surprises!
This wove its way to a 5 star novel. I think because I dislike the roller-skating character in “Books By The Bay”, the series I knew before this, I favour this new series even more! Both are wonderfully filled with merits and heroes to love. I will not describe the gifts with which they are bestowed because those discoveries are the most powerful highlights of this début. I admire how diverse the magic is, which arises as needed with subtlety, except from our protagonist. We know from the synopsis that her emotions go into whatever she bakes and affects the environs in a wave, lending ripples of comedy. One woman is blessed with a gift that means more to me in triple instances, than anyone could know in a year. I will only say she has a way of soothing the souls of people missing family animals, who are in Heaven.
It might look like a typical caper but this series is unique. It grew so profound and mystical by the end, that I cannot wait to buy the mysteries that succeed it. This was a colourful, delicious indulgence with which to pamper myself in my birthday month. Ellery, I must have the recipes of the dainties you describe on page 21! They sound mouth-watering!
This wove its way to a 5 star novel. I think because I dislike the roller-skating character in “Books By The Bay”, the series I knew before this, I favour this new series even more! Both are wonderfully filled with merits and heroes to love. I will not describe the gifts with which they are bestowed because those discoveries are the most powerful highlights of this début. I admire how diverse the magic is, which arises as needed with subtlety, except from our protagonist. We know from the synopsis that her emotions go into whatever she bakes and affects the environs in a wave, lending ripples of comedy. One woman is blessed with a gift that means more to me in triple instances, than anyone could know in a year. I will only say she has a way of soothing the souls of people missing family animals, who are in Heaven.
It might look like a typical caper but this series is unique. It grew so profound and mystical by the end, that I cannot wait to buy the mysteries that succeed it. This was a colourful, delicious indulgence with which to pamper myself in my birthday month. Ellery, I must have the recipes of the dainties you describe on page 21! They sound mouth-watering!
November 4, 2013
This is yet another cozy mystery with a dimwit heroine. I cannot understand how authors expect readers to believe that these ladies are able to find a killer, when in reality they cannot find their rear-ends with a map? Case in point, heroine here is 30+ years old, but she still does not know that her mother and her aunts and her housekeeper are all witches. She herself is one, but let alone believing in magic, the lady doesn't even register the fact that strange things happen when she bakes her stupid pies. This ultra observant one is the one to catch a killer. Please.
Lady isn't great managing her personal life either. Husband cheats in bad Big Apple, lady runs off to beloved (never before) Georgia with exactly one dress. But there's Mama of course, the same Mama who she hasn't bothered to talk to since seven years. What kind of daughter does this make her, I wonder. Especially since Mama has been making the carriage house cozy for this same daughter and buys her a piece of prime real estate for a pie shop for the hot-shot NYC returnee. In seven years, girl hasn't even bothered to finish culinary school. Riiiight. But then, what do we expect from a girl who carries an idiotic school grudge with an unrepentant bitch? This is... may I say it? Worse than the emo-realistic YA crap that's dime a dozen these days.
There's a romantic interest, and there's another one, and then there's the husband she can't divorce for six months because lady can't even think of taking a flight to NYC where she's been cheated! Ugh. Where's the mystery? Ok. There's a horse doctor who's been bashed on the head with a rolling pin with the ditz's rolling pin, and sadly for this lady, the man happens to be arch-rival's husband-to-be. The police are useless, otherwise this wouldn't work. Heroine needs to clear her name, so she doesn't mind pressuring anyone and everyone into revealing things they don't particularly want to. She does it via the subtle (not, considering she's a witch) blackmail of food. This is somehow ok. One of them , but still it's somehow ok. There's a halo on the great ones' head after all. Ugh.
I already know I'm an idiotic sucker for anything that sounds remotely Austen-ish, but my problem so far has been lack-luster and insipid adaptations or retellings. I've never encountered before that there's a name like Pies and Prejudice and Pride and Prejudice has absolutely nothing to do with it. Am I the only idiot to fall for this? Based on this bit of idiocy on my part, I can safely say that I will one day catch a killer. 1 star.
Lady isn't great managing her personal life either. Husband cheats in bad Big Apple, lady runs off to beloved (never before) Georgia with exactly one dress. But there's Mama of course, the same Mama who she hasn't bothered to talk to since seven years. What kind of daughter does this make her, I wonder. Especially since Mama has been making the carriage house cozy for this same daughter and buys her a piece of prime real estate for a pie shop for the hot-shot NYC returnee. In seven years, girl hasn't even bothered to finish culinary school. Riiiight. But then, what do we expect from a girl who carries an idiotic school grudge with an unrepentant bitch? This is... may I say it? Worse than the emo-realistic YA crap that's dime a dozen these days.
