Cheddar Off Dead is the debut of the A Cheese Shop Mystery series set in the small Sonoma Valley town of Yarrow Glen and featuring Cheesemonger and owner of Curds & Whey, Willa Bauer. Willa left her family farm in Oregon at a young age and has spent years traveling around the world studying all types of cheese. Now she's sunk all of her life savings into opening her own small cheese shop and is looking forward to the arrival of magazine critic, Guy Lippinger whose review could easily make or break her new career.

During an early evening cheesemaking class with a few of the local shop owners, Willa quicky learns that not many residents are fans of the critic. His scathing reviews have destroyed some businesses yet he has left others alone for no apparent reason. When Guy finally shows up at Curds & Whey, hours late and drunk, he immediately begins to find fault with the shop and Willa's products. After a nasty exchange with some of the students, and a threat to expose a secret about one of them, Guy stumbles back out the door. The next morning Willa discovers Guy's car out in the alley, with the man stabbed to death inside - the murder weapon is one of her own cheese knives.

The police are looking hard at Willa as a prime suspect, but she knows she's innocent and that there are plenty of others in town who had reason to see Guy dead. Teaming up with her employees, Mrs. Schultz and Archie, and neighbor Baz Tooney, Willa sets outs to clear her name and uncovers a trail of blackmail, resentment and hidden family secrets.

A fast paced read with a delightful cast of characters, a captivating mystery and delicious sounding cheeses (one of which ends up taking down the killer). I'll be looking forward to more adventures with Willa as she settles into her new hometown and begins bonding with members of the community.

I received an advanced copy of Cheddar Off Dead from NetGalley via St. Martin's Press. While not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.

Thank you NetGalley for early access to this title in exchange for an honest review.
Cheddar Off Dead is a first in a new cozy mystery series, and debuts Willa Bauer - cheesemonger as our sleuthing protagonist. When the local food critic is found dead right next to Willa's brand new cheese shop she is compelled to see that this case is solved quickly in order to save her young business' reputation.
I truly enjoyed every moment I spent reading this story and routinely found myself reading twice as much as I had planed to. The plot moves are a great pace and the diverse cast of characters will grab your attention and hold on. Knowing that her livelihood is on the line Willa is dogged in her need to solve the murder herself - despite constantly being told to butt out, however she never felt too obsessed just driven. Fantastic beginning to a series I look forward to continuing to read.

Willa Bauer has opened her dream cheese shop in the Sonoma Valley. She's got two wonderful employees, a great neighbor, and... a dead body in the alley.

Desperate to make a good impression on the town of Yarrow Glen, Willa sets out to prove her innocence. The only way to accomplish that is to find the killer, much to the chagrin of Detective Heath. Unfortunately for Willa, all the suspects are people she's come to know and quickly grown to care for.

Willa is a great main character, she's following her dream and making a place for herself in her new home. Mrs. Schultz and Archie are the perfect assistants, a retired schoolteacher and a recent high school graduate who have lots of connections in the community and who are enthusiastic about learning the ins and outs of the cheese trade. I also love Willa's apartment above the cheese shop, where she lives with her fish, Loretta.

The investigation takes us through downtown Yarrow Glen, introducing us to some interesting characters and a variety of local businesses. We also get to spend quite a bit of time with the very interesting Detective Heath, who was not exactly supportive of Willa's own investigation.

This was a very quick and fun read. The characters were all compelling in their own way and the investigation was interesting. There were a limited number of suspects and the clues added up for and against them throughout the book. A few times I thought I might know who the killer was but I was wrong each time. I highly recommend this book and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Cheddar Off Dead is the first book in the Cheese Shop Mystery series by  Korina Moss . The series is off to go to a good start.

Making a series around a cheese shop, and exploring how all the different cheeses are made and what they taste like is original and interesting. The author also did an excellent job of characterization bringing all the people in the book to life through words and actions.  

 Many of the characters in the book seemed to have a good  reason to murder Guy, who had a vendetta against the small town of Yarrow Glen that he grew up in.  As an adult, he worked as a food critic and  posted reviews in the area  that were at times disastrous to the owners of shops there. There were many clues that made me reconsider  time and again who I thought was the person who killed Guy. 

This book is definitely worthy of a 4 star rating

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, St. Martin’s Press and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

What a fun cozy mystery! The first in a new series started off positive. Room for growth, a lot of storylines, characters and a great series.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Cheddar Off Dead by Korina Moss in exchange for an honest review. Cheesemonger Willie Bauer owns a cheese shop called Curds and Whey in Yarrow Glen, CA. She is hoping Guy Lippinger, a magazine critic, will give her a good review for All Things Sonoma. Guy finally does come, unfortunately he is drunk and belligerent and she is teaching a class. Later Willa finds Guy in his car with a knife in his back. Willa's next door neighbor, Baz, says he will help her in solving the murder. This story makes me want to try all the cheeses mentioned.

