Never Say Pie

June 11, 2012
Foodies will eat up Culver’s second Pie Shop mystery (after 2011’s A Good Day to Pie). One Saturday, pie baker Hanna Denton joins other vendors for a food fair in the parking lot of Crystal Cove (Calif.) High School. The following Monday, the local newspaper publishes a scathing review by food critic Heath Barr, who has nothing nice to say about Hanna’s pies (“Crust pale and insipid.... The Chocolate Pie dull and listless”). Hanna and the others Barr savaged are furious. To make matters worse, Barr goads them into holding a pie contest. Who then silences the nasty critic by slitting his throat? Hanna, herself a possible suspect, is determined to find out, despite warnings from the attractive and available Crystal Cove police chief not to meddle. Charming characters, including an organic chicken farmer and a French cheese maker, enliven the sleuthing. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds.

August 1, 2012
Making consistently fabulous pies is the least of a local baker's problems when a critic who gave her a thumbs-down is murdered. Now that Hanna Denton has gotten settled running her Grannie's old pie shop in Crystal Cove, Calif., she's doubling her duties by pushing her pies at the local Food Fair. It's a great opportunity to encourage more folks to buy products, like the yummy-sounding butterscotch pecan pie (recipe included). And Hanna enjoys getting to know her fellow local-food purveyors. Bill and Dave claim to have the best sausage in town, cheese vendor Jacques has a personality that sells his wares, and even Nina, Hanna's old high school chum, has gotten in on the action with a stand selling sweets. When a man comes by offering Hanna a free knife perfect for slicing pies, Hanna is happy to take one off his hands and promises to showcase it as an advertisement for him. In spite of the success of the pies at the Food Fair, critic Heath Barr pans the pies, along with those of several other vendors, in the local paper. The review turns out to be Heath's last; he's found stabbed to death by the knife given away at the Food Fair. Not only does that make Hanna a suspect, it raises police chief Sam Genovese's suspicions about everyone who was given a promotional knife. Culver's latest charts new developments in Hanna and Sam's relationship, though it provokes fewer laughs than A Good Day to Pie (2011).

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July 1, 2012
Carol Culver serves a tasty second title in her Pie Shop series. Hanna is thrilled with the success of the new Food Fair, where local vendors do brisk business. Her grandma works at the booth, too, so Hanna can shop for the delicious cheeses, candies, sausages, and more. Then a food critic, who publishes a critical review of some foods at the fair, including Hanna's pies, is murdered, and all of the maligned vendors are suspects. Hanna alternates between fighting and flirting in her rocky friendship with police chief Sam as she works to solve the crime. Meanwhile, she is roped into hosting a pie contest. Plenty of red herrings and plot twists, in the midst of lively food discussions, will surprise readers. The style and small-town cast are similar to Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)