The Curse of the Cherry Pie is the fourth book in Amy Patricia Meade’s wonderful Tish Tarragon Mystery series. This is one of my favourite cozy mystery series so it’s always a pleasure to visit with Tish and her friends and see what they’re cooking up!
Title: The Curse of the Cherry Pie
Author: Amy Patricia Meade
Series: The Tish Tarragon Mysteries #4
First Published: May 4, 2021 (North American release date)
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Genres: Mystery,
Acquired: from the publisher via Netgalley
*** Thank you to Severn House Publishers, for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
When literary caterer Letitia ‘Tish’ Tarragon’s friend and star baker at Tish’s Cookin’ the Books cafe, Celestine Rufus, pulls out of the prestigious Virginia Commonwealth Bake-Off, an anxious Tish reluctantly takes her place. Will Tish’s signature bake, a frangipane cherry pie, be up to the grade?
As the bake-off gets underway, Tish’s worries increase when she learns that two contestants from the previous two competitions also had cherry pies on their menus . . . and both women died suddenly before making their bakes.
Amid bitter rivalries, simmering jealousy and the bakers’ insatiable appetite for winning, is the curse of the cherry pie about to strike again?
A delicious mystery to dig into
As with most culinary cozy mysteries, there is a lot of food discussed in this book. Not only is Tish a literary caterer (her dishes are always inspired by books) and a cafe owner, she’s also taking part in a Bake-Off, so things are definitely heating up in the kitchen! While this is the fourth book in the series, you can definitely read it as a standalone – there’s enough of a background and introduction to bring everyone up to speed. But honestly, I highly recommend reading this entire series. (click to read my reviews the first three books in the series: Cookin’ the Books, The Garden Club Murder and The Christmas Fair Killer).
There are so many things I love about this book. Not only was the “curse” interesting to watch unravel – there was no shortage of suspects – there were a lot of twists and turns to keep me guessing until close to the end. The pacing of the story was very even and never really slowed down. But it never felt like an information dump either. It moved along nicely and I zipped through the book at a steady pace.
As many of my long-time readers know, I love culinary cozies, especially since I am a semi-retired food blogger. One of the really fun and special things about this series is the dishes that Tish cooks. Since she’s a literary caterer, her dishes are always inspired by books and literature so it combines my love of food and books one step further. For example, for her three Bake-Off dishes, Tish cooks:
- Savoury bake: Anna Karenina’s Tarragon Chicken
- Showstopper bake: Miss Havisham’s Wedding Cake (inspired by Great Expectations)
- Signature bake: Champion Frangipane Cherry Pie (inspired by In Cold Blood)
I was definitely craving a slice of cherry pie while I was reading this book! Honestly, Meade has invented some really creative dishes for this series – I would love a cookbook from her one day!
It’s Tish and her friends that keep my coming back
Over the course of the last three books, Tish and her friends have really gone through a lot of personal development. I find it one of the most interesting group of friends in any cozy mystery series. They have real problems and they go through ups and downs in a very realistic way. It would seem like there’s a lot of drama happening alongside the main mystery (new relationships, affairs, divorces, etc) but the personal stuff never seems to distract from the main storyline, so it’s a nice balance. It also gives me a feeling of getting to know the characters very well. I can’t really say much more without giving away spoilers, so I’ll just say that Tish goes through a lot this book, and I was happy with how things ended up for her.
Of course, along with the literary-inspired dishes, another rare feature of this series is that the sidekicks (in this case, Tish’s two best friends Mary Jo and Julian aka Jules) often do some investigating on their own. While this isn’t completely unheard of in cozies, Meade often gives the sidekick a chapter of their own, which I love! She does this in this book and MJ does some digging on the side for Tish at the local dentist’s office.
And while Jules doesn’t get his own chapter, he is there for almost all the action and I couldn’t be happier. He’s definitely my favourite character in the series. He’s a bit silly and easily-distracted, but he’s also loyal and fun and I think the perfect friend to Tish and MJ. We all need more Jules in our lives! I honestly laughed out loud when Jules asked someone how old they were and when they replied “24”, Jules exclaimed, “Sweet baby Jesus, I own shoes that are older than you.” LOLOLOL. Oh Jules.
Ok, the last “rare for a cozy” feature (I think that makes three!) – The Curse of the Cherry Pie is the second book in this series to make me tear up. Who gets tears in their eyes from reading a cozy mystery??! Apparently me, but only when reading Meade’s writing (she also made me cry with The Garden Club Murder).
The ending of this book was very satisfying but also kept things very open for the next book. I obviously adore this series and I can’t wait for more of Tish and her friends.
Read The Curse of the Cherry Pie for yourself
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