Plot: This was such a good cozy mystery! I've gotten pretty good at figuring out the culprit (for those wondering, it doesn't change my enjoyment of a book if I guess right or not, because part of the fun is trying to see if I'm right!) by the end of a mystery, but this book managed to surprise me.

Characters: This book had a great cast of characters, with Willa being a great lead! I liked her group of friends, and enjoyed reading about her trying to figure out who she could trust, while trying to make her cheese shop a success.

The Cover: I like it, it fits the book well!

Overall: This was an awesome beginning to a new cozy mystery series, and I eagerly anticipate the next book! Overall, I would highly recommend reading it!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

This was a good start to a new series. It has an interesting cast of characters but there is room for development in future books. The plot line at times seemed to stutter and could have used a bit more of a reality check.. I liked the setting in Sonoma and would like to see it expanded on in future books.

This is a Cozy Mystery, and this is the first book in A Cheese Shop Mystery series. I was really looking forward to this book, but I have to say the storyline never pulled me into it. I ended DNFing this book at just under 50%. I felt the characters was just ok. I felt the beginning of the books pacing was really way to slow. Overall, This was just not the cozy mystery for me. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

Willa Bauer just opened a new French inspired cheese shop in Sonoma Valley. She is thrilled when she finds out a critic is going to do an article on her shop, until she finds out that he only does awful reviews for shops in Yarrow Glen. When he finally does show up it is a disaster only made more so when she finds him dead behind the shop. Willa is shocked when she seems to be the prime suspect and she and her friends set out to clear her name.

This is a great start to a new series. I liked the mystery and found the characters fun and relatable. You also can't go wrong with all the cheese. I am looking forward to the next book.

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of CHEDDAR OFF DEAD (Book 1 of the Cheese Shop Mysteries), by Korina Moss, in exchange for an honest review. Willa Bauer has just moved to a small Sonoma Valley town named Yarrow Glen to open her dream business, a cheese shop. Her shop is spiffy, her merchandise delicious, and her staff fully trained. Willa is thrilled when a local food critic makes an appointment to review her shiny new shop, so she’s really disappointed when he fails to show up. Anyway, life goes on, and Willa continues with a cheese making event she planned as a networking opportunity with several business managers and owners. The workshop is interrupted by pounding on the door by an angry drunk. When Willa explains it’s after business hours and pointedly tries to evict the man from the shop, he reveals that he’s the food critic. The ensuing brouhaha ends with everyone leaving. However, the food critic never made it out of the parking lot. Willa finds herself to be a person of interest in the murder, so she and her new friends investigate. However, murderers are dangerous prey.

I liked this book. I thought it was a solid start to a new series. I wish, however, the book had included more background information about Willa and her move to town toward the beginning of the tale. I recommend the book to fans of food-themed cozy murder mysteries.

What a great start to the Cheese Shop Mystery series. I really like Willa and the entire cast of characters. Moss writes incredibly likable characters and I look forward to learning more about them as I read more of this cheesy (grin) series. The mystery and clues are just right and left me guessing to the end. Beware you will get some serious cravings, so have plenty of cheese ready on hand. Great new entry in the Culinary Cozy category!

Cheddar Off Dead is a first in a new series by Korina Moss, and debuts Willa Bauer as our leading character.
Willa is new to town and is adjusting to owning her own business. When a food critic stumbles into Willa's cheese shop, late and intoxicated, she doesn't imagine that it can get any worse. For those of us who love cozy mysteries, we know the worst is yet to come.
I found Willa to be a good character, but I didn't feel an immediate connection to her just yet. I always look forward to the next book, as it usually tells more about the characters and their backgrounds.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this series unfolds.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.
#cheddaroffdead #NetGalley

I adore a good cozy, even better when it involves cheese! I came across this new cozy series and immediately fell in love from the first page. Having spent time visiting the fromageries in France and other places across Europe, I’m a europhile t through and through and the description of this book hit the mark…but it’s the book itself that truly knocked out of the ballpark for me. Full of red herrings and suspect that keep you guessing until the final clues click in place before the big reveal. SCRUMPTIOUS!

Willa Bauer has finally realized her dream of opening her own fromagerie, Curds and Whey, in Sonoma Valley. After opening her shop, she invites her neighboring business owners to a cheese class to introduce them to herself and her business. At the end of the event, a local food critic comes to her shop after hours, drunk and irritable. Will aeries to get him to agree to come back another time, but the man runs off after threatening to reveal a secret of one of the attendees.

