Fondue or Die by Korina Moss

Fondue or Die by Korina Moss

by CarolNo Comments
This time around, Willa and her cheese shop employees are spending the weekend in the neighboring town of Lockwood, which is holding its annual Dairy Days festival. Curds & Whey has a booth there, and both Archie and Mrs. Schultz have been roped into helping with the Miss Dairy beauty pageant. The pageant director, Nadine, has has been running the show for years, ends up dead, and Willa and her friends don't think the local cops are doing a good job with the investigation. The mystery was good. We have several potential suspects with a variety of motives. There were a couple if twists I didn't see coming and I didn't guess who the killer turned out to be. As always, I enjoy the friendship and banter between Willa, Archie, Baz, and Mrs. Schultz. It was also nice to see Willa working with Detective Heath again. He's not officially on this case, it's not his town, but that doesn't mean he's not...
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Case of the Bleus by Korina Moss

Case of the Bleus by Korina Moss

by Carol2 Comments
Case of the Bleus might have been my favorite in the series so far. This time around some of Willa's former co-workers are in town for the Northwest Cheese Invitational. They will also be attending the reading of Max Dumas' will along with his formerly estranged daughter. The daughter is supposed to inherit Max' cheese shop. The big question is who will inherit the secret to Church Bleu Cheese - how it's made and where it's aged. Instead, all they get is a clue they have to figure out. Then one of the cheesemongers is killed, and Willa and her friends decide they need to "help" find the killer. So we have two mysteries - who is the killer, and what is the secret to the cheese. The plot itself had several twists. The visitors to town each have their own angle and were definitely potential suspects. How the woman died was clear right away, but the who was more difficult...
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Death by Bubble Tea by Jennifer J. Chow

Death by Bubble Tea by Jennifer J. Chow

by CarolNo Comments
Death by Bubble Tea is the first in a series featuring Yale Yere and her cousin, Celine. Yale is not thrilled that Celine is in town for a visit and is even less excited when her father suggests the two of them work together at his restaurant's food stand at the night market in their neighborhood. The evening surprisingly goes well, until Yale finds a dead body on her way home. The young woman is lying next to one of the distinctive glasses that Yale and Celine served their drinks in, so the police view them as suspects. Of course, Yale and Celine decide they need to do some snooping around and find the cops better people to be interested in. I really wanted to like this book, but I found Yale annoying. She doesn't have a cell phone. She doesn't drive because of her mother's death. She doesn't seem to have any friends and she's given up cooking. Celine, who...
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Murder at an English Pub by Alice Castle

Murder at an English Pub by Alice Castle

by CarolNo Comments
Following the death of her husband, recently retired doctor, Sarah Vane, has moved next door to her best friend, Daphne, in the small town of Merstairs on the Kent coast. The two women have been friends since their schooldays, and both are delighted with the new arrangement. Daphne has recently purchased a beach hut and offers to let Sarah store some boxes there, but first it needs cleaned out a bit. While the two are working on it, they discover a body in a trunk, clearly murdered. Turns out the dead man was a mostly well-liked local bar owner. Sarah, of course, decides she has to snoop around. I'll grant you the cops don't seem incredibly competent, but Sarah barely knows the people in town aside from Daphne who isn't a real suspect. I felt her reasons for jumping headlong into the investigation seemed a little weak. The small town setting with quirky characters is a cozy mystery staple, but...
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Curds of Prey by Korina Moss

Curds of Prey by Korina Moss

by Carol5 Comments
Yep, Cheesemonger Willa Bauer has found another dead body. This time around, the murdered man is Nelson Trumbull, the nephew of the mayor and the fiancé of Summer Harrington, whose parents are the wealthy and influential new owners of All Things Sonoma magazine. He was killed at Summer's bridal shower, where Willa was providing the cheese bar, and Roman becomes a chief suspect. Roman, it turns out, dumped Summer at the altar a few years earlier and was seen arguing with Nelson. And he doesn't have an alibi. The mystery was well-paced and the new characters fit well or at least as well as entitled rich people can in a cozy mystery. We have several clues and potential suspects, but Willa definitely has to watch her step. It's not only her own reputation (and life) at risk, but also her shop, if she understands Mrs. Harrington's threats correctly. The characters are great. Willa is warm, friendly, and definitely growing as a...
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Gone for Gouda by Korina Moss

Gone for Gouda by Korina Moss

by CarolNo Comments
Gone for Gouda is the second of the Cheese Shop Mysteries. This time around Willa and the other small business owners of Yarrow Glen are gearing up for the harvest festival and parade. In addition, Willa is hosting a book and cook event for Phoebe Winston, a celebrity vegan chef, at her cheese shop, Curds & Whey. Phoebe, it turns out, is quite a diva and the even is going to take more effort and money than Willa expected. Then, photos show up online of the chef eating ribs and just a few hours later she's found dead in her rental house. And Archie, Willa's employee, was the last person caught on the security system's camera. The mystery was solid. Phoebe had connections to several people in town in addition to her assistant, Thomas, who came with her but is staying at the Inn, not the rental house. Willa can't just stand back and let the police blame Archie. This time,...
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