IT STARTED WITH A PIE CONTEST.

IT ENDED WITH HALF THE ISLAND COVERED IN FILLING.

Carroway Island has survived hurricanes, hard winters, bad fishing seasons, and more than a few questionable decisions by Mayor Harold Pike. But nothing has prepared it for the summer of 1988.

When the island's struggling Ladies Auxiliary needs a spark, Mayor Pike concocts what he considers a brilliant idea: a pie festival big enough to bring the whole community together, and perhaps even attract the Governor of Virginia.

There are rules, of course. Lots of rules. And one of them presents Captain Elijah Bailey with a problem.

Bailey is a quiet, weathered waterman who spends his Saturdays hauling away everything Carroway Island no longer wants. He has never sought attention and would very much prefer to keep it that way. But when illness prevents his wife, Martha, from entering her treasured family recipe, Bailey decides her pie deserves its moment.

What follows is pure Carroway: suspicious contestants, wounded pride, increasingly creative interpretations of the rules, and a perfectly respectable church supper rapidly becoming anything but respectable.

Beneath the laughter is the story of a man everyone knew and almost no one truly saw, and a reminder that sometimes the things we overlook are the things most worth discovering.

Funny, heartfelt, and bursting with small-town chaos, The Great Carroway Island Pie Scandal is a warmhearted tale of marriage, community, second chances, and one unforgettable pie.