There's a romantic interest, and there's another one, and then there's the husband she can't divorce for six months because lady can't even think of taking a flight to NYC where she's been cheated! Ugh. Where's the mystery? Ok. There's a horse doctor who's been bashed on the head with a rolling pin with the ditz's rolling pin, and sadly for this lady, the man happens to be arch-rival's husband-to-be. The police are useless, otherwise this wouldn't work. Heroine needs to clear her name, so she doesn't mind pressuring anyone and everyone into revealing things they don't particularly want to. She does it via the subtle (not, considering she's a witch) blackmail of food. This is somehow ok. One of them , but still it's somehow ok. There's a halo on the great ones' head after all. Ugh.
I already know I'm an idiotic sucker for anything that sounds remotely Austen-ish, but my problem so far has been lack-luster and insipid adaptations or retellings. I've never encountered before that there's a name like Pies and Prejudice and Pride and Prejudice has absolutely nothing to do with it. Am I the only idiot to fall for this? Based on this bit of idiocy on my part, I can safely say that I will one day catch a killer. 1 star.
November 30, 2012
“EIGHTY-YEAR-OLD DOES CARTWHEELS DOWN MONARCH STREET!”
Mr. Jefferson Baxter performed multiple cartwheels in front of a crowd of afternoon shoppers and merchants. Baxter, who has walked with the aid of a cane for the past seven years, claims that he experienced a surge of joy so compelling that he felt the need to express it through movement. When asked how he was able to display such remarkable agility, Baxter was unable to provide an explanation. His only comment was that the pie he’d had for dessert at The Charmed Pie Shoppe had made him feel like a boy again, if only for a few minutes. Perhaps Ms. LeFaye is using water from the Fountain of Youth in her recipes. Or perhaps her pies truly are enchanted.
Ella Mae dropped the paper on the garden bench and drummed her fingers on the side of her mug. “Is it possible? Do I have some sort of gift?” She stood up and began to meander down the path leading down to the lake, her mind churning.
While it's true that Ella Mae has quite the impressive gift, I would have found it much more impressive if a baker in her thirties was not having the first inklings of said gift on page 158 of 264, only recogising it for what it is page 210.
If you thought that had me questioning our heroine's intelligence,you'd be right you could have knocked me over with a feather when
And another thing, 'Pies and Prejudice'? There was a passing fancy on the part of Ella Mae that a love interest looked like Mr. Darcy (and since there was no mention of a resemblance to Colin Firth rising out of the water, this was both subjective and based on nothing) but aside from that, don't expect to see any parallels.
There was a word of Irish (draíocht - magic) toward the end, random and used incorrectly, but always nice to see. Sadly, that's not enough to get a good rating out of me on this one, but for anyone in the market for a storyline featuring the enchantment of food I would recommend Garden Spells.
Mr. Jefferson Baxter performed multiple cartwheels in front of a crowd of afternoon shoppers and merchants. Baxter, who has walked with the aid of a cane for the past seven years, claims that he experienced a surge of joy so compelling that he felt the need to express it through movement. When asked how he was able to display such remarkable agility, Baxter was unable to provide an explanation. His only comment was that the pie he’d had for dessert at The Charmed Pie Shoppe had made him feel like a boy again, if only for a few minutes. Perhaps Ms. LeFaye is using water from the Fountain of Youth in her recipes. Or perhaps her pies truly are enchanted.
Ella Mae dropped the paper on the garden bench and drummed her fingers on the side of her mug. “Is it possible? Do I have some sort of gift?” She stood up and began to meander down the path leading down to the lake, her mind churning.
While it's true that Ella Mae has quite the impressive gift, I would have found it much more impressive if a baker in her thirties was not having the first inklings of said gift on page 158 of 264, only recogising it for what it is page 210.
If you thought that had me questioning our heroine's intelligence,
And another thing, 'Pies and Prejudice'? There was a passing fancy on the part of Ella Mae that a love interest looked like Mr. Darcy (and since there was no mention of a resemblance to Colin Firth rising out of the water, this was both subjective and based on nothing) but aside from that, don't expect to see any parallels.
