A Pie to Die For: A Bakery Detectives Cozy Mystery

I like a good cozy mystery, but this wasn't one. I gave it up at 38% because I just couldn't stand anymore of the stupid behaviour of the bakery owner and her sidekick. After buying and reading 100s of books from Amazon, this was only the 3rd or 4th one I couldn't finish. There's too much other decent stuff out there to bother with.

I am not someone who expects perfection in a book, but This book is not good. The characters are ridiculously stupid. The main character is a snobby, selfish, spoiled little B----h. She gets her "best friend" arrested for a major crime (one that will stop a person from getting a job in 95% of places, basically ruining her lfe) and isn't even sorry. THEN she almost gets her arrested again. That doesn't stop her either. She continues doing stupid & selfish things ad nauseum. It was so bad that I couldn't finish it. It was just totally dumb and unrealistic. The author needs to research her stuff better. The story lacked depth and anything at all unique. I only gave it 2 stars because I'm assuming there has to be a worse book out there.P.S. I do believe there is a chance for the writer to become good if they try hard. The idea isn't bad. It is just poorly implemented and very, very childish.

Rachael's struggling bakery is threatened after a local food blogger dies at a street food festival and Rachael's cherry pie is blamed. It's unclear how or why the pie is blamed because we never do find out a cause of death for the poor woman and she ate multiple places that day. Pie is an extremely unlikely cause of food poisoning, so why the entire town immediately blames Rachael is never clear. To save herself, Rachael determines that one of her competitors must be to blame and she immediately unleashes a cascade of witless investigatory mayhem in an attempt to save her business.Even for a cozy, there are so many missing pieces here. Not only do we never find out exactly how the poor woman died, the resolution of the crime doesn't make much sense. For me, a successful cozy has a main character who is either very likable or very interesting and Rachael fails at both. Despite the fact that her business is struggling due to her own decisions (multiple people tell her that her food costs too much, she can't even be bothered to bake fresh items each day, and she doesn't consistent operating hours), her single-minded focus on the bakery down the street causing her problems is tiresome. She's dull and annoying, a terrible trait for the main character of a series.

It's formula fiction that is almost identical to thousands of other books on Amazon. Fem X works in a Y (store, shop, factory) and is for some strange and ridiculous reason is implicated in a murder (or some other serious crime). She panics, runs around in circles and gets all kind of stupid advice from colleagues and friends. Then she meets prince charming (an old flame, a total hunk of a stranger, a super lawyer ...) who she doesn't like at first. Then she is won over by his attributes (sexy, wealthy, sharp, kick-ass lawyer skills...) and after a few sessions of headbanging sex she is rescued by prince charming and they all settle down to even more headbanging sex until the sequel. It features yet another crime, another prince charming and a whole lot more headbanging sex with both old and new prince charming.

OK I do not expect too much from a cozy but this was trite and predictable. Cute protagonist with highest ethics (pure ingredients/living wage) - check. Handsome cop who instantly falls for heroine. Check. Goofy sidekick. Check. Evil conglomerate with ludicrous name - seriously Bakermatic??? Save your time. Fortunately it was free.

Rachel is a pastry chef with a fledgling boutique bakery. The bakery is threatened by the evil “Bakermatic Baked Goods Company,” an industrial bakery with relentlessly cheerful employees who sell average baked goods at low prices, something Rachel just can’t compete with. That’s bad enough for Rachel’s bakery, but then when a nasty food critic dies after eating one of her pies, she becomes the prime suspect. Rachel and her wacky bff are forced to find the real killer because the police aren’t looking past Rachel.I wanted to like this book, I really did. Attractive cover that drew me in, interesting premise of a young pastry chef trying to start her own business; a “cheeky” bff with multi-hued ever changing hair and a sketchy work history, but a good heart; multiple plausible suspects; and a cliff hanger ending with a touch of paranormal.Like it I did not, however. I mostly finished it because I was on the treadmill at the gym and didn’t want to slow down to pick another book. The writing was decent, mind you, but the actual plot just didn’t work for me. The plot felt … cookie cutter and forced and predictable, and I did not find the characters engaging. This was a passable read for me, but I don’t think I’ll be reading more.

A Pie to Die For, A Bakery Detectives Cozy Mystery by Stacey Alabaster is about Rachael, a pastry chef who will do anything to protect her boutique bakery. I gave it four stars."I let out a little squeal as I brushed the foul, winged creature aside. 'Not today buddy, not today!' I watched it intently as it flew away, a tiny black dot disappearing into the fall sky, and was glad that I hadn't needed to swat the poor thing. I heaved a sigh of relief as I took the lids off my desserts and a sweet cloud of vanilla, chocolate, and coffee bean, all mixed together, hit my nostrils. That was the danger of serving food outdoors: flies."I received a complimentary copy from the author. That did not change my opinion for this review.Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Pie-Die-Bakery-Detectives-Mystery-ebook/dp/B01D6ZVT78