Still hopeful to gain a second chance with the man, Willa sees his car parked at the end of her alley and gathers her courage to make one final attempt. Seeing the man is slumped over his steering wheel, she figures he’s drunk…only to find he has been murdered. When the weapon turns out to be a cheese knife from her shop, Willa knows she had got to clear her name or she risks losing everything she has dreamt about and built. Being the new girl in town, she’s not quite sure who to trust or not trust, after all, she doesn’t really know her neighbors well. Putting her faith in her employees and next door neighbor, Willa has to hope her future is solid and firm, like Battelmatt rather than soft like ricotta. Even more, she has to hope she won’t attract the murderer and end up another victim.

What a fine addition to the shelves of foodie mysteries!

Our heroine is plucky and brave. Willa fell in love with cheese in France and has just opened her shop in a little town in Sonoma County, California. Suddenly, the food critic who criticized everything about the shop is found murdered. Willa is sure that despite being new in town, it is up to her to find out what happened. Meeting people and detecting then ensues.

This is a cozy quick read, with an appealing heroine, a cast of characters that may provide us with more cases, and lots of cheese! The details of cheese, pairings, and recipes are great without getting in the way of the plot. (NOTE: there are no specific recipes, just loving descriptions of things which cheeses go into a fine fondue)

Iʼm looking forward to visiting Curds&Whey in Yarrow Glen, CA, in more volumes to come.

For reasons I can't quite pinpoint, it took me awhile to warm up to this book and Willa Bauer but, once I did, I found myself intrigued with the story. A local food critic who seems to have more enemies than friends is killed outside Willa's newly opened cheese shop. Needless to say, since a knife clearly from her shop was found stuck in his throat, so she is a suspect. New to the town with few friends, she feels the need to prove her innocence.

Although Willa hasn't been in town and business long enough to forge many friendships, she is soon surrounded by a supportive group. That group includes her shop workers and Baz, a neighborhood handyman who just happens to live in the apartment next to Willa. Although she seems intrigued with another man, a fellow business owner, I foresee sparks there at some point. I just hope the author doesn't drag out any romantic relationships as those do tend to get old fast. In any case,

Willa's initial efforts are rather naive and certainly amateurish. I liked the loyalty shown by the shop workers and chuckled at the lengths Archie was willing to go to help promote the business. Yet, despite their help and, yes, a very competent police investigator, Willa notes at one point that she feels like they're just throwing darts in the wind when it comes to finding the real killer. I've got to admit, I didn't guess the right one, so it probably didn't have to be a strong wind muddying the issue.

Bottom line, despite the slow to me start, this is a promising start to a new series. We've learned a bit about not just Willa but the supporting characters, too, so it will be fun to get to know everyone better. The town has its secrets, don't all towns, but it'll be fun to get to know it better, too. One final recommendation: I'd suggest you keep at the very least a grilled cheese sandwich handy as you read. The various cheeses mentioned sound yummy.

Thanks for making me hungry #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress

A delightful and charming beginning to a new series. Eating all that cheese makes me wonder if she ever eats anything else. Fun potential romantic interests for the future books. Nice variety of ages in the characters. Clever mystery with a limited number of possible suspects.

If you love cheese, you’ll love this new cozy series; serious cheese cravings while I was read! This was a fun book one with a great cast of characters that definitely gave me enough info on everyone to keep me entertained and wanting more info. Willa took some stupid risks, but not enough to annoy me. And, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing who ends up as her SO. And, what happens next with Hope and the bakery.

I mostly enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, they’re well developed. I did find the pacing of the story to be a little slow. I was surprised by who the killer is. #CheddarOffDead #NetGalley

As a big time cheese lover, who's also Lactose Intolerant (ya, I know), I was delighted to stumble across this new Cheese Shop Mystery series and I was anxious to get a bite out of this first book, Cheddar Off Dead. Between the cheese shop setting, small cast of quirky characters and a good mystery surrounding the death of a food critic... it sounded like a great cozy mystery, and it truly was!

Korina Moss did such a great job at introducing the characters and setting, it had a great storyline and really had me guessing. Everyone seemed like they could have been the murderer, even the ones closest to the cheesemonger herself, Willa Bauer. It had me guessing until the very end, even when I thought I was so sure I knew who the murder was. I loved the pace of the story, which was very steady and held my attention the whole way through. I can tell that this is going to be a great series and I can't wait to devour the next book!

Reader Warning: Be sure to have lots of cheese on hand while reading this book, you will get cravings and it makes the reading experience that much richer! I completely recommend this read, whether you're a cheese lover or not, it was a fun mystery!