There was a word of Irish (draíocht - magic) toward the end, random and used incorrectly, but always nice to see. Sadly, that's not enough to get a good rating out of me on this one, but for anyone in the market for a storyline featuring the enchantment of food I would recommend Garden Spells.
September 25, 2021
I think that my lack of enjoyment in this book was just on me. Somehow I couldn't get into the characters; they didn't seem to be fully drawn out, kind of flat. I wasn't really interested in the mystery. I have to admit that the only reason I didn't dnf was that I really did enjoy the descriptions of the different pies...
February 27, 2018
I really liked this first book in the series and can't wait to read more. Ella Mae has just moved back home and is starting a pie shop. Her pies sound fantastic. I liked the characters in this book and the mystery was good. I was totally surprised at the out come of it.
July 1, 2012
PIES AND PREJUDICE was the kind of story that I wanted to jump inside of. The charming setting, engaging characters and well-crafted mystery made this one of my favorite cozies to date. The book begins with Ella Mae LaFaye returning to her hometown of Havenwood, Georgia, right after leaving her cheating husband back in New York. Instead of letting anger and sadness take over, Ella Mae decides to live her dream by opening a pie shop in downtown Havenwood, with a little financial and a lot of emotional support from her mother and three aunts.
There’s something very unique about Ella Mae and her delectable desserts. She not 100% sure, but it appears that somehow she’s able to influence the behavior of others by baking emotions into her pies. This strange ability comes in handy when police find her fingerprints on the murder weapon that killed a local racehorse veterinarian, who happened to be engaged to Ella Mae’s lifelong nemesis, Loralyn Gaynor. Afraid that the bad press of being a person of interest in a murder investigation will ruin her business before it can get off the ground, Ella Mae sets out to find other suspects so investigators will point their fingers elsewhere.
This is the first book by Ellery Adams that I’ve read, and I have to say that I’m an instant fan! I adored the setting – a small mountain town in northwestern Georgia, but the well-drawn characters were what pulled me into the story. Even the secondary characters popped off the page. The aunts were a hoot, Loralyn was so wicked, and even Ella Mae’s dog “Chewy” was a huge presence. I also enjoyed the paranormal elements in this book. I’m intrigued by Ella Mae’s transference ability, and it looks like she comes from a long line of women blessed with magic. This is a fabulous start to Ms. Adams’ new cozy mystery series, and I’m looking forward to the next one.
There’s something very unique about Ella Mae and her delectable desserts. She not 100% sure, but it appears that somehow she’s able to influence the behavior of others by baking emotions into her pies. This strange ability comes in handy when police find her fingerprints on the murder weapon that killed a local racehorse veterinarian, who happened to be engaged to Ella Mae’s lifelong nemesis, Loralyn Gaynor. Afraid that the bad press of being a person of interest in a murder investigation will ruin her business before it can get off the ground, Ella Mae sets out to find other suspects so investigators will point their fingers elsewhere.
This is the first book by Ellery Adams that I’ve read, and I have to say that I’m an instant fan! I adored the setting – a small mountain town in northwestern Georgia, but the well-drawn characters were what pulled me into the story. Even the secondary characters popped off the page. The aunts were a hoot, Loralyn was so wicked, and even Ella Mae’s dog “Chewy” was a huge presence. I also enjoyed the paranormal elements in this book. I’m intrigued by Ella Mae’s transference ability, and it looks like she comes from a long line of women blessed with magic. This is a fabulous start to Ms. Adams’ new cozy mystery series, and I’m looking forward to the next one.
August 20, 2018
This was a fun first book in the series. I really like this author's writing style and these characters are interesting. I will admit it took me a while to get the aunts straight (and I still might be confused). I'm such a sucker for stories where the main character has to return home after some drama in their new city (though I still feel bad for Ella Mae). This mystery was interesting despite the fact that I had it figured out pretty quickly. I enjoyed all the drama and Ella Mae's new love interests. But really the magic was the best part. I LOVE how she can bake her emotions in her dishes and I cannot wait to see what else she does and how it influences people. Each aunt is unique and I hope we get more time with each of them in future books. I also am so curious about why her mom keeps warning her off all the men in her life...I hope she doesn't end up alone! Enjoyable and I can't wait to continue the series.
July 28, 2012
Such a sweet cozy filled with family connections, pie, and some magic. Loved the characters--a fun read that will make you hungry!
