Case of the Bleus: A Cheese Shop Mystery

by Korina Moss

Overview

What in the bleu blazes is happening in Yarrow Glen now?

An Agatha Nominee for Best Contemporary Mystery Novel

Cheesemongers from across the Northwest have come to the Sonoma Valley for the Northwest Cheese Invitational. As owner of the local cheese shop, Curds & Whey, Willa Bauer loves it. The event showcases custom cheese creations, and it’s the perfect time to gather with old colleagues to honor her former boss, the late and grate cheese legend, Max Dumas. He was famous for journeying into the wild bleu yonder to where he aged his award-winning custom Church Bleu. Only Max knew the recipe and location to his beloved cheese, and many are eager to have these revealed at his will reading.

But instead of naming someone to inherit his cheese and its secrets, Max stuns everyone with one cryptic clue. When a fellow cheesemonger dies under mysterious circumstances––the woman they all thought would get the secrets to Max's prized possession––everyone falls under suspicion. Willa adores Church Bleu as much as the next cheese connoisseur, but it’s not to die for. Is a killer trying to get away with murder...and the cheese?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250893895
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/26/2023
Series:	Cheese Shop Mysteries , #4
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	120,358
Product dimensions:	4.00(w) x 6.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series (Minotaur Books) set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner for Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead. Her books have been featured in PARADE Magazine, Women’s World, AARP, and Fresh Fiction.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Case of the Bleus

One of USA Today's Best Cozy Mystery Series

One of Aunt Agatha's Best Cozy Mysteries of the Year

"[A] charming whodunnit." –Woman's World

“Plenty of cheese lore enriches a mystery that’s puzzling in more ways than one.” –Kirkus Reviews

"An awesome addition to this series. I loved everything about this story. Engaging characters that have grown by leaps and bounds since the first book." –Escape with Dollycas

Praise for the Cheese Shop Mysteries

“Serves up plenty of cheese boards, small-town drama, and death.” –Parade

“A quirky whodunnit.” –Woman’s World

“A series that readers will be eager to revisit.” —First Clue

From the Publisher

2023-07-26
A dead cheesemaker provides a motive for murder.

Willa Bauer’s dream came true when she opened Curds & Whey, her French-themed cheese shop in the Sonoma Valley. Now her mentor, Max Dumas, who died in a car accident, is to be honored at the Northwest Cheese Invitational for his body of work, especially his famous Church Bleu, which won the best cheese award an unprecedented three times. In town for the event are Kendall Waterstone, Claire Ingram, and Pepper Sheffield, Willa’s former co-workers from Max's store, along with newcomer Freddie Yang, who together plan on buying Max’s Church Cheese shop from his daughter, Maxine, who had a love/hate relationship with her father and has even less interest in cheese. The only problem is that Max never revealed the secret for making Church Bleu to any of them while he was alive, saying only that he'd leave it to his favorite cheesemonger. When Max’s will is read before the invitational, it doesn’t mention Willa, but he did give her his copy of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca when she set off on her own. Undeterred, the rest of the group and Hugo Potts, president of the board of the Northwest Cheese Society, continue to squabble over who Max would have given the secret recipe to. When Kendall dies from an allergic reaction, Willa’s friend Roman, who sold the honey-based mead that killed her, is blamed. Handsome Detective Heath is not best pleased when Willa blurts out that her death must be murder. Since Max loved puzzles, Willa isn’t surprised when a posthumous letter arrives from him with hints about using Rebecca to find the secrets of Church Bleu. Placed in an awkward and dangerous position, Willa turns detective.

Plenty of cheese lore enriches a mystery that’s puzzling in more ways than one.

Kirkus Reviews