GOURD TO DEATH (Pie Town Mystery #5) by Kirsten Weiss will be published on August 25th, 2020 by Kensington Publishing Corporation.
While taking an early morning sneak peek at the St. Nicholas Pumpkin Festival, Val Harris and her piecrust maker/sleuthing partner Charlene discover a body crushed beneath a giant pumpkin. Because the victim was a fellow contestant in the pumpkin pie bakeoff and the pumpkin belonged to his uncle, Val’s detective boyfriend is promptly kicked off the case. Between running her homemade pie business, getting to know her stepmother, and dealing with the back-and-forth sabotage between St. Nicholas and the residents of a town with a competing pumpkin festival, Val already has a lot on her hands. But when her boyfriend recruits her to help him investigate the murder behind the chief’s back, she can hardly say no. With help from Charlene and their crew of misfit armchair detectives, Val takes on the case. Following a second murder, it is imperative that Val find the killer before she becomes the third victim.
GOURD TO DEATH is the first Pie Town Mystery that I have read. I initially requested the boom on NetGalley because it was set around Halloween and I am a huge fan of that holiday. After reading GOURD TO DEATH, I plan to go back and read the first four novels in the series. The characters in this series are incredibly unique and a lot of fun—especially Charlene.
Overall, I enjoyed GOURD TO DEATH. There weren’t too many viable suspects, but Weiss kept me guessing for most of the novel. The novel is fast-paced and humorous. Thanks to Charlene and her antics, there are many laugh-out-loud moments.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.