November 29, 2019
3.5 STARS=Good=Quite Enjoyable=I liked it...!
March 11, 2020
Digital audio book performed by C.S.E. Cooney
First in the “Charmed Pie Shoppe” mystery series
From the book jacket When the going gets tough, Ella Mae LeFaye bakes pie. So when she catches her husband cheating in New York, she heads back home to Havenwood, Georgia, where she can drown her sorrows in fresh fruit filling and flaky crust. But her pies aren’t just delicious, they’re also having magical effects on the people who eat them – and the public is hungry for more. Having discovered her hidden talent for enchantment, Ella Mae…. [opens] the Charmed Pie Shoppe. But when her old nemesis, Loralyn’s fiancé is found dead – killed with Ella Mae’s rolling pin – it’ll take all her sweet magic to clear her name.
My reactions:
I’ve been drawn to this basic premise – food’s magical qualities – since reading Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices. That predilection was reinforced by Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel and Joanne Harris’s Chocolat. So I was sucked in by the promise of the magical qualities of Ella Mae’s pies, as well as previous good experience reading another series by Adams. But I was sorely disappointed.
As cozies go, this is a pretty decent premise. And Adams populates the book with an interesting array of charmingly eccentric characters, even if they are all out of central casting. But the “woo-woo” element just got away from her. Ella Mae is so completely clueless about her gifts as to make it completely unbelievable. The melodrama is way over the top. And the murder mystery plot is just a mess.
I finished because I needed a challenge book for a genre I usually avoid – witches. And I’ll torture myself with more from the series for the same reason. But I really don’t recommend them. I prefer my books, even cozies, like my pies – less “charm” and more filling.
C.S.E. Cooney is not a narrator I’ve come across before. She does a reasonably good job of performing the audio. Though I do think her Southern accent is a bit over-the-top. Still, her pace is good and her diction is clear (a real plus as I listened at double speed).
First in the “Charmed Pie Shoppe” mystery series
From the book jacket When the going gets tough, Ella Mae LeFaye bakes pie. So when she catches her husband cheating in New York, she heads back home to Havenwood, Georgia, where she can drown her sorrows in fresh fruit filling and flaky crust. But her pies aren’t just delicious, they’re also having magical effects on the people who eat them – and the public is hungry for more. Having discovered her hidden talent for enchantment, Ella Mae…. [opens] the Charmed Pie Shoppe. But when her old nemesis, Loralyn’s fiancé is found dead – killed with Ella Mae’s rolling pin – it’ll take all her sweet magic to clear her name.
My reactions:
I’ve been drawn to this basic premise – food’s magical qualities – since reading Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s The Mistress of Spices. That predilection was reinforced by Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel and Joanne Harris’s Chocolat. So I was sucked in by the promise of the magical qualities of Ella Mae’s pies, as well as previous good experience reading another series by Adams. But I was sorely disappointed.
As cozies go, this is a pretty decent premise. And Adams populates the book with an interesting array of charmingly eccentric characters, even if they are all out of central casting. But the “woo-woo” element just got away from her. Ella Mae is so completely clueless about her gifts as to make it completely unbelievable. The melodrama is way over the top. And the murder mystery plot is just a mess.
I finished because I needed a challenge book for a genre I usually avoid – witches. And I’ll torture myself with more from the series for the same reason. But I really don’t recommend them. I prefer my books, even cozies, like my pies – less “charm” and more filling.
C.S.E. Cooney is not a narrator I’ve come across before. She does a reasonably good job of performing the audio. Though I do think her Southern accent is a bit over-the-top. Still, her pace is good and her diction is clear (a real plus as I listened at double speed).
February 15, 2017
In Pies and Prejudice, the first in the Charmed Pie Shoppe series by Ellery Adams, Ella Mae LeFay returns to her hometown of Havenwood, Georgia to get away from her cheating husband. Her mother and three aunts encourage Ella Mae to pursue her gift of making pies by opening a shop devoted to selling pies. Over the course of the book, Ella Mae comes to realize that she bakes her emotions into her pies and shares them with those who eat the pies. Her aunts cry blue tears eating blueberry pie baked while she is thinking of her cheating husband. An eighty-year-old man in a walker does cartwheels down the street after eating a pie full of joy. And the city sees a spate of people ripping their clothes off after eating pie she has worked on while in the arms of her childhood crush, a hot firefighter.
