Lost and Fondue by Avery Aames

This 2nd book in the Cheese shop mysteries did not hold as much charm for me as the first. The good news is that you don't have to read the first one in order to enjoy this book though. But if you've read the two, the first one is better.

We return to Charlotte who runs a small town artisan cheese shop. Once again she has found herself in the middle of a murder and desperately wants to prove that a friend's cousin is not the murderer. But the boy murdered has a lot of people who don't really like him and for good reason. But there are plenty of clues left by the murderer too that don't seem to point to any one person. And to distract her from everything there is her budding romance with the mysterious Jordan. Charlotte knows that she has to help find the killer because the police are stretched thin, but she's no detective, just a lover of gouda and good mystery.

I'm still not the biggest fan of Charlotte. I don't understand her motives or even her regular thoughts for that matter. For instance, I can't figure out why she is so attracted to Jordan. A man that wouldn't tell me the truth or who I didn't even know that well because of secrets wouldn't be someone I'd want to spend the rest of my life with. But apparently that is extra appealing to her. The best characters are still the grandparents in this book, but sadly they aren't mentioned as much in this one. And when they are mentioned its for a side plot of a play that just doesn't really fit with the rest of the book. Not to mention, in this book there is the addition of side character Sylvie who I can't stand. Granted I'm not supposed to like her character, but it was tough just to read about her.

The mystery was ok. I didn't guess who it was until Charlotte did which is a good thing to me. But all the extra stuff thrown in really detracted from the mystery. I didn't care about the play and even though it helped with the mystery, I didn't think it was all too important. What I did like in the writing was all the mention of cheese. I'm a cheese lover and this book is full of delicious cheese descriptions. There are also some recipes included at the end as well that I may have to give a try. But descriptions of cheese are the most graphic you'll get in this book; even though there is a murder, that's not described to the extent the cheese was.

I'll definitely read the next book in the series. I like them. This one just wasn't as "cozy" as the first book.

Lost and Fondue
Copyright 2011
297 pages