Southern Peach Pie and a Dead Guy

Poppy Peters #1

by A. Gardner

From USA Today bestselling author A. Gardner comes a deliciously dangerous new series...

After an injury derails Poppy Peters' ballet career, she gathers the courage to follow in her grandmother's footsteps and attend Calle Pastry Academy in a small-town in Georgia. Poppy has her work cut out for her not only fitting in with her charming (and not-so-charming ) Southern classmates but also proving her worth to her teachers after her first publicly humiliating attempt at making the school's famous peach pie. But Poppy's pastry problems go from bad to worse when she's suddenly accused of stealing expensive black truffles, and her attempt to clear her name goes awry...resulting in her finding a dead body instead! If Poppy's going to survive this culinary experience, she'll need to find the missing truffles and track down a killer, all while honing her baking skills to compete in the school's dessert competition for a coveted pastry internship in Paris. Can Poppy prove she's one tough cookie? Or is her life about to crumble?

**Recipes Included**

Poppy Peters Mysteries:
Southern Peach Pie and A Dead Guy (book #1)
Chocolate Macaroons and a Dead Groom (book #2)
Ice Cream Bombes and Stolen Thongs (short story in the "Killer Beach Reads" collection)
Bananas Foster and a Dead Mobster (book #3)
Strawberry Tartlets and a Dead Starlet (book #4)

"A sweet and satisfying mystery that will leave you hungry for more! A. Gardner's Poppy Peters Mysteries have earned a place on my keeper shelf!"
~ Gemma Halliday, New York Times bestselling mystery author

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Romance, Ebooks, Amazon

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 4, 2015

Reviews

[Sandee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. I expected a cozy mystery but this was a story about students at a pastry school with a minor subplot about smuggling and murder. The story jumped around in places disconnecting the flow and leaving the reader trying to figure out what is happening.
I think the best way I can describe it is as two stories. One about the pastry school and one about smuggling. The smuggling/murder story was very bad. The characters involved had almost no role within the overall story, there were no clues, no danger and no drama. The one about the pastry school was better. The characters were interesting, the baking contest was fun and it felt like it had potential for more and unique stories. But there wasn't enough story.

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Southern Peach Pie and a Dead Guy

A delightful cozy murder mystery! Change of professions (ballet to baking), change of locations (Oregon to Georga), break-up with boyfriend to new relationships finding a dead guy--all woven together with suspended and charm!

[QNPoohBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 stars for the food, 2 for the mystery

After a back injury ends the dancing career of Poppy Peters she decides to follow her dreams and enroll in the Calle Pastry School where her beloved grandmother learned to bake. Poppy spent lots of time baking with her grandmother and after Julliard, how hard can pastry school be? Famous last words haunt Poppy as she deals with the extreme Georgia heat, a mean classmate who thinks she's better than everyone, first day humiliation (baking is HARD) and baking disasters. When a professor accuses Poppy of stealing rare black truffles from the school, Poppy is incensed! She is terrified she'll be expelled from school for a crime she didn't commit. Together with her friend Cole she decides to investigate to clear her name. When they stumble across the mean professor lying dead in the school kitchens, they panic. Poppy thinks for sure this will somehow be blamed on her. With the help of Cole and her roomate Bree, Poppy sets out to solve the mystery.

This mystery is really odd. There are so many illogical things that happen in this plot I don't know where to begin. If a pastry school doesn't teach students how to make a pie crust from scratch what do they teach? Isn't the point of school to learn? If students are expected to deal with an advanced level of difficulty, why on earth was Poppy accepted? Why do the students face so much pressure they disappear or drop out? Why does the professor have it out for Poppy? What the heck is up with the mystery? It starts late, stops early, picks up again and then stops again with little fanfare. The whole mystery plot is really bizarre. I was astonished at what was going on that absolutely no one ever guessed! Really? NEVER?

