This was a well-written whodunit with a comfortable tone making it easy to follow along. The mystery was nicely executed with a slew of potential suspects, and I enjoyed slicing through the clues. Love the inside knowledge of cheese. Love seeing Team Cheese getting into action looking for motive and opportunities and this time working alongside Detective Heath. Sidebar, love that Willa and Heath are connecting more on a personal level. It was touch and go with who I fingered as the killer, so it was enjoyable watching it all play out, even when the author changed directions. The pacing was on par with how well this tale was being told. This was a fun read that left a smile on my face at the conclusion, and one of the best books in this delectably appetizing series.

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.

Dairy Days Festival is in full swing and several of Team Cheese are involved in the controversial Miss Dairy Pageant (a scholarship competition, of course). When the Pageant director gets bumped off the list of people who might have wanted her dead could stretch from one end of the pasture to the other. Unfortunately the director's death isn't the only mystery surrounding the festival. The nearby museum has seen more than one devastating fire and there's the matter of the police chief's wife, who's been missing for over a decade.

There was so much going on in this book - but in a good way! Sometimes if there's too much going on I have a hard time keeping track of all the characters and subplots, but that was not the case here. Since everything was so interwoven it was not at all difficult to follow the threads and it made for a quick, un-put-downable read.

We see lots of our favorite characters, Archie is being a good sport and helping out with the pageant even though it requires him to kind of embarrass himself, Mrs. Schultz is doing her best to keep the pageant humming along despite all the things that are going wrong each step of the way, Baz is helping out at the booth and acting as Willa's trusty sidekick throughout the investigation, and of course Willa is doing her thing and eating her cheese. Heath makes a comeback and since he's out of his jurisdiction he's playing the role of amateur sleuth right alongside Willa. We also meet a new character, who I think we'll be seeing more of, and she's super sweet.

The suspects in this book are many and they all have some truly killer motives, though nothing really compares to the backstory of the pageant front-runner. You just have to read it to find out!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

This time around, Willa and her cheese shop employees are spending the weekend in the neighboring town of Lockwood, which is holding its annual Dairy Days festival. Curds & Whey has a booth there, and both Archie and Mrs. Schultz have been roped into helping with the Miss Dairy beauty pageant. The pageant director, Nadine, has has been running the show for years, ends up dead, and Willa and her friends don’t think the local cops are doing a good job with the investigation.

The mystery was good. We have several potential suspects with a variety of motives. There were a couple if