Pie Hard

Book excerpt: A reality cooking show known for roasting its contestants gets treated to murder in this cozy mystery by the author of Bleeding Tarts. Business at the bakery may have slowed down, but Valentine Harris isn’t about to eat humble pie—not until a reality cooking show decides to whip her struggling shop, Pie Town, into shape. If Val can tolerate criticism from the infamously abrasive show host, the free publicity will be sweeter than anything she could cook up on her own. But no one in San Nicholas has an appetite for dessert once murder steals the spotlight. After the show’s bossy producer gets pushed to her death, Val and her flaky, septuagenarian pie crust expert, Charlene, follow crumbs in hopes of finding the killer. But with cameras still rolling and the shocking identity of the victim’s replacement a guaranteed recipe for disaster, Val needs to stay cool long enough to solve the crime and keep Pie Town from rolling in dough. Includes pie recipes!