I also wasn't crazy about Poppy's personal family drama. Her mother is toxic and clearly has an eating disorder she's pushing onto her daughter. This is so wrong in so many ways. What is wrong with Poppy's father to put up with it? Poppy's mother's focus on appearances causes Poppy all kinds of pain and neuroses.

Poppy is a sympathetic character. She's felt the pressure of her mother's lofty and unrealistic expectations for far too long and now it's time to chase her own dreams. The going gets tough but Poppy is determined never to quit or show fear. I really admire that about her. Her snooping techniques leave a lot to be desired though. Bree is a fun roommate. Who wouldn't want the queen of cakes as a roomie? Bree has her own issues she isn't willing to share just yet. Her delight in investigating is unhealthy. She thinks it's exciting but will she think it's so much fun when they all get arrested? I also like Cole. He's a good friend and stays true to Poppy no matter what. However, his insistence on breaking and entering is not a good idea. Georgina is a typical mean girl and the character you love to hate and Jeff comes across as a little sleazy. It's obvious he's hiding something.

Anyway... who cares right? Are you actually reading this for the mystery? NO. This book is all about the food! Southern peach pie, beignets, blueberry scones, orange rolls- Um YES PLEASE! I'll have some of everything except the pie. I don't like peaches. There are some really great recipes included in this book and I am dying to try some. I think I gained that baker's dozen just reading this novel.

Bring on book 2!

[Jen - Reviews · Rating 1 out of 5]

Half way through and I'm still waiting for the story to start. Nothing has happened. Continual description of cooking classes Absolutely not a cosy mystery at all. Author tried to link some lame mystery in there but it was so far into the book I'd lost interest. In the end I DNF

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, and as a matter of fact have started on the next. Poppy is an almost thirty something, and had to retire as a ballerina when she injured her back. She decides to follow her Grandmother's footsteps and enrolls in pastry school. She gets off to a bad start, and very soon after while practicing pastry making after class discovers her teacher murdered in the kitchen. One thing leads to another, she may be one of the suspects. She and her friends Bree and Cole set out to solve the mystery. While there are no recipes in the book, there are plenty of good sounding things, Bree bakes when she gets nervous, and that seems to happen alot!

[Abby Vandiver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murder at a pastry school doesn't stop its students from turning out the tastiest morsels in Georgia.

Poppy Peters had to give up her dream (rather her mother's dream) of being a ballerina after a back injury. But her Grandmother Liz, a Calle Pastry Academy alumni and baker extraordinaire, has given her an idea for another occupation - pastry chef. Poppy, against her family's liking, decides to enroll in the same pastry school her grandmother attended. There she seems to find happiness - new friends and even a love interest. But things quickly go awry.

Not the typical murder mystery - the reader is well into the book before a dead body shows up and there is a mystery to solve, there's no list of suspects and the clues are lacking - still Southern Peach Pie ad a Dead Guy fits into the cozy genre easily. The characters are typical, but fun. It's set in a small community and amateur sleuthing and good baking abound. (Check out the recipes in the back of the book, they look yummy.)

WARNING: VAGUE SPOILER ALERT!

However, for this reader there was a lot of things amiss and thus the reason for the three star rating: Peach pie doesn't actually have much to do with the murder. Poppy, who acts a lot younger than thirty, has a love of coffee that people seem to know about - even before she has one cup of it (I believe she only drinks one cup in the entire book). There's an illegal ring of thieves that seem to have no purpose and there's blackmailing of students it seems, without anything bad to hold against them. Then there's the lack of research by the author which made the book less believable. Gardner writes about a pastry school where the instructors are called "Mr." and "Professor" instead of "Chef." Students are allowed to cook in shorts and high heels (what happened to chef jackets?), and valuable items are stored for some reason in classroom kitchens. But the most egregious miss was how the story surrounded the French founder of the school who immigrated to Georgia "nearly" a hundred years ago. It appears that he soon became disillusioned with the school in the early 1900s and went back to France to bake for the Queen. The last queen of France, Marie Antoinette, died in 1792 (a lot longer than a hundred years ago.) Seeing that France's very last queen was pretty popular (with the saying "let them eat cake," erroneously attributed to her, and having her head chopped off), the author should have gotten the history (timeline) right. Then when you think the mystery is solved and life has gone back to normal for Poppy, without nary a clue from the author to the reader, the case picks right back up, assumingly, as a twist to the story. The only surprise was why the author did that because it's kind of unbelievable. Wouldn't people actually taste (if not smell) weed killer and not eat the food? And why did the killer spray it on the food in the backyard then throw the containers away in the trash cans there? There would be fingerprints everywhere. And where were the people that actually delivered the food?? Did they just hang out while the killer sprayed the poison and then packaged it back up and dropped it off at the door? Even though the book is fictional, it still should be believable.

