Ellery Adams - Breach of Crust

The fifth book in the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery series, published April 5, 2016.
Genre: paranormal cozy mystery with recipes
Cover: absolutely gorgeous



PIE SHELLS AND DEATH BELLES
Ella Mae LeFaye s delicious pies are still drawing long lines as well as the attention of Beatrice Burbank, president of the Camellia Club, a philanthropic organization comprised of high-society Southern ladies from the charming and affluent town of Sweet Briar, Georgia. To ensure the success of their centennial dessert cookbook, Bea hires Ella Mae to teach the tasty tricks of her trade to the club s members at their annual retreat. Eager to work on new recipes for customers with food allergies and dietary restrictions, Ella Mae readily agrees.
But when Ella Mae finds Bea s body floating in Lake Havenwood, she wonders what she s gotten herself mixed up in. Someone certainly wanted Bea to eat humble pie, and the retreat offers no shortage of unsavory characters, including Ella Mae s longtime nemesis, Loralyn Gaynor. Ella Mae definitely doesn't need magic to tell her she must find the killer before someone else gets panned."


After the emotional ending of book 4, I really didn't think the next book could captivate me as much as that one. But this fifth book is still a very good one. Lots of intrigue but also a good development of Ella Mae and Hugh as a couple, they are starting over, and they just fit together. I didn't think that anymore in the previous books, but now, yes. They do belong together. Ella Mae is also baking new things, delicious pies for people who can't have dairy or gluten or sugar. It is hard work but she loves what she does, and it still shows in her pies. Her business is still growing, but the magical community hasn't forgotten her either. The Elders still need her help, and that of her friends.

Of course there is a murder, and it is sad that no one seems to care very much, except Ella Mae who found the body. Finding this killer might be a lot harder than before though …

It was a fun book, a glimpse of small town southern life, and a glimpse in the lives of the rich and almost famous. And I think Ella Mae is too naïve to think that there is anything left in Loralyn worthy of saving. Don't read this book when you are hungry or already hunkering for pie, because it will make you go out and get some …

9 stars.

© 2016 Reviews by Aurian