Case of the Bleus

I received an advance copy of the book via NetGalley (as I have the previous volumes in the series).

A Case of Bleus is the fun fourth book in a series set in a fictional small town in northern California, where Willa Bauer owns a French-styled cheese shop and has a habit of solving murders. In this book, a big regional cheese conference is being held in her town and is going to celebrate the life of a former boss of hers who recently died--but is it really a memorial, or a chance for greedy scrambling? A number of people--employees, a cheese association head honcho, an estranged daughter--all have a stake in the fate of the boss's famous blue cheese. No one else knows how it was made or where it was aged, and the secret is supposed to show more be revealed during a will-reading at the conference. When someone is murdered and Willa starts getting clues about the blue cheese, she relies on her loyal group (Team Cheese!) to find out whodunnit.

The book is a fun, breezy read. There were a few points where the cheese lingo felt awkward and the plot forced, but overall, it was highly enjoyable, with a nicely complicated resolution. show less

Willa is growing very comfortable in her cheese shop, Curds and Whey. A year or two prior, she had been working for a good friend and excellent cheese monger, Max, and thought she was close to his staff there. She is excited to see them again as they come to a cheese convention in her town, especially since Max recently passed away. The group will be bringing Max’s award winning, secret recipe cheese as a highlight, and will also attend a reading of Max’s will. They’re hopeful that the secret recipe will be revealed. When things don’t go as planned, Willa and Team Cheese will have to investigate.

Case of the Bleus is the 4th in the Cheese Shop mystery series but works perfectly well as a standalone. It's clear that Willa and her show more employees and friends have been developing deeper relationships as they have solved previous mysteries, and I really like their camaraderie. The atmosphere of the small quaint town is exactly what I want in a cozy, and the cheese shop sounds amazing. I’m definitely ready to try some of the recipes included at the end. I particularly liked the fact that there appeared to not be a romantic triangle but rather a moving on from one relationship to another with everyone functioning mostly as adults.

There are really two mysteries included here and neither one was particularly satisfying. That isn’t a deal breaker for me since I enjoy the story more than trying to beat the MC in solving the mystery. However, we never learn how the murder mystery was actually carried out, and I found I was looking for that information to have everything make sense. With that aside, I still enjoyed reading this, and have just purchased the first in the series. I’ll likely keep reading titles in this series.

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

When well-known cheesemonger Max Dumas passes away, rivalries for ownership of his cheese shop abound. In addition, several individuals race to discover the secret of his famous Church Bleu cheese. These rivalries come to a breaking point when the individuals involved all attend an invitational cheese conference at Yarrow Glen, home of Willa's Curds and Whey cheese shop. Willa becomes unwillingly involved in a dangerous game of competition. In addition to the mystery, the story contains a romantic aspect as a secondary thread.

I liked the characters in this novel, although the plot seemed slow-moving at times. I also liked the literary tie-ins and the clues to the cheese secret. However, I found the ending just fell flat. It seemed like show more a lot of deception and running around for something that could have been solved much more easily. Readers will certainly learn about cheese, and there are recipes at the end. Although this is part of a series, it can be read as a stand alone novel.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own. show less

small-business, small-town, cheesemaker, cheese-lore, California, cozy-mystery, friendship, friction, series, local-law-enforcement, jealousies, inheritance, recipes, amateur-sleuth, secrets, lies, situational-humor, verbal-humor, murder-investigation*****

The death of Willa's former employer caused an uproar in the cheese community as the Northwest Cheese Invitational loomed and everyone awaited to see who inherited the recipe for his famous Church Bleu cheese. Instead, he left clues to find it but at first all that was found was a murdered man. The publisher's blurb hooked me and the story kept me guessing all the way to the recipes at the end. Good read!
I requested and received an EARC from the St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's show more Paperbacks via NetGalley. Thank you! show less

Team Cheese is on the case again. Willa Bauer reconnects with old co-workers when the Northwest Cheese Invitational is scheduled for the town where Willa has opened Curds & Whey, her own cheese shop.

The invitational is honoring Max Dumas after his death. He created a unique, special and valuable cheese and his employees hope that he has shared the secret of its creation in his will. The formula could lead to fame and fortune for the person who inherits it.

When the will proves a disappointment, the co-workers, Max's daughter, and the president of the cheese organization need to find another way to find the cheese. Willa doesn't want the cheese but finds herself in the middle of things when it is learned that a book Max gave her when show more she left to open her own shop is filled with clues.

When one of the co-workers is murdered, Willa realizes that this is a secret someone is willing to kill for. And since a former dating partner is under suspicion because his mead was the murder weapon which killed highly-allergic-to-honey Kendall, Willa has to get involved despite the problems it will cause with potential date Detective Heath.

The story was fun. The characters were interesting. And the recipes in the back for some of the cheese treats enjoyed during the story sound good too. show less

This fourth book in the Cheese Shop Mysteries is a solid installment in the series. It is a fun series with great characters and clever plots. It's a quick, page-turner type of book.

At the Northwest Cheese Invitational, local cheese shop owner Willa Bauer, meets up with former co-workers also in attendance. Much time is spent trying to track down the details (recipe and aging location) for the award-winning bleu cheese her late boss, Max, was known for. Before too long, tracking down the bleu cheese details based on clues Max left behind is not the only thing Willa and her loyal friends, Team Cheese, are trying to figure out.

Highly recommended to cozy fans!!

(I received a copy of the book from the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange show more for a fair and honest review.) show less