Not the best cozy mystery book, but a light quick read nonetheless. Three stars.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

All those scrumptious sounding desserts Poppy and her friends worked so hard to master made me very hungry. And I'm on a (perpetual) diet, am diabetic, and have to take counting carbs seriously. Nevertheless I loved this book -- such a fun read. I loved Poppy and her roommate Bree. Who wouldn't love a roomie who bakes when under stress? And things at the Calle Pastry Academy are indeed stressful -- from Poppy's embarrassing failure at baking the school's signature peach pie to a classmate who lives to sabotage Poppy at every turn, including causing a fire in the Academy's kitchen, to Poppy being accused of theft of expensive truffles, finding a professor dead in the kitchen, and Poppy thwarting the poisoning of her family's holiday meal. But, of course, Poppy and friends come through beautifully. I'm looking forward to Poppy and friends next adventure in baking.

[Rachel-RN · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poppy is a former ballet dancer. After an injury ended her career, she decided to enroll in a pastry school. Her grandmother went to the school and she was close to her. However, Poppy struggles to bake and as a result, she is not a favorite student. After the discovery of a body (who happens to be her instructor), she and her roomie (Bree) decide to investigate.
Poppy's family sucked, the mystery was BORING, I was bored, next please. The best thing about this book was the recipes at the end.

[Star Gater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warm and cute.

This is the epitome of a cozy mystery. Likeable characters, an antagonist, and of course a crime. I truly enjoyed how the author appeared to end the crime. I was distracted wondering what could be in the next 3 or 4 chapters. And, I was completely satisfied with the ending. This would make a nice gift for a young, older or classy reader. There is no swearing or explicit sex. The light flirting is cute.

[Emmy Rayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a loveable and very enjoyable read. I was very entertained the whole way through. It wasn't perfect, but I don't think that was the point because I think this was a great starter point for me with the cozy mystery genre and I must say that I can't wait to explore more of it. All in all this was fun

[JoAnne McMaster (Any Good Book) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poppy Peters has decided to enter culinary school, but not everyone wants her there. Still, she's met a nice guy named Cole who seems to be on her side, and even after a cooking fiasco, she's still willing to take the chance. But then things are stolen and someone is killed, and she just might be suspected of murder. Poppy has to clear her name while keeping away from the real murderer...

Oh, my. There are so many things wrong with this book, the first beginning with the way it's written. I absolutely detest first person as-they-are-doing-it, as I refer to it. Such as: "I am going to the store now. I am parking my car and entering the store. I grab a cart and am putting tomatoes in it." I just hate it. I don't really care what the person is doing right now. I don't care if they're going to the bathroom or washing their hands. We know they do it; everyone does. But if you write in first person, it's so much nicer to read: "I went to the store and picked up a few things." So there's my rant on that.

Plus, has this person ever been to cooking school? Or even watched a cooking competition on television? You call anyone your superior 'chef.' You bring your own tools. You wear a uniform and a hat. These are simple things that could have been discovered by watching the Food Network. Do a little research and the book is better.

It got to the point that I could not finish the book, and I really didn't care who the murderer was. I did skim to the end and found that they were all making desserts they'd grown up on. Shouldn't competitions be making something new? Just sayin'...

