Maggie Grady and her Aunt Clara are the owners of the popular and successful Pie in the Sky shop in Durham, North Carolina. Costumers rave that they create the best desserts in the city, and the two women enjoy working together in their shop.

Maggie is happy that Aunt Clara has met Donald Wilkerson and that they are enjoying a growing romance. Unfortunately, Maggie’s boyfriend, local news reporter Ryan Summerour, found out previous wealthy girlfriends of Donald’s have unexpectedly met with mysterious accidents causing Ryan to believe that Aunt Clara might be in danger.

One day Angela Hightower, a local real estate agent, came into the bakery and was talking to Maggie about seeing Aunt Clara’s name on an online dating service. The news caused Maggie to wonder who’s bright idea it was to place her name there; and Maggie also wondered why Aunt Clara was interested in meeting someone new when she was already dating Donald.

Suddenly, as Maggie and Angela were talking, Donald stumbled into the bakery and collapsed from a gunshot wound and died soon after. The investigation into his death revealed he had been married multiple times, reinforcing Ryan’s concern that Maggie’s aunt might have been in harm’s way.

Although local police were on the case, Maggie and Ryan conducted their own investigation to clear Clara’s name.

Treacherous Tart by Ellie Grant is the second in the Pie in the Sky mystery series following Plum Deadly. While this novel is a typical cozy in many ways, Grant has taken it to a higher level with her in-depth storyline, well-rounded characters, and several parallel threads that will keep readers engaged and turning pages.

Readers will also get to know the characters in a greater depth than many novels, especially over time if they follow the series.

One interesting thread is the growing friendship between Maggie and Ryan that started in the first novel. It will be fun to see how their relationship goes.

Because this story is set just prior to the Christmas season, the recipes typically shared in a food-related cozy includes three new pie recipes that readers can use during the holiday, or throughout the year.

If you are interested in any of Ellie Grant's books, they are available at Amazon.com.

A special thank you goes to Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, for providing us with a complimentary copy of this book.