Ella Mae LeFaye is still getting used to owning the Charmed Pie Shoppe in Havenwood, Georgia, where she's taken shelter after leaving New York when she discovered her husband cheating on her. The pie shop is named such because Ella discovered that she has the ability to bake into pies whatever emotion she is feeling at the time, and that emotion transfers to the person who consumes the pie. People are unaware of this mystical ability, but it's turned the pie shop into a thriving business. Therefore, it's not a big surprise when Ella Mae is asked to handle the desserts for a young couple's wedding.

However, before the wedding arrives, a friend of the LeFaye family is found dead under mysterious circumstances. Then, during the wedding, the bride's step-mother falls ills and dies a few days later. Ella Mae's family becomes convinced that the deaths are not only related, but they are part of an evil plot against not only their family, but against all those who are Enchanted and will be gathering within a few weeks to renew their magical powers at Harvest. Therefore, Ella Mae springs into action to bake special pies to force customers to disclose information to her so she can get confessions and solve the mystery.

Since Ella Mae initially discovered that she not only has the ability to bake enchanted pies but that her entire family has various enchantments, she has been determined to discover the source of their magic. This meant that a significant part of the book was spent on fantasy and science-fiction aspects, such as explaining the history of the family's magic, the warring enchanted factions of the land, and what something called the Lady of the Ash is.

The amount of fantasy elements from the first book in the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery series to this book (the second book in the series) were exponential, which was quite a shock to my system, as what I liked about the first book was that it was about a woman who happened to accidentally discover that she and her family had these little charms that could work. This book, however, was a huge step into the land of sci-fi, which was a disappointment. I also felt this series was oddly reminiscent of the Magical Dressmaking series by Melissa Bourbon (each family member has a charm by way of a curse by a family member), and I am disappointed that this series echoes another contemporary cosy series so much. Sadly, I will not be continuing with this series, although I enjoy the characters very much.

I was also disappointed that I guessed who committed the murders nearly as soon as the character appeared in the book for the first time. There's a character who makes a life-changing decision that I also guessed as it simply made the most sense, plot-wise. All in all, this book was too predictable and too heavy in a genre that it wasn't marketed as.

Book Summary

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 . . .