Read the rest of this review, more reviews, and other wonderful, geeky articles on FangirlNation
Read the rest of this review, more reviews, and other wonderful, geeky articles on FangirlNation
May 7, 2015
Pies and Prejudice Not bad, but not particularly good. The overly descriptive writing became monotonous and annoying after awhile. By the time she described whisking eggs as a storm blowing in, I was pretty much done.Also, in one scene, Ella Mae is talking to her husband on her cell and throws her phone in the lake. A few pages later, she is awakened by her phone ringing. Could be easily explained, but isn't. And that's my issue with this book - overly descriptive language on unimportant things, but continuity, character and plot points don't have enough.
January 1, 2014
Sigh, I just don't think these kind of Cozy Mysteries are for me. I liked the story well enough. It was interesting, but not exciting or magical to me. There was magic implied and lots of pie baking and the characters were okay, but meh. My favorite part was the Key Lime Pie recipe in the back of the book. Yummy!
July 5, 2017
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May 23, 2019
I'd been wanting to start this series from the beginning ever since one of the book clubs I'm in had a discussion on the fourth book in the series. I love anything by this author to begin with, and I wanted to know every character's story from the beginning. I love how her books are not just mystery driven, but they're also character and family-driven. Sometimes the characters are a little broken and help each other heal, and sometimes they're family in the togetherness sense, maybe not related. In this series, the family is all related. Ella Mae had come back to Havenwood, Georgia to open a pie shop and be with all her beloved aunts, mom and long-time friend, Reba (who is such a hoot and by far my favorite character! She reminds me of the actual singer/actress Reba from her TV show).
I wasn't sure of the killer, but once the reveal came, it made a lot of sense. Ella and Reba were both at the showdown, and it was amazing. I always enjoy that the author doesn't just stop when the murder is solved. We always get to learn more about the characters and see every little thing neatly finished. Ella learned something about herself and now I'm anxious to read more just to see how she works through all this new knowledge.
I wasn't sure of the killer, but once the reveal came, it made a lot of sense. Ella and Reba were both at the showdown, and it was amazing. I always enjoy that the author doesn't just stop when the murder is solved. We always get to learn more about the characters and see every little thing neatly finished. Ella learned something about herself and now I'm anxious to read more just to see how she works through all this new knowledge.
June 26, 2023
Rating: 3.3 / 5
All in all, I'd say that this is okay. A bit slow-moving, but with a charming cast of characters--although the love-interest is just so-so, and the enemy character is pretty irritating to get through whenever she's present.
Again, an okay read, but also most likely forgetable.
*pauses and then bows* That is all.
All in all, I'd say that this is okay. A bit slow-moving, but with a charming cast of characters--although the love-interest is just so-so, and the enemy character is pretty irritating to get through whenever she's present.
Again, an okay read, but also most likely forgetable.
*pauses and then bows* That is all.
March 17, 2019
2.5 stars
July 8, 2023
I tried. I did, I think. It… this… nope. Even with all the pies, I can’t keep reading. I couldn’t even skip through to figure out what the mystery was. Not my “warp & weft”, thread count too low.
June 25, 2020
This was a cute 3.75. It was my first Ellery Adams book and I have to say I am going to look into others by her aside from this series which I will continue with.
November 15, 2014
Summary from Goodreads:
"When the going gets tough, Ella Mae LaFaye bakes pies. So when she catches her husband cheating in New York, she heads back home to Havenwood, Georgia, where she can drown her sorrows in fresh fruit filling and flakey crust. But her pies aren't just delicious. They're having magical effects on the people who eat them--and the public is hungry for more.
Discovering her hidden talent for enchantment, Ella Mae makes her own wish come true by opening the Charmed Pie Shoppe. But with her old nemesis Loralyn Gaynor making trouble, and her old crush Hugh Dylan making nice, she has more than pie on her plate. and when Loralyn's fiancé is found dead--killed with Ella Mae's rolling pin--it'll take all her sweet magic to clear her name."
My Thoughts:
This was a fun beginning to a new cozy mystery series with a hint of the paranormal sprinkled in. In this book, Ella Mae moves back home from the city after catching her husband cheating on her. She realizes that now is the time to learn to do things for herself which leads to pursing her own bakery. Unfortunately, she also finds herself mixed up in quite a mess when she gets caught up in a murder investigation as the prime suspect. This was one of those fun, easy reads that I just adore. I found myself caught within the pages rooting for Ella Mae as she works to start a new beginning for herself. The book was a tad predictable (and many times cozies are) but it really didn't detract from my overall reading experience. I just went with the flow of the book; constantly waiting to see what would happen next and how Ella Mae would handle whatever it was.
