Bait and Swiss by Korina Moss Series: Cheese Shop Mystery #6
Published by St. Martin's Paperbacks on April 29, 2025
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
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In Korina Moss's Bait and Swiss, Yarrow Glen’s newest business gives one unlucky resident the swiss of death.
It’s been almost two years since Willa Bauer opened Curds & Whey in Yarrow Glen, and both cheesemonger and cheese shop are thriving in the Sonoma Valley. While Willa doesn’t eat chocolate, it’s true that life is like a box of chocolates. Unfortunately, life’s latest curveball is that Willa’s ex fiancé and ex-best friend—the reason for her chocolate aversion—are opening a chocolate pop-up shop across the street. By the end of the shop’s first day, the town’s newest reporter is the victim of death by chocolate. Now Willa’s ex wants her to be Swiss Congeniality, solve the case, and save the day. As much as Willa wants to hit him with the nearest cheese wheel, she can't stop herself from saying yes. And it’s not long before tourists decide to stay clear of town until the killer is caught. To save Yarrow Glen, Willa and Team Cheese have some work to do.
Curds & Whey has only been open two years and Willa needs to solve a sixth murder.
Willa’s ex-fiancé, Pierce, and his partner, Willa’s former best friend, Riley, have opened a pop-up chocolate shop in the town’s revamped bakery. Willa is, reasonably in my opinion, angry that the pair has chosen her town for their newest store, but when a reporter is killed by poisoned chocolates, she knows she’s not guilty, even if the police chief isn’t so sure. I felt a little bad for the character who got killed. We met him, saw he was pushy, and then he was dead. There was never much consideration that he was even the intended victim.
The reader has several suspects to look at, although Willa would rather not believe any of them are guilty. And was destroying the business’s reputation the point, or was someone trying to kill AJ, the newspaper editor, or Willa herself? Turns out Pierce is not a very nice guy – no surprise, and not entirely honest. Duncan, the store manager, is unhappy with the contract. The owners of the town’s candy shop aren’t thrilled with the competition. And the bakery’s former bread baker/manager is out of a job due to the change in the bakery’s focus.
As always, I enjoy the friendship and banter between Willa, Archie, Baz, and Mrs. Schultz. Detective Heath annoys me a bit – I wish he could be more supportive, but the ending gives me hope.
I was surprised by who the killer turned out to be, but I probably should have seen it coming.
There are also a couple of recipes in the back that I might try: a creamy dip that sounds perfect for game night and pizza smashed potatoes.
About Korina Moss
KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop cozy mystery series set in Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner of the Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead. Her books have been featured in USA Today, PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World Magazine, AARP Magazine, and Fresh Fiction. She loves creating quirky characters who live in idyllic small towns. She grew up on a healthy dose of Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie novels, which developed her passion for solving mysteries and eventually writing her own. She lives in a small New England town with its own share of quirky characters.
Korina is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. She blogs on Writers Who Kill.
For the past several years, Korina has been on her own Eat, Pray, Love journey, which seems to have stalled at the Eat phase. When not writing or sampling new cheeses (a perk of the job), she can be found with a new favorite cozy, doing jigsaw puzzles, or discovering new travel destinations. She has an affinity (some might say ‘addiction’) to coffee mugs, loves cats, and can’t pass up a new notebook or journal with all those fresh, empty pages.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges: