This was a great beginning to a new cozy series! Also, the food mentioned made me so hungry, it all sounded so good!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I'm not a huge cozy mystery fan but this did keep my interest until the very end.

[Copied from my review of the audio version of this book] Carly is a widow who has fulfilled her dream of running a grilled cheese eatery in her hometown. She is just making things work when she's told she will be evicted by the new owner of her building. Then, that owner is found dead in the alley behind her restaurant. Carly and one of her employees are on the list of suspects, so she ventures out to find the killer. A good cozy mystery with all the right elements. Some nice twists in the plot!

I loved this book! Up to No Gouda is the first book in a brand new series that will have you craving grilled cheese! In fact, within the first couple of chapters, I stopped to make myself a grilled cheese sandwich...maybe I'll have one now too.... Of course, mine are no where near the deliciousness of Carly Hale's variety of grilled cheese sandwiches. This book made me wish that Carly's Grilled Cheese Eatery was real. I think traveling from the Midwest to way up in New England would probably be worth it just for her sandwiches.

This cozy mystery is filled with really great characters whom you'll enjoy getting to know. I can't wait to learn more about them. The mystery is very hard to solve! I didn't know who the murderer was until they were revealed! This book will keep you turning the pages. I definitely recommend it!

Up to No Gouda is the first book by Linda Reilly in her new Grilled Cheese Mysteries.

Main heroine Carly, is thirtysomething young woman who returns to her home town in Vermont and opens up a grilled cheese diner. Very soon she finds a dead body of her landowner who has just told her that she will need to vacate the premises.
Her coworker becomes a person of interest so Carly has no choice but help the police find out the truth as soon as possible.
All in all a decent start of the series. Mystery was gone, characters are well developed and mystery interesting enough. There are several additional characters that are part of the story.
It is steady paced and easy to read.
For some reason I couldn't connect with the main heroine and I couldn't stop thinking that she was much older that she was.
The story itself was an expected cozy mystery theme, setting and doesn't vary from others of its genre,

This was a definite delight! I loved that she opened a grilled cheese diner. Made me want to try grilled cheese sandwiches many different ways. There were twists at every turn and I did not anticipate what the ending had in store! I would definitely recommend this book!

What a great start to a new series!!! Im looking forward to hopefully many more to come. I'm all about grilled cheese so this right up my alley

Yet another food themed cozy! I am a sucker for themed cozies though, and this one was a fun and fast read. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

Linda Reilly managed to keep me hooked and hungry while reading this new cozy mystery. Carly's grilled cheese shop has all the nice quirks to it. The grilled cheese sandwich names, and the fact that it used to be an ice cream parlor gives off the old diner style vibe. I love and will be trying the grilled cheese recipes located at the back of the book.
You can't help but feel bad for Carly when her shop is threatened with closure. Lyle Bagley was a crooked man in many ways, but that certainly didn't mean he deserved to die. This book had me guessing up to the end on who the murderer was. I was so shocked, because I literally never saw it coming. Carly is definitely a new sleuth that I want to keep reading about...as well as her grilled cheese shop.

Up to No Gouda was a cute 1st in a series cozy mystery. Carly, recently widowed, has moved back home to Balsalm Dell, VT and opened her dream grilled cheese restaurant. Business is going great but 5 months in she gets the news that the buildings new owner will not be renewing her lease. Lyle was her high school boyfriend and has become quite the town bully. A fight happens between Lyle and one of the restaurant’s employees and then Lyle is found murdered the next day.

I enjoyed this book. It was entertaining, full of great characters and sleuthing. I cannot wait to see where this series goes next.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Losing her husband in a car accident, Carly Hale returned to her hometown to open a diner specializing in grilled cheese sandwiches and soup. Only 5 months later, the diner's existence threatened when the building is sold. That's bad enough then the new owner is found murdered and one of her employees is suspect numero uno.

Likeable characters and setting. Loved the title and cover. While I was able to guess the perpetrator fairly early, the motive I couldn't. Includes recipes.

This was a great start to a new cozy mystery series. I must admit the whole book had me craving a grilled cheese and I loved all the different ways they made them. Be ready to drool if you're reading this! The mystery was great, the cast of characters were unique and I can't wait to read the next book!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Really cute book! liked the characters not to "cheesy" (pun intended!) but super cute, can't wait to read more and wow i wish someone would open a restaurant like that near me!

Up to No Gouda is the series starter for a shopfront small-town cozy by Linda Reilly. Released 25th Jan 2022 by Poisoned Pen Press, it's 312 pages and is available in mass market paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a promising start for fans of small town shopfront cozies. Protagonist Carly is a cafe owner with a shop that specializes in soup and grilled cheese in a myriad variations. The usual pool of small-town-oddball characters are present, there's skullduggery and hidden motives to be unearthed, and there's the hint of developing romance between Carly and a local guy.