This was a fun book as the idea of Ella Mae infusing feelings or emotions into her baking was a unique idea. And I say fun as the results that came from people eating her baked goods and experiencing those latent emotions was quite funny to read about. I figured out parts of the mystery about halfway thru the book, but really the author did a great job of still pulling off a surprising ending. The only thing that left me wanting was Ella Mae's "new love interest". I felt that her instant attraction to her old crush Hugh Dylan was really lacking in the chemistry department. Instead, I am hoping that in future books we see more of a different character that she dated for investigation purposes. They seemed a much better match in my opinion!
Overall, this was a solid beginning to this cozy series. It wasn't perfect but it was a fun read that made me laugh out loud a few times. I'm now eager to continue on with the second book to see what kind of troubles Ella Mae can get caught up in next. Books like this are why I love cozy mysteries. They are the perfect reads for a cold winter day! Recommended!
Bottom Line: A fun read and an author that I plan on reading more of!
Disclosure: Checked out from my local library. Thoughts are my own!
Sad confession: I have never read Austen's Pride and Prejudice so I have no idea if the author based parts of this book on this classic novel or just used the title to play off of. I can tell you that it didn't effect my reading experience whatsoever. Shame on me for not reading more classics!
"When the going gets tough, Ella Mae LaFaye bakes pies. So when she catches her husband cheating in New York, she heads back home to Havenwood, Georgia, where she can drown her sorrows in fresh fruit filling and flakey crust. But her pies aren't just delicious. They're having magical effects on the people who eat them--and the public is hungry for more.
Discovering her hidden talent for enchantment, Ella Mae makes her own wish come true by opening the Charmed Pie Shoppe. But with her old nemesis Loralyn Gaynor making trouble, and her old crush Hugh Dylan making nice, she has more than pie on her plate. and when Loralyn's fiancé is found dead--killed with Ella Mae's rolling pin--it'll take all her sweet magic to clear her name."
My Thoughts:
This was a fun beginning to a new cozy mystery series with a hint of the paranormal sprinkled in. In this book, Ella Mae moves back home from the city after catching her husband cheating on her. She realizes that now is the time to learn to do things for herself which leads to pursing her own bakery. Unfortunately, she also finds herself mixed up in quite a mess when she gets caught up in a murder investigation as the prime suspect. This was one of those fun, easy reads that I just adore. I found myself caught within the pages rooting for Ella Mae as she works to start a new beginning for herself. The book was a tad predictable (and many times cozies are) but it really didn't detract from my overall reading experience. I just went with the flow of the book; constantly waiting to see what would happen next and how Ella Mae would handle whatever it was.
This was a fun book as the idea of Ella Mae infusing feelings or emotions into her baking was a unique idea. And I say fun as the results that came from people eating her baked goods and experiencing those latent emotions was quite funny to read about. I figured out parts of the mystery about halfway thru the book, but really the author did a great job of still pulling off a surprising ending. The only thing that left me wanting was Ella Mae's "new love interest". I felt that her instant attraction to her old crush Hugh Dylan was really lacking in the chemistry department. Instead, I am hoping that in future books we see more of a different character that she dated for investigation purposes. They seemed a much better match in my opinion!
Overall, this was a solid beginning to this cozy series. It wasn't perfect but it was a fun read that made me laugh out loud a few times. I'm now eager to continue on with the second book to see what kind of troubles Ella Mae can get caught up in next. Books like this are why I love cozy mysteries. They are the perfect reads for a cold winter day! Recommended!
Bottom Line: A fun read and an author that I plan on reading more of!
Disclosure: Checked out from my local library. Thoughts are my own!
Sad confession: I have never read Austen's Pride and Prejudice so I have no idea if the author based parts of this book on this classic novel or just used the title to play off of. I can tell you that it didn't effect my reading experience whatsoever. Shame on me for not reading more classics!
February 24, 2021
This is book #1 of an earlier series written by this author. I want to see how it develops, and I am curious why the series was apparently discontinued after only five books.
July 15, 2012
After catching her husband cheating on her, Ella Mae LeFaye leaves New York and heads to her hometown of Havenwood, Georgia. She intends to start over in a place that’s familiar to her, surrounded by her beloved aunts and her mother. Ella Mae’s dream is to bake pies in her own pie shop.
