The Long Quiche Goodbye

Charlotte Bessette and her cousin, Matthew, have just taken over the family cheese shop from their grandparents. They've expanded and redecorated the store, adding a connected wine shop since Matthew has experience as a sommelier. The relaunch party is spoiled when their obnoxious landlord is stabbed outside the store. Even worse, Charlotte and Matthew's grandmother is discovered standing over the body, covered in blood. With circumstantial evidence weighing so heavily against her grandmother, Charlotte feels compelled to launch her own investigation into the murder to find the real killer. The victim's equally obnoxious widow, Kristine, is at the top of Charlotte's list of suspects. Kristine is challenging the incumbent mayor, who show more happens to be Charlotte's grandmother, in the upcoming election. Would Kristine go so far as to implicate her rival in murder in order to win the election?

I like the characters, the small town Ohio setting, and the food aspect introduced in this book. However, the mystery and Charlotte's investigative organization leave much to be desired. Charlotte is too suggestible. Her friends keep feeding her ideas, and Charlotte usually dashes off to follow through on whatever has just been suggested to her without much thought about the potential consequences. She keeps forgetting that most of these friends are also suspects in the murder, since they were all at the reopening party and had access to the murder weapon. The cast of locals is quite multicultural, probably more so than the typical small town in a rural Ohio county. I'll likely make a return visit to Charlotte's shop when I'm in the mood for cheese. I hope she has a new set of door chimes by then. The “grape-leaf-shaped chimes” were wearing old by the time I got to the tenth mention! (Yes, I counted.) show less

A frothy tale of frommage, fraught with falsehood, framing and frippery.
Lovelorn Charlotte Bessette has converted her grandparent’s little, cheese shop into the Fromagerie Bessette, stocked with the finest wines and cheeses from around the globe and is prepared for her grand opening. Everyone in the quaint village of Providence, Ohio—bordering Amish country—will be there, as well as busloads of tourists from Cleveland including Zinnia, the gourmet food critic from Delicieux magazine.
The scene is set for disaster. Add in local politics, crooked real estate agents and a flock of wealthy women and one is hardly surprised to find a body on the sidewalk outside the fromagerie. When Charlotte’s grandmother—the current mayor of show more Providence—is found crouched over the body covered in blood, Charlotte has to strike quick to prove her grandmother’s innocence.
Stepping on the toes of the local police chief, Charlotte and her side-kick, Rebecca—recently converted from the Amish life—gather clues and red-herrings until the entire town is suspect of the murder.
Not since Agatha Christie has a female author created an amateur sleuth with a penchant for details. Aames experience in co-starring on Murder She Wrote and Matlock has kept her in good stead. This debut novel in the three-book mystery series, The Cheese Shop Mystery series, is a well-thought-out cozy of a mystery that will keep you engrossed for hours. show less

Charlotte Besette and her cousin Matthew have taken over the cheese shop previously run by their grandparents. Their grand re-opening celebration is interrupted by a scream just outside their door, and when they rush to investigate they spy one of the shop’s special cheese knives sticking out of a dead man’s heart, and their beloved grandmother with the victim’s blood on her hands and splashed over her dress.

This has all the ingredients for a promising cozy mystery set-up: small town business owner, some side bars re food and wine, a potential romantic rivalry (hunky new farmer vs town police chief), an amateur sleuth or two (including a young Amish woman who has left her community and is addicted to TV crime shows). The victim show more is a ruthless business man no one in town likes, so there are plenty of suspects and/or red herrings.

The problem is that Aames is a terrible writer. Tears “splashed on my shoulder” or “drenched my sleeve.” People “scurry” or “glide” or “scuttle away.” Every once in a while she throws in an awkwardly worded simile to add color. Characters behave inconsistently, the dialogue is trite, and the entire scenario (especially the solution) is just not believable.

I give it 1 star just because she has a good idea. show less

I love the cheesy titles of cozy mystery novels. There is SENTENCED TO DEATH and SPRINKLE WITH MURDER. The titles just scream at me "pick me up and read me" and of course I can't resist, as friends will tell you by my overflowing bookshelves.

With all these cheesy novels, I decided that my next read would have to involve cheese, and you can't get more cheese than THE LONG QUICHE GOODBYE.

THE LONG QUICHE GOODBYE is set the town of Province, with Charlotte and her cousin (and business partner) Matthew celebrating the grand reopening of The Cheese Shop. However things don't go to plan when Ed, the richest man in town, is killed. The prime suspect is Charlotte's grandmother, and it's up to Charlotte to discover the real killer and prove show more that her grandmother is innocent.