Anyway, I wasn't impressed by this book and probably won't read another because of the narration. Sorry.

[June · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like cozy mysteries buy something went missing in the telling of this story.

Poppy is trying her luck at a pastry school after not doing so well in ballet.
Unfortunately for her-and the reader- she has a perfect brother who just makes it difficult
to follow behind. Her parents are bewildered as to why she would even want to try
pastry school and are somewhat snarky towards her.

Fortunately for Poppy she makes a lot of friends as well as a few enemies and here's where
it bottoms out for me.

There is something sinister going on at the school and while Poppy attempts to sort it out
the plot goes all over the place leaving the reader shaking their head. There are some real
stretches here (Thanksgiving dinner in particular!) that just don't flow. Disappointing.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poppy Peter’s life is changing drastically!!! An injury
Has ended her career as a ballerina.
Poppy has enrolled in Calle Pastry Academy (CPA) in
Georgia.
This is where her grandmother learned to bake. Poppy
has very few…ok.. almost no cooking skills so she is in
for a challenge. Her first attempt at a “Southern Peach
Pie” is very discouraging. But she hangs in there
finding challenges at every turn.
Especially when she finds at dead body!!!
Simple, quick read with delicious recipes for “ Southern
Peach Pie, Italian candy, cake, cupcakes pkus at the
End.

[Brenda Poulos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death by Dessert

This book made me so hungry! The descriptions were mouthwatering. A diet book this was not. The actual mystery wasn't that hard to figure out, nor was it scary. However, it was a quirky and fun read!

[Moondance · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first encounter with a southern guy isn't going so well.

Poppy Peters is a former ballerina who has come to Georgia to attend Calle Pastry Academy. She is following in the footsteps of her grandmother who attended I her youth. Poppy gets off on the wrong foot with Professor Sellers when she mangles the schools famous peach pie. The next day she burns her cupcakes. Needless to say she is not his favorite student. There is a rumor that the kitchens of the school are haunted by the ghost of a former chef. Poppy and fellow student, Cole experience a presence while in the kitchens at night. On a return trip to the kitchens they stumble over the body of Professor Sellers. The two along with Poppy's roommate, Bree start investigating.

This was a quick easy read that had a few twists and turns to keep you interested. There is illegal activity going on, missing students and murder. Poppy and Cole are instrumental in catching the killer and you think that is the end. Instead, another part of the puzzle is revealed and Poppy and her family are put in danger.

The story was a bit shorter than I expected but there is an additional 20 plus pages of recipes. Yum!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and charming

I really enjoyed this one. One thing I wish was a little more of the back story with the ex, it was kind of glossed over. But I am looking forward to the next book in the series. I was thrilled to see the redemption.

[Debbie Oxier · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just an okay read for me. The main character, Poppy, has enrolled in a cooking school. Her grandmother attended the same school and was a successful baker. Poppy wants to follow in her footsteps. However, things don't go well starting off. Her attempt to make a well-known peach pie recipe falls flat, then a rival in her class sabotages her oven and causes a fire. The kicker though is when she gets accused of stealing some valuable mushrooms. Determined to clear her name, Poppy enlists the help of a classmate, Cole, Together, they discover the dead body of one of their professors.

The plot was rather mediocre and the characters really had no spark to them. Even so, I continued reading. I got to the part where they supposedly caught the bad guys. One minute they are giving their statements to the police. The next, Poppy is at her parents for Thanksgiving when a totally unexpected player shows up and puts weed killer in their food, trying to poison them. Poppy discovers this by just happening to see him in her back yard, miraculously finds the weed killer containers in the shed and instantly figures out what was going on. The story just didn't transition well from one scene to the other and the whole poison thing came across as contrived, a way to add pages with a rather dubious conclusion. I could only give it three stars.

[Susan Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four and a half stars of fun!

This lovely surprise has all sorts of wonderful surprises. The baked goods are described so well that this reader could taste them. I don’t know if this constitutes as a spoiler or not, but there is a HUGE GAP in the story that prevented my giving this a 5th star, and it involves Detective Reid and tofurkey. I don’t like being left in the dark. Otherwise, GREAT MYSTERY

[Emma Robuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yummy!

Made me hungry, intrigued and scared all at the same time. I'm not much of a mystery fan but this was deliciously good and I would read it again. Oh yeah and the recipes!!!

[Lisa Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! The story had an interesting twist toward the end. There were also some great recipes to try.

[Michelle Bogden · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, I thought from the premise this would have all of the elements I was looking for: baking, romance, mystery (maybe some thriller or action element?). But, no, nope. Baking yes—but think stressful American-style baking show with that one person who keeps having bad baking snafus or high drama with other bakers (the main character has both), which is the opposite of cozy/comforting reading. Romance—some odd, conflicting interactions with two possibles, including one that helped me DNF (roommate accepts a date against MC’s wishes. Excuse me, what?). And some of the “mystery” stuff just didn’t make sense from the get-go. Basically, guilty unless proven innocent or another suspect emerges. But worst of all, inconsistencies in the story/setup that make no sense and I just couldn’t get past them. Why are these twenty-somethings assigned roommates in apartments that are supposed to be like dorms when they’re all older adults, many just in a career change? Also, the MC’s roommate said she is excited about looking into the mystery (titular “Dead Guy”), even though they all knew this person and she just found out about their death. The MC and another friend wonder at her ability to take it all so well, and she says it’s the most exciting thing that’s happened in her life lately because she is living alone with three cats. What? Literally lives with MC and no cats mentioned? And everyone continues as if this jarring inconsistency is truth and not a joke (which I thought it must be at first). So disappointed that this novel went from slightly promising at the start but kept getting worse. I made it 40% through before DNF which I hardly ever do. If you’re both a completionist and want to make things make sense, maybe skip it. Otherwise, if high drama and dream-logic are what you’re looking for, go for it!

[Merry Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poppy Peters a former ballerina due to an accident decided to follow her dream to become a pastry chef like her grandmother did much to the chagrin of her parents and brother. She enrolled in the Calle Pastry Academy in Georgia far from her home town in Washington like her grandmother did. But with little to no experience, she is in for a REAL learning experience. Her roommate, Brie, is a nervous baker - she bakes every time she's nervous. And she also meets Cole the first day who would take her under his wing. We also meet the obnoxious self-absorbed bully, Georgina and Chef Sellers who looks down on Poppy from day one. Through the fast pace of this book, we are introduced to a theft of very expensive truffles, a criminal ring and a murder. Poppy is the suspect in the theft of the truffles because she was practicing her baking after hours and was seen by Chef Sellers right before the truffles were discovered missing. Hoping to clear her name, she and Cole with help from Brie set about to find the clues that would prove Poppy's innocence only to discover a dead chef. This is a fun book to read with so many threads that the author neatly weaves together in the end. There is a surprise at the end, no spoiler here! I received and ARC from the author but the opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose this book because I love cozy mysteries and one of the monthly Playbookers reading prompts called for a rhyming title. I'm pretty sure there was not an editor involved, which is sad, because an editor really would have helped. There's a former ballerina, a cooking school, and police involvement, but each of these things was written seemingly based on stereotypes and not on any research. For example, the cooking students, in their first class, are expected to make a peach pie from scratch without any instruction whatsoever. The former ballerina, who says she never enjoyed dancing, spent her whole life starving herself and dancing 10 hours a day, graduated from Julliard, then, "fell on the barre," injuring her back and ending her ballet career. She is implicated in a crime due to circumstantial evidence, so the director of the school notifies her of her likely arrest and places her on academic probation though at no time is she interviewed by a single "cop." What? None of this makes any sense at all. The mystery itself, and the solution, is implausible, and there are not clues included to allow the reader to play along.

The recipes at the end of the book look promising - I want to try the pie. If the pie turns out good, I may even read the next book in the series in the hopes it gets much better than this first one (or at least for the recipes).

[Julie Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Southern Peach Pie and a dead guy by A. Gardner
This story starts out with Poppy, almost 30 and she's enrolling in a culinary school down South. The arrangement is you live at the location and work in the bakery shop.
She takes many classes and before she knows it she's being accused of setting the oven too high causing evacuation and fire dept shows up to put the fire out. She then is accused of killing a teacher.
She gathers the clue along with Cole. She lies with Bree who loves to bake. They follow the leads to the clues they have and end up at a farm where they learn the beginning of the school and traditions.
She heads back to Oregon for a break where someone follows her.....
Love just when you think the story is over you have 10 more chapters to go and you wonder why. Great read, keeps you on your toes. Excited to see who wins the end showoff of a favorite recipe to make.
Recipes are included at the end along with listing of author's other works.
Free from the author and this is my honest opinion.

[Judi Easley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first book in the series was very confusing. It was all over the place trying to set everything and everyone up for the beginning of the series. The second book is much better and more organized. A ballerina injured her back and decided to start a new career as a pastry chef, so she goes off to pastry school. It was something her beloved grandmother had done and passed on to her. But she gets no support from her family. Poppy makes some friends at pastry school. And there are some who aren't friends. There is also a ghost 👻? murder ? smuggling ? runaways ? and lots of secrets. What is the truth behind the noises in the kitchen at the pastry school? Where did Tim Fox go? Who stole the black truffles? Who can Poppy trust?
Book 2 goes to Paris and a French pastry shop!
Recommended.

[Lori Henrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was strange to me. The mystery seemed to take awhile to start which is unusual for a cozy. Then once you thought it was starting it slowed down. Then when it really got into it, it seemed to come to a climax and the story seemed finished but then kept going. The last few chapters seem like an unexpected add-on like the author had a brain spasm and realized that another part of the story needed to be added. Then it kept going to finish off a side story within the original story. Poppy is a very likeable character but the story development just was strange to me. The main story wasn't bad, I just would have liked it more if it moved along differently.

[Karen Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet!

I got this book for free on Amazon and read it expecting a quick fluffy read. It turned out to be a nice surprise! First it was longer than I expected. I also really liked the story. The characters were good and the book was well written. One of the best surprises though was a bunch of recipes at the end of the book! It seemed easy enough I might even try to make some of them. I'm interested to see what happens to Poppy next and will go looking for next books in the series.

[Mary Kearney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was quick and easy, not sappy. I get these books when they are free at amazon for my Kindle just to give me something to read that doesn't require a lot of thinking. Sometimes they are not too good, but this one was definitely a good read. I like the cozy mysteries that involve food and this one did. Poppy goes to a pastry baking school after her career as a ballerina ended due to an injury. A murder occurs about 1/2 way through the book. The characters are interesting. It is a well written book.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first in the series. The main character is Poppy Peters. Poppy is hitting 30 and has given up the ballet and has decided to go the a cooking school. One her grandma went to. Her first day in class she tries to make a peach pie and it the worst in the class. It went down hill from there. Next she is accused of stealing truffles valued at $20.000 and then she is sure she will be accused of the murder of the Chef. She has to figure out what is going on and who is behind all of this. Can she with 2 friends figure this out before they slap on the cuffs?

[CJ Clemens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I fully expected this book to be about murder with a little bit of comedy thrown in - due to the cartoon cover. But, meh, it’s a little like a knock-off Nancy Drew... if she went to a baking school. I did enjoy the friendship between Poppy and her roommate, Bree. All the other characters didn’t feel well rounded or well thought out. The storyline? It felt like the author wanted to write about a baking school and their editor advised to make it a little more intriguing/edgy/interesting. It was an okay read. I don’t believe I’ll be reading another any time soon.