With financial help from her family, Ella Mae opens “The Charmed Pie Shoppe” and it’s an immediate success. She is stunned when she realizes she has her own special talent when it comes to baking pies. Somehow she manages to pour her own feelings into each pie, which effects each person who eats one.
When her old childhood foe, Loralyn Gaynor, wants to buy the same shop as Ella Mae, their old rivalry heats up and Loralyn’s fiancé ends up murdered. Ella Mae is more than a little shocked to discover that the murder weapon is her own rolling pin. She has a tough time convincing the police she has no motive to kill someone she didn’t even know.
However, all evidence points in Ella Mae’s direction and it’s up to her to figure out who really committed this crime. With the help of her Jack Russell terrier, Charleston Chew “Chewy”, Ella Mae sets out to find a killer. Along the way, she finds herself facing some possible romantic entanglements from her soon-to-be ex-husband to an old childhood classmate to the son of the victim. Mix this all together and you get a yummy cozy pie!
Ellery Adams gets off to an amazing start with this series. I loved it right from the start. She gives us a crazy, fun, and wacky secondary cast that will have readers smiling and giggling. This cat lover even adored the Jack Russell terrier. What a cutie! This is what cozy mysteries are all about and what keeps me coming back to read them. The best thing I can say is that I absolutely could not put this book down. I was sad when I finished this book and I actually miss the characters. They’ve already become my friends. I’ll definitely be looking for the second book in the “A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery” series.
With financial help from her family, Ella Mae opens “The Charmed Pie Shoppe” and it’s an immediate success. She is stunned when she realizes she has her own special talent when it comes to baking pies. Somehow she manages to pour her own feelings into each pie, which effects each person who eats one.
When her old childhood foe, Loralyn Gaynor, wants to buy the same shop as Ella Mae, their old rivalry heats up and Loralyn’s fiancé ends up murdered. Ella Mae is more than a little shocked to discover that the murder weapon is her own rolling pin. She has a tough time convincing the police she has no motive to kill someone she didn’t even know.
However, all evidence points in Ella Mae’s direction and it’s up to her to figure out who really committed this crime. With the help of her Jack Russell terrier, Charleston Chew “Chewy”, Ella Mae sets out to find a killer. Along the way, she finds herself facing some possible romantic entanglements from her soon-to-be ex-husband to an old childhood classmate to the son of the victim. Mix this all together and you get a yummy cozy pie!
Ellery Adams gets off to an amazing start with this series. I loved it right from the start. She gives us a crazy, fun, and wacky secondary cast that will have readers smiling and giggling. This cat lover even adored the Jack Russell terrier. What a cutie! This is what cozy mysteries are all about and what keeps me coming back to read them. The best thing I can say is that I absolutely could not put this book down. I was sad when I finished this book and I actually miss the characters. They’ve already become my friends. I’ll definitely be looking for the second book in the “A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery” series.
August 16, 2012
Read for Fun!
Overall Rating: 5.00
Story Rating: 5.00
Character Rating: 5.00
First thought when finished: Hands down one of my favorite cozy mysteries--EVER! I know the name suggests it but this is NOT a Pride and Prejudice set book.
What I Thought of the Story: Pies and Prejudice is probably the best cozy mystery that I have read in two years and I have read some really good cozy mysteries! The story takes place after Ella Mae comes back to her hometown after a failed relationship. She is dealing with a lot of feelings (family, love, old friendships, old hates) but she does have one thing she can count on: her brilliantly cooked pies! She also notices that what she feels seems to work its way into her pies! Poor Ella ends up blamed when her old bully's future husband (say that 5 times fast) ends up dead! She must open up a pie shop, clear her name, and deal with all the people in her life without losing her freedom. This was just such a fun story as the mystery unfolded before our eyes. Don't assume you know who did it because I was totally wrong!
What I Thought of the Characters: Pies and Prejudice is chock full of great characters! Ella Mae is wonderful but to me it is the Aunts (and her Mom) that kind of steal the show. You just fall in love with this wonderful group of ladies and their very different personalities! You want to go have tea with them, laugh with them, and finally just move right in with them! I can't wait to see their next adventure!
Final Thought: I would recommend this story to any cozy mystery lover! I am making (suggested rather strongly) that my bookclub read it for September! I think this is a great book to introduce new cozy mystery readers to the genre!