While it is often a mystery cliche to kill of the richest and most hated man in town, Avery Aames pulls it off perfectly. The mystery was absolute first class, and I was unable to put the book down until the very last chapter when I discovered the murderer! Lately I have picked the murderer long before the ending of the book, but with THE LONG QUICHE GOODBYE I was still guessing right up until the murderer was announced. I was a little shocked that I hadn't picked it up.

The town of Providence has so many fantastic people. While Charlotte is a sweet character, it was her assistant, Rebecca, the amish girl who is now embracing modern life that I adored the most. Especially as she is trying to help Charlotte solve the crime, with tips that she has picked up on CSI and Magnum PI!

All in all, a fantastic mystery. One that left me wanting to go to the supermarket to discover more cheeses! I will definitely be reading the next book in the series, LOST AND FONDUE. show less

And here comes the classical cosy mystery. This time it is a cheese shop but the standard elements for these series are here:

- A big event - opening the store after a renovation - check
- Someone dies - on the sidewalk during the opening - check
- Someone close to the owner is the main suspect- check
- The owner is in love with a strange man that we will learn more about in the future - check
- A lot of talk about whatever the store is selling (cheese) - check
- Recipes - check

However - despite the almost formulaic way to build the book, it is a good one. The main character (Charlotte) is likable, her friends are interesting, her love interest is mysterious and even though he sounds a bit too perfect, we are hearing about him from Charlotte show more after all.

One of the weaknesses of the book are the characters -- a bit too many, a bit too different - to the point where some of them remain underdeveloped simply because there is not enough space for their stories. On the other hand that can turn into the strength of the series -- simply because there is enough to be said and developed.

A small note: If you do not watch Food Network, some of the references won't make any sense - the Barefoot Contessa is mentioned more than once... but even if you do not catch the reference, it does not make the book less understandable. show less

A frothy tale of frommage, fraught with falsehood, framing and frippery.
Lovelorn Charlotte Bessette has converted her grandparent’s little, cheese shop into the Fromagerie Bessette, stocked with the finest wines and cheeses from around the globe and is prepared for her grand opening. Everyone in the quaint village of Providence, Ohio—bordering Amish country—will be there, as well as busloads of tourists from Cleveland including Zinnia, the gourmet food critic from Delicieux magazine.
The scene is set for disaster. Add in local politics, crooked real estate agents and a flock of wealthy women and one is hardly surprised to find a body on the sidewalk outside the fromagerie. When Charlotte’s grandmother—the current mayor of show more Providence—is found crouched over the body covered in blood, Charlotte has to strike quick to prove her grandmother’s innocence.
Stepping on the toes of the local police chief, Charlotte and her side-kick, Rebecca—recently converted from the Amish life—gather clues and red-herrings until the entire town is suspect of the murder.
Not since Agatha Christie has a female author created an amateur sleuth with a penchant for details. Aames experience in co-starring on Murder She Wrote and Matlock has kept her in good stead. This debut novel in the three-book mystery series, The Cheese Shop Mystery series, is a well-thought-out cozy of a mystery that will keep you engrossed for hours. show less

A frothy tale of frommage, fraught with falsehood, framing and frippery.
Lovelorn Charlotte Bessette has converted her grandparent’s little, cheese shop into the Fromagerie Bessette, stocked with the finest wines and cheeses from around the globe and is prepared for her grand opening. Everyone in the quaint village of Providence, Ohio—bordering Amish country—will be there, as well as busloads of tourists from Cleveland including Zinnia, the gourmet food critic from Delicieux magazine.
The scene is set for disaster. Add in local politics, crooked real estate agents and a flock of wealthy women and one is hardly surprised to find a body on the sidewalk outside the fromagerie. When Charlotte’s grandmother—the current mayor of show more Providence—is found crouched over the body covered in blood, Charlotte has to strike quick to prove her grandmother’s innocence.
Stepping on the toes of the local police chief, Charlotte and her side-kick, Rebecca—recently converted from the Amish life—gather clues and red-herrings until the entire town is suspect of the murder.
Not since Agatha Christie has a female author created an amateur sleuth with a penchant for details. Aames experience in co-starring on Murder She Wrote and Matlock has kept her in good stead. This debut novel in the three-book mystery series, The Cheese Shop Mystery series, is a well-thought-out cozy of a mystery that will keep you engrossed for hours. show less