Ever since Daisy Ellery left home, she’s been determined to never let anyone get close enough to make her want to stick around one place for long. Not only does she have the ability to use magic, but she also runs a small and secret business called Pies before Guys. Daisy is very picky about her clients because she uses her magic and pies to kill men who abuse others. Between her main job, she also bakes and sells pies infused with her magic to brighten their days. Everything seems to be going well when someone tries to blackmail her. Daisy must either kill three women on her blackmailer’s list or they’ll out her for murder. Now she finds herself in quite the pickle, but she knows she must protect these women and find her blackmailer before time runs out.
I thought this cozy mystery had an interesting premise, so I knew I had to read it as soon as possible! We follow Daisy, a woman from a long line of Ellery witches who used their magic for good. Because of this, Daisy feels like something went wrong when she was born because she likes to use her magic to help people by killing the men who abuse them. It would be frowned on by her ancestors, so she is filled with shame while knowing that she is still helping women get out of terrible relationships.
I enjoyed the first half of the book a lot. There is a great cast of interesting characters, such as Daisy, Frank, and Melly. Then there’s a small cast of unsavory characters, some of which Daisy works to eliminate. We got to know some of these characters pretty well, and I found that I really liked Frank. Sure, he’s a cranky old man who is rough around the edges, but it turns out he’s also a really caring and solid guy. I also found Melly to be quite interesting at first, though it seems that she lost quite a bit of steam and brain cells as the chapter flew by.
We also have a small love triangle that seems to fizzle out, or so I thought. Daisy is pursued by two people: Noel and Melly. She had quite a bit of chemistry with Melly at first and I really thought that should be the end game, but then the chemistry evaporates and never returns. Plus, the Melly we get to know and the Melly we see as the main plot gets rolling are almost two different people. Daisy has crazy chemistry with Melly 1.0, but absolutely no chemistry with Melly 2.0, so that was interesting to watch happen. Then there’s Noel. I really thought he was quite boring and one dimensional, but as the book goes on, it turns out there’s a lot beneath the surface. It took a while for it to be revealed, but it’s there! He and Daisy don’t have much chemistry, but he seems like a good guy and he’s got an interesting backstory that made me more interested in him as a character.
As I said, I really enjoyed the first half of the book! However, it started to lose me around halfway through. There was a lot going on once Daisy discovered who her blackmailer was, and it made me start to lose interest just because there was so much going on. We have the blackmailer plot, a romance, a pie contest, two pie businesses, and Daisy’s past catching up with her. I think I would’ve liked the book better if it didn’t have so much going on at the same time because I really like the overall plot and the core characters.
No comments:
Post a Comment