Some of the characterizations and plot developments are admittedly a bit over the top and there are some twists which require a healthy suspension of disbelief, but all in all, it's a pretty good example of why the shopfront cozy subgenre is so popular. I found the denouement and resolution satisfying and well written. The language is squeaky clean and the violence is off-page and not very graphic.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 8 hours and 31 minutes and is narrated by Mia Gaskin. She has an interesting and nuanced voice with an American accent (sort of standard midwest, not an intrusive regional accent). She enunciates very well and although her voice is youthful (she's young), it doesn't detract from the read at all. The sound and production quality of the recording were high throughout.

Four stars. This would be a good light read for fans of cozies. It would be perfectly safe for work/commute reading. I'm interested to see what comes next for Carly and her friends. This is the sort of cozy with some recipes at the back of the book and this one includes some interesting twists on, of course, grilled cheese.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

After the death of her husband, Carly returns to Vermont to live out a dream.
Grilled Cheese has always been her comfort food and she wants to share it with others.
After only MONTHS of opening her grill, she is informed her lease is not being renewed.
As angry as she is, when the new building owner is found dead behind her store, Carly is not the prime suspect. However one of her best friends and employees is.
The victim is a man with a past involving many wronged parties, even relatives.
So many motives, but who had the opportunity and temperament to kill him?

I enjoyed meeting a whole new community of characters. Some you liked or disliked immediately and a few surprises are in store.
I enjoyed the narrator very much. It was a delight to listen to, curled up on my couch with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Carly Hale has returned to Balsam Dell after the death of her husband. She needs time to heal and opening up up a Grilled Cheese Restaurant is the start of said healing. She has always dreamed of having her own eatery and now that she has life is starting to look a little bit brighter. When she learns that the owner of her building, an ex from high school, is kicking her out she is saddened and mad. She hoped she would be at this location forever but now she must come up with a solution. Things go.from bad to worse when Lyle is found dead and she becomes a suspect in his murder. Now she not only needs to save her restaurant but she has to clear her name as well. Follow along to find out if Carly not only figures out who the real killer is but is able to save her livelihood as well.

This is a great mystery!!! I thought I had the culprit pegged and then another twist. I really enjoyed meeting all the characters and I can't wait until the next installment.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for this advance read.

This book will make you crave cheese…and lots of it! That aside, I enjoyed this read very much. It is a rather standard cozy mystery - lighthearted with engaging characters. Highly recommend and looking forward to the next installment.

Up to No Gouda by Linda Reilly is the 1st book in a new series, Grilled Cheese Mysteries. All the grill cheese sandwiches sure made me hungry in this book. Carly Hale returned home after her husband's death. She is also fulfilling her life long dream of open a grill cheese eatery. Unfortunately Carly's high school boyfriend, Lyle, is now the town bully and he has bought the building the eatery is in, and Carly is being evicted. When Lyle's body is found, the sleuthing begins. This book had more twists and turns, and an excellent mystery that kept me reading. I found this book to be a quick read, with a well developed plot and characters. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, I'm always excited for a new and good series. If you love cozy mysteries, I highly recommend this book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Up To No Gouda
Grilled Cheese Mystery, Book #1
Linda Reilly
5 Stars

Synopsis:

The first in a delicious new culinary cozy series featuring a grilled cheese eatery owner who must solve murders in her small town before she is put under lock and brie

Back in Balsam Dell to heal after the death of her husband, Carly Hale is finally pursuing her lifelong dream—opening Carly's Grilled Cheese Eatery. After only five months, business is booming as Vermont vacationers and townspeople alike flock to lunch on her Party Havartis and other grilled cheese concoctions. All but Lyle Bagley, Carly's one-time high school boyfriend and now town bully who just bought the building that houses her eatery and wants Carly out. After a muenster of a fight, Carly's forced to put her nose to the rind and find a solution to keep her business afloat.

That is...until Lyle is discovered dead behind the dumpster of Carly's shop, and one of her employees becomes the prime suspect. In order to save her eatery and prove her friend's innocence, Carly must sleuth out the killer before she's the one who gets grilled.

With a delightful cast of characters, an inventive amateur sleuth, and a whole host of cheesy hijinks, Up to No Gouda is the perfect cozy murder mystery to melt into. (Goodreads)

Review:

The characters are well rounded and well developed. Carly has opened her grilled cheese restaurant and it has been going really well. Her employees, Suzanne and Grant, have become friends, as well as employees. All is going well until an old boyfriend tells her that he now owns the building and he is closing down her restaurant. When he is later found dead, Carly and her employees are considered persons of interest. Carly will have to figure out who the killer is before her dream restaurant becomes a curdled mess.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through much of the book I felt like I was right there, watching all the action taking place. The mystery was well plotted and there were enough clues to sift through and suspects to consider. The mystery was not easily solved and I did not know who the killer was until it was revealed at the end.

This was a good beginning to a new series and I am looking forward to reading about other predicaments Carly gets into. All of this author’s series are good.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.