Overall Rating: 5.00
Story Rating: 5.00
Character Rating: 5.00
First thought when finished: Hands down one of my favorite cozy mysteries--EVER! I know the name suggests it but this is NOT a Pride and Prejudice set book.
What I Thought of the Story: Pies and Prejudice is probably the best cozy mystery that I have read in two years and I have read some really good cozy mysteries! The story takes place after Ella Mae comes back to her hometown after a failed relationship. She is dealing with a lot of feelings (family, love, old friendships, old hates) but she does have one thing she can count on: her brilliantly cooked pies! She also notices that what she feels seems to work its way into her pies! Poor Ella ends up blamed when her old bully's future husband (say that 5 times fast) ends up dead! She must open up a pie shop, clear her name, and deal with all the people in her life without losing her freedom. This was just such a fun story as the mystery unfolded before our eyes. Don't assume you know who did it because I was totally wrong!
What I Thought of the Characters: Pies and Prejudice is chock full of great characters! Ella Mae is wonderful but to me it is the Aunts (and her Mom) that kind of steal the show. You just fall in love with this wonderful group of ladies and their very different personalities! You want to go have tea with them, laugh with them, and finally just move right in with them! I can't wait to see their next adventure!
Final Thought: I would recommend this story to any cozy mystery lover! I am making (suggested rather strongly) that my bookclub read it for September! I think this is a great book to introduce new cozy mystery readers to the genre!
May 20, 2016
I really really liked this book, it molded the paranormal part and the mystery part so well together that neither overshadowed the other, but yet both were the stars of the show.
Ella Mae LaFaye is a very strong character that deals with the stress of walking in on her husband cheating on her in this book, but yet she doesn't let it get her down for more than a few days. I'd heard people say that they thought she was "dumb" to not see her powers beforehand, and though I think she could have seen them before, I don't think that it's out of the realm of possibility that she didn't notice them before. This book also leaves enough mystery about Loralyn, Hugh, and Ella Mae's family that makes you immediately want to pick up the next book.
I loved the setting and Ella Mae's Charmed Pie Shoppe. It was great! I wish I had a Charmed Pie Shoppe in my town, I'd go every day.The mystery was also well-written. The killer was surprising, and I found myself wondering why I hadn't picked that character as the killer earlier in the book.
Overall this was an excellent book. I'm looking forward to reading the next one.
Ella Mae LaFaye is a very strong character that deals with the stress of walking in on her husband cheating on her in this book, but yet she doesn't let it get her down for more than a few days. I'd heard people say that they thought she was "dumb" to not see her powers beforehand, and though I think she could have seen them before, I don't think that it's out of the realm of possibility that she didn't notice them before. This book also leaves enough mystery about Loralyn, Hugh, and Ella Mae's family that makes you immediately want to pick up the next book.
I loved the setting and Ella Mae's Charmed Pie Shoppe. It was great! I wish I had a Charmed Pie Shoppe in my town, I'd go every day.The mystery was also well-written. The killer was surprising, and I found myself wondering why I hadn't picked that character as the killer earlier in the book.
Overall this was an excellent book. I'm looking forward to reading the next one.
November 25, 2012
The mystery and the magical parts of this story are enjoyable and I liked the secondary characters, particularly the aunts. The main character, Ella Mae, is too passive. She wants a pie shop, her family does all the work in setting it up. She wants a divorce but refuses to go back to NY to take care of it or get her stuff, so she'll just wait for six months before she can file in Georgia, and wonder if she'll ever see her stuff again (seriously? Doesn't she have at least one friend from her years there who could help her ship her stuff or find her a lawyer?). Her dog needs training, so she sends him to daycare. She wants Hugh, but I don't see the appeal of him either and she backs down every time Loralyn steps in. I'll try the next one in the series but if Ella Mae doesn't become more pro-active, I'll move on.
October 6, 2013
I picked up this book thinking it might be a take-off on Jane Austen, or at least that it might contain some kind of homage to her. Aside from a couple of quotes from Pride and Prejudice though, it is not my kind of comedy or mystery. The prose is too purple, the fantasy elements too weird for me, and the mystery not central enough--or maybe the fantasy and romance elements diluted it too much for my taste. But if you like a mystery with those elements mixed in, go ahead and try this one.
August 19, 2015
More of a 2.5 read. Not a real big fan of this story or cast of characters. The mystery was interesting at the beginning, but over time, I slowly started losing interest in it. I'll most likely, not be reading the next one.
April 22, 2024
Very enjoyable. I loved the magical touches.
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