Why Pie?
By Ellie Grant
Already readers are asking: why pie?
Why not cake, cupcakes, brownies, applesauce, or ice cream?
The answer is, because that’s what we thought of!
We can never tell from one book to another where are imaginations are going to take us next! We have written about a new sheriff in a small town. We’ve written about gardening and Renaissance Faires. We’ve written about volunteer firefighters and ghosts. We’ve written about a lady mayor in a small town who lives next to the Graveyard of the Atlantic.
What do these things have in common?
Only our imaginations.
Writing is taking your imagination and finding out how large it really is. It’s looking at faces and thinking about who the people are behind them, and what you can do with them. Characters need special places to live and breathe. They need interesting hobbies and jobs. They have to fall in love and find their lives falling apart.
On the day we decided to write a pie shop series, we saw an ad in a magazine for cherry pie and ice cream. It was big and splashy and looked delicious. You could taste the tart cherries and the smooth cool ice cream.
And Pie in the Sky, an old fashioned pie shop in downtown Durham, North Carolina was born. Our first thought was that the pie shop was a little run down because an older lady had been running it by herself for a few years. We saw Aunt Clara’s character first. She was a spry, chipper woman who never feels sorry for herself. She takes in her niece who has been a little thoughtless in her quest for success.
The two women find each other again. They serve pieces of that big cherry pie we saw. We tried to write the pie so people would want to eat it, just like that ad we saw.
And so far, that seems to be the case. Maybe we should have bought some stock in a pie company!
**************************
Review
I really loved this first Pie in the Sky mystery from the writing team of Jim and Joyce Lavene (writing as Ellie Grant). Maggie Grady has returned home to Durham, NC, to work at her Aunt Clara's pie shop after being accused of embezzlement at her NYC bank job. When her former boss Lou arrives at the shop with news that he has uncovered evidence that exonerates her Maggie is ecstatic at the thought that she will have her good name back and might even be able to return to the life that she loved. Lou is planning a news conference for the next day, but it's not meant to be as he is found dead in the pie shop's back alley later that day. Now Maggie not only has to clear her name of the embezzlement charge, but possible murder charges as well.
One thing I really appreciate about this book is that there isn't so many characters and suspects that it ends up taxing the brain, a trend I'm seeing more and more in cozies today. Maggie and her Aunt Clara have a wonderfully supportive relationship, and newspaper man Ryan seems to be the perfect match for Maggie. Everything is tied up neatly at the end and the groundwork is laid for the next book in the series with the introduction of a new love interest for Clara.
I dare you to read this book without your mouth watering for a slice of one of Clara's pies...luckily there are recipes at the end! Treat yourself today to this wonderful mystery!
Be sure to leave a comment with your email address...I have one paperback copy of Plum Deadly to give away! (US only, ending 9/15)
Book Details
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Published by: Gallery Books
Release Date: September 3, 2013
Number of Pages: 304
Unjustly accused of cooking the books, Maggie Grady is forced to retreat from her high-flying New York financial career to the town where she grew up. Her aunt Clara greets her with open arms and a job at the family-owned business that has baked the best pies in the South for over forty years. Unfortunately, while Maggie is determined to return to banking, her reputation there seems permanently in the pits. That is, until her old boss, Lou, visits with news that he’s found the real crook. Before he can reveal the details, though, Maggie finds his body right behind the pie shop.
With only her own word that Lou planned to exonerate her, Maggie is in the spotlight. The police seem to suspect that Aunt Clara’s damson pie may not be just dangerously delectable, but downright deadly. Maggie doesn’t just have her own name to clear; she has to make sure that her aunt’s beloved business isn’t harmed, either. Yummy local reporter Ryan Summerour appears eager to help, and Maggie can’t help hoping that it’s not just the police who find her a person of interest—but Ryan, as well. She’d thought it challenging to make the perfect pie crust that Aunt Clara demands, but that turns out to be nothing compared with finding a murderer. . . .
About This Author
Ellie Grant writes award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook and Joyce and Jim Lavene. They have written and published more than 60 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. They live in rural North Carolina with their family.
Ellie Grant writes award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook and Joyce and Jim Lavene. They have written and published more than 60 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. They live in rural North Carolina with their family.
Author Links:
www.elliegrant.netwww.romanceofmystery.blogspot.com
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16130461-plum-deadly
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ellie-Grant/409736699080379?ref=hl
https://twitter.com/AuthorJLavene
Purchase Links
AMAZON
B&N Book World Book Depository Powell’s Books
No comments:
Post a Comment