Cooking instructor and cable TV host Della Carmichael knew that her boyfriend, newspaper reporter Nicholas D’Martino, had been married before.  She did not, however, know that he had an 18-year-old daughter named Celeste who was now en route to Los Angeles and who was planning to move in with Nichols upon her arrival. 

Della does her best to take delivery of this bombshell in stride, and is determined not to let the arrival of Celeste have a negative impact on her relationship with Nicholas.  But when the girl (who has dreams of becoming a Hollywood actress) gets mixed up with a photographer who has her pose for some less than modest shots, everything goes to hell.  The photographer turns up dead, and the police like Nicholas for the crime; not only did he have motive, but he was discovered at the scene while the body was still warm.  The detectives on the case don’t seem too keen on looking any further than her man, so Della’s forced to launch an investigation of her own.  Does she have what it takes to solve the case and catch the real killer without winding up on a slab in the LA morgue, herself?

Pie a la Murder is the fourth installment in author Melinda Wells’ Della Cooks Mystery series.  Despite the fact that there isn’t a whole lot of action or suspense to be found here, this book makes for a light, fast-paced summer read.  Ultimately, the plot hinges on a few too many coincidences to be entirely plausible, the ending is simultaneously anticlimactic and confusing, and in the real world, Della’s investigative techniques would land her in the slammer faster than she could blink, but Wells’ character work is solid, her prose has a nice flow to it, and the mystery (though a tad convoluted) is intricate enough to hold the reader’s interest from start to finish.

Della isn’t the most compelling of cozy heroines.  While she clearly cares deeply for her friends, and she’s certainly a tenacious sleuth, you never really feel like you get to know her over the course of this tale.  I do, however, genuinely like a lot of Pie a la Murder’s supporting cast.  Best friends Liddy and Shannon are particular stand-outs, adding warmth and humor to the story and helping Della seem more human by extension.  Defense attorney Olivia is a strong, smart, independent character of whom I hope to see more in future books.  And Celeste is the perfect bratty, vindictive teen vying for daddy’s love and attention.

If you’re looking for a thrill-a-minute page-turner that’s chock-full of intrigue and plot-twists, you may want to skip Pie a la Murder.  But if you’re looking for a milder-mannered culinary cozy in the vein of Nancy Fairbanks’ Carolyn Blue Culinary Mystery series, then search no further than Melinda Wells’ latest Della Cooks Mystery.

~ Kat