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

The Long Quiche Goodbye by Avery Aames

I like cozy mysteries. Maybe because they are in fact cozy. There's just something comforting about them even if they do involve murders.

For a little town in Ohio, Providence does pretty well. There are plenty of cute little boutiques and artisan shops in the downtown, among them what is affectionately called The Cheese Shop run by Charlotte and a cousin. After taking it over from her grandparents and remodeling, Charlotte gets more than what she bargains for when a man is killed in front of her store, and her grandmother is the main suspect. And it also affects her grandmother's chance at becoming mayor again. The man's wife is running against her and a prime suspect herself, not to mention a very unpleasant person. Charlotte has to figure out what happened before her grandmother is put away.

Charlotte is an ok character. Very prone to being excitable though. She also is easily swayed which makes her not that strong of a character. Her grandmother and grandfather, however, were fabulous. There were a lot of side characters, but none I really felt a connection to. There wasn't a whole lot of description on them aside from what we were "told" rather than "shown." I guess I would have just liked to see their characters developed. Or maybe less characters with more time spent on them, I kept confusing some of them once in awhile.

The mystery was actually pretty good on this one. I wasn't able to guess who it was even though there were plenty of clues. And it was paced nicely. I think what was best was all the descriptions of cheese. I love cheese. And they thoughtfully included some recipes at the end as well. With all the talk of food though it did make me pretty hungry and of course craving cheese. Being that its a murder mystery it wasn't overly graphic though. More description was given to the cheese than the murder.

I liked it and look forward to reading more in the Cheese Shop Mystery series. If nothing else it will be good just for the recipes.

The Long Quiche Goodbye
Copyright 2010
314 pages