Never Say Pie: A Pie Shop Mystery

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. (Aug.)