Book Review of “Peach Pies and Alibis (Charmed Pie Shoppe Mysteries #2) by Ellery Adams

Blurb

Genre: Cozy Mystery / Fantasy / Paranormal

Ellery Adams serves up a mystery that’s a real peach…

Ella Mae LeFaye’s Charmed Pie Shoppe is wildly popular in Havenwood, Georgia–which is not surprising since Ella Mae can lace her baked goods with enchantments. The shop’s extraordinary success seems destined to continue when Ella Mae meets an engaged couple who hire her to handle the dessert buffet at their wedding.

But Ella Mae has a lot on her plate. She is also searching for the origin of her magical powers–and hoping to determine if the spark of attraction she feels for the handsome Hugh Dylan is authentic or just her new abilities gone awry.

Then Ella Mae discovers a high-standing member of the community dead, and a wedding guest becomes seriously ill at the event she’s catering. Now she’ll have to use all her sleuthing skills and culinary talents to prove her pies don’t contain a killer ingredient . . .

My Review Rating: 4 stars

Yet another wonderful Charmed Pie mystery, with the writings of Ellery Adams and read by CSE Cooney.  The story builds up in the 2nd part in the series. A lot of Ella Mae’s background and the nature of her powers are described in length, also linking the lineage to the age old world of King Arthur and Arianrhod, the Welsh goddess. The linking of history to the story is very interesting and gives a believable aura to the tale.

However, the reading by CSE Cooney (I am reviewing the audiobook version here) was not upto the mark. Pauses and extensions at unnecessary intervals made the a dent to the flow of the story. It gets slightly annoying at times when with a certain pause, a feeling of mystery settles it, only to realize later that the pause was completely uncalled for. The lack of feeling in the reading made me take off 1 star from my rating.

The story and the series, otherwise, is brilliant. For anyone who likes a dash of romance in a paranormal tale of coven rivalry and building a theme over a series, this one would tickle the right bone.

More description and purchase links of the book can be found on GoodReads