Title:	Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies
	Author:	Misha Popp
	Published:	May 10, 2022, Crooked Lane Books
	No. of Pages:	336
	Cover Price:	$26.99 Hardcover, $14.99 Kindle

---

Misha Popp’s debut cozy in her new Pies Before Guys series, Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies is different from what you’d expect from a cozy. Daisy Ellery is in the pie business. She’s a bit antisocial and keeps to herself, choosing to sell pies from her Pies Before Guys food truck and choosing to take orders from her home. Apparently Daisy has a few magical powers, and puts magic in her pies. That magic is used to kill men who abuse women, and Daisy also sponsors a secret group of woman who buy pies from her to carry out their deed. Unfortunately someone knows about it and tries to blackmail Daisy. Because there is no poison in the pies, there is no evidence, but Daisy is worried anyway. It’s only when a friend is murdered and then a neighbor that Daisy begins to pay attention and in order for her not to get caught, she needs to find out who the murderer is.

Lately there have been several authors who have been releasing so-called “cozies,” but they don’t fit the traditional parameters, i.e., no language, graphic violence, or sex. Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies is one of these, and while the premise of the novel is interesting, and the characters are well developed and interesting, there is a fair amount of sexual innuendo as well as plenty of profanity. These aspects make the book unsuitable for younger readers as well as those who read cozies to avoid those aspects.

The storyline is interesting, but the profanity isn’t necessary, and definitely takes away from the cuteness of the novel. One wonders if the author is a garbage-mouth herself, or if she is trying to characterize Daisy as a person with no class.

The best part is that there are a few recipes for Murder Pies at the end of the book, and they are worth trying.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.