Cheese Shop Mysteries: Book 5
Publication Date: October 22, 2024
In Korina Moss’s Fondue or Die, the lazy, hazy, dairy days of summer are coming to a close in the Sonoma Valley. . . and so is someone’s life.
The small town of Yarrow Glen’s neighbor, Lockwood, hosts an annual Labor Day weekend bash: Dairy Days. And Willa Bauer and her cheese shop, Curds & Whey, refuse to miss out on the fun. Willa is thrilled to celebrate her favorite thing—she is a cheesemonger after all—and this festival goes all out: butter sculptures, goat races, cheese wheel relays, even a Miss Dairy pageant. Too bad the pageant runner, Nadine, is treating Dairy Days prep like it’s fondue or die and is putting everyone around her on edge. When Willa finds Nadine’s dead body under years’ worth of ceramic milk jugs, the police aren’t sure whether the death was an accident. But fingers are pointing at Willa’s employee, Mrs. Schultz, who steps in to help the pageant after Nadine’s death. Someone wanted Nadine out of the whey, and Willa is going to find out who.
I’ve been a fan of Korina Moss’s Cheese Shop Mysteries series since book one, Cheddar Off Dead. So when I saw a new release was coming, I knew I had to pick it up, and Fondue or Die did not disappoint.
I’ve been in a major reading slump lately, and I needed to reunite with some favorite characters in a familiar setting. Willa and #teamcheese were just the remedy to my situation. Willa and her friends and co-workers are so diverse yet entertaining that I want to be part of their circle. And the fact that they band together to solve crimes while going on with their daily business is just a bonus.
If you’ve ever read my reviews on mysteries, you’ll know that one of my pet peeves is that so often, the mystery, especially in cozies, tends to be an afterthought to the character and world-building. In Fondue or Die, there was a wonderful balance between the mystery and everything else. There was enough world development to set the stage for the mystery. There was a lot of advancement in relationships and friendships, but well mixed in with the mystery. And then the mystery itself was interesting and well done. I can’t say I was terribly surprised at the resolution, but everything made sense to me in the end.
Fondue or Die is an excellent addition to the Cheese Shop Mysteries series. It hit all the right notes, and I can’t wait for the next installment in the series. If you enjoy culinary mysteries and don’t mind a deep dive into cheese, this book and series may be for you.
KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series (Minotaur Books) set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner for Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead. Her books have been featured in PARADE Magazine, Women’s World, AARP, and Fresh Fiction.
