Fondue or Die : A Cheese Shop Mystery by Korina Moss

 Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The recipe review and food pairing found on my Instagram feed are of my own doing. 


Fondue or Die
A Cheese Shop Mystery
Korina Moss
St. Martin’s Paperbacks 

Where in the world is cheesemonger Willa Bauer? In book five of the Cheese Shop Mysteries, Willa has left her shop Curds & Whey located in Yarrow Glen and is taking part in the Dairy Days Festival in Lockwood. In addition to having a booth at the festival she and Archie have volunteered to help with the Miss Dairy pageant.  

Being a fan of detective Heath, I am super excited that he and Willa are working together. Since the murder takes place out of his jurisdiction, it isn’t his investigation that Willa and Team Cheese are trying to solve. Willa isn’t stepping on his Detective Heath’s toes, but she is butting heads with Chief Womack who seems to be hiding something and has Mrs. Schultz on his suspect list. How anyone could even think for the briefest of seconds that Mrs. Schultz had anything to do with the death of Nadine the pageant director. Not that she goes out of her way to be difficult. AJ JDJDJ, now he is another story altogether but he and Willa have an understanding, a quid pro quo, as it were.

Speaking of difficult people, Nadine is not anyone's favorite person. She is not popular with the participants or their mothers. Nadine has high expectations and takes the pageant very seriously, unlike Grace Kelp, journalist for the Lockwood Weekly who is reporting on the misogynistic aspects of the contest and her call to have shut down. Fiona, the number-one seller of Becky's Bakeware and pageant judge is butting heads with Nadine. Nadine's cousin Mary Ann is beside herself with the loss of Nadine, but she is keeping a stiff upper lip in order to honor Nadine and the pageant. There are a lot of clues, most of which Chief Womack seems to be ignoring which puts Willa on high alert and she manages to get Heath to work with her while taking his suggestions for safety.   

I really liked reading how Willa and Heath worked as well together as Team Cheese. Maybe, just maybe...I am team Heath all the way and love a happy ending. The clues were well placed and I didn't figure out the mystery until the big reveal. After enjoying this stand-alone Cheese Shop Mystery, I was enticed into doing a little internet search for interesting beauty pageants and came upon the garlic festival beauty pageant so the idea of a cheese sponsored pageant is not such a stretch. Another well written and highly enjoyable cozy and the best part is that there are recipes at the end of the story so you aren't salivating for nothing while enjoying the book. I took time to make and enjoy the Extra-Cheesy Alfredo and I encourage everyone to give it a try.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October New Cozy Releases

Image
Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing these ARCs in exchange for honest reviews. Bag of Bones (Low Country Dog Walker Mysteries) By Jackie Layton Published by Bell Bridge Books Release date: Ocotober 30, 2020 I really enjoy the way faith and family are interwoven in The Low Country Dog Walker Mystery series. In this book as with many of the cozies I read, family isn't always genetic. Andi Grace sets an excellant example just like her dog Sunny. These stories have just the right amount of spirituality to not be preachy and to still deliver a great cozy, which means that our main character is not perfect but just tries to do their best in all they do. That includes solving murders and this time is no exception. Andi Grace really has her job cut out for her this time as she is literally attached by her high school sweetheart who seems to have nothing but disdain for her now, disdain and a crazy and erratic temper. Not exactly someone who should be running f...
Read more

Supper Club Super Slueths Cozys courtesy of NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing

Image
Black Beans and Vice (Supper Club Mysteries #6) by Ellery Adams *Courtesy of Beyond the Page and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. If the Scooby Doo Mystery Inc gang had been created in this day and age and then aged up to their 40's it would be the Quincy's Gap Supper Club friends. A great group of friends with varied backgrounds and love of food, fun, friendship, and solving murders. The group is trying to balance their love of good food with great health and are making a group commitment to work towards thinner and healthier goals. Not only do they try the Mediterranean diet but also a little hypno therapy to curb carbs and slate their desire for sugary sweets at the Wellness Village. Unfortuneatly they encounter not only some animal rights extremists but also the body of the mayor who may or may not have been playing loose and fast with the town finances. There are side stories aplenty from stalking to stealing and other such fun bits in between. Excellent re...
Read more

February 2022 New Cozy Reviews

Image
   Thank you to the authors, publishers, and NetGalley for providing these ARCs in exchange for honest reviews. FEBRUARY 22nd RELEASES Antique Auctions are Murder Libby Klein Kensington   Poppy got a dresser and a bit more…a dead body, while Aunt Ginny got herself a sequined matador jacket. This story has several people wanting more, Auggie Whipple wanted more money, Grover Prickle wants more of his items to quit disappearing, Tildy wants more family (a baby), Courtney Whipple wants more ribbons for his heirloom tomatoes, Mrs. Davis and Josephine want the ornate family jewelry box, Poppy wants more time with Gia, Amber and just wants to solve this murder without the usual challenges and without her new partner Sergeant viola Washington who seems a little skeptical about Poppy’s abilities to fall in and out of trouble that she doesn’t create.  This story is loaded with plenty of characters with character, plenty of suspects, and plenty amazing descriptive foods. Speak...
Read more