Tag: foodie mystery

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Fondue or Die: A Cheese Shop Mystery (Cheese Shop Mysteries, 5)

304 pages St. Martins Paperbacks 22 October 2024 publication date

ABOUT THE BOOK

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.

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MY THOUGHTS

If you were to ask me what the perfect food was, I’d have to say cheese, mixed with things and alone so I’m sure this is the perfect series for me to read and review.

Fondue or Die is the fifth book in the Cheese Shop cozy mystery series and like the others it’s delectable. Everyone loves a summer festival, and the hot, lazy days are perfect for the Labor Day weekend bash: Dairy Days.

Booths filled with delicious and refreshing cheeses and other dairy products, butter sculptures, cow contests and other things all take a backseat when the Miss Dairy pageant starts as it’s the main attraction and has been for years.

Curds & Whey owner, Willa Bauer once again finds herself embroiled in a riveting case to solve when behind the scenes things are not as calm as they appear.

An engaging cozy mystery that was a fast read that kept my attention. I liked the characters, and the reveal took me by surprise. Looking forward to more in the series.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

THE AUTHOR

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Agatha Award-winning Cheese Shop Mystery series (St. Martin’s Press) set in the Sonoma Valley. Her books have been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, AARP, and Fresh Fiction. Her short stories have been included in the mystery anthologies Crime Travel and Death by Cupcake. She lives and writes in a small town in New England. To learn more about her, visit her website at korinamossauthor.com

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Hot Pot Murder (L.A. Night Market Book 2) A foodie Asian American cozy mystery by Jennifer J. Chow

284 pages June 6, 2023 publication date Berkley publisher

About The Book

Trouble is brewing for cousins Yale and Celine Yee after a hot pot dinner gets overheated and ends in murder in this second novel of the L.A. Night Market series by Jennifer J. Chow.

Yale and Celine Yee’s food stall business is going so well that they’ve been invited to join an exclusive dinner with the local restaurant owners association. The members gather together for a relaxing hot pot feast…until Jeffery Vue, president of the group, receives a literal shock to his system and dies. 

Everyone at the meal is a suspect, but the authorities are homing in on family friend Ai Ho, owner of the restaurant where Jeffery was killed—and Yale’s dad is a close second on their list. Yale and Celine step up to the plate and investigate the dinner attendees: the association’s ambitious VP, a familiar frenemy, a ramen king, a snacks shopkeeper, and a second-generation restaurateur. It’s up to the detecting duo to figure out what really happened before their friends and family have to close their businesses for good.

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My Thoughts

I was so excited to see another book in the L.A. Night Market series. I adored the first book and this one is a charmer as well. Who better to write a culturally diverse book than an Asian American writer? As I was reading, I loved the genuine feel of the book from its setting to its delicious foods. There were so many foods mentioned at the Night Market and restaurants.


Cousins Yale and Celine Yee, one runs a food stall business and the other is from Hong Kong and an influencer. She is always snapping the most appealing food shots, and everyone loves them.


The cousins don’t always agree on everything, but they know they had better agree one thing. They’re about to become a detective duo after an exclusive dinner invite, they attend ends up with the president of the local restaurant owner’s association dead. It seems as though the pool of suspects is wide. Will they be able to sort through all the dinner attendees and find who did it before their friend’s restaurant gets closed down?


This book will leave you hungry and there are some very tasting sounding recipes in the back of the book. I am looking forward to reading more foodie cozies involving the cousins and the night market.

Pub Date 06 Jun 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

About The Author

Agatha, Anthony, and Lefty Award-nominated author. Jennifer J. Chow writes cozy mysteries filled with hope and heritage. Current President of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Los Angeles, where she hunts for all things matcha.

Her most recent series is the L.A. Night Market Mysteries (Berkley/Penguin Random House). Learn more about her other books at http://www.jenniferjchow.com.

Connect on Instagram and Facebook: @jenjchow

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