Publication Date: September 26, 2023

Summary

The Northwest Cheese Invitational has come to Yarrow Glen, California, where Willa Bauer runs Curds and Whey, her cheese shop. This year there will be a special ceremony to honor Max Dumas. Max was a mentor to Willa, but he was best known for his Church Bleu – a blue cheese he created and aged in a location known only to him. Four of Max’s employees – Kendall, Claire, Pepper and Freddie –  are in town for the ceremony and to hear the reading of the will in which they hope to benefit. They suspect that Max will have left his cheese shop to his long-estranged daughter, Maxine, but they hope that he will have left the secret of Church Bleu to Kendall. That secret could be worth a fortune to the cheesemongers and is key to keeping the shop profitable. When Kendall dies not long after the reading of the will, Willa knows she needs to help get to the bottom of it quickly. 

My Thoughts

While I enjoyed meeting the characters, discovering the cheese shop, and learning about  cheeses, and found the romance aspect entertaining, the mystery lacked depth. It was far too easy to narrow down the suspects because there was really essentially one motive that applied to all of the suspects – the desire to find and own the secrets to Max’s cheese. This is a story that could have benefited from some red herrings and cleverly placed clues to create a more complex puzzle. Willa didn’t so much solve the murder using deduction as she did luck into it. The mystery also lacked a satisfying round-up; we never found out how the murderer did it.

Although this was book 4 in the series and I hadn’t read any of the first 3, I find it did well as a standalone. I liked the story enough that I will check out others in the series.

What Else I Liked

• The Cheese! I enjoyed learning about cheese and there are some interesting recipes included that I plan to try out.

• The town! It sounds like such a cosy place with everything I’d hope for in a town – a bakery, a cheesemonger, a bookstore with a cafe, a grocer, and a winery! There’s also a lovely park with a farmer’s market, bike trails, a bike shop, even an inn with a nice restaurant! And, of course, friendly neighbors. Every little town needs those.

• The author describes the town and all of the locations so clearly that I have a map and pictures in my mind. 

• Archie, Mrs. Schulz and Baz are great secondary characters. 

What I Didn’t Like

• Willa is clearly a gifted business owner who knows cheese, but her observational skills could use some work. Overall, I find her endearing and compassionate. However, she seems a bit too trusting for somebody trying to track a murderer and she jumps to some strange conclusions at times.

• I didn’t find the epilogue answered enough questions.

My Rating 3/5

I received an eArc copy of this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

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About the Author

Korina Moss is the author of Agatha Award winning Cheese Shop Mystery Series. She lives in a small town in New England where she writes both mysteries and short stories. She is a member of both Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

You can find out more about the author on her website. She also blogs on Writers Who Kill where you can find a really interesting post about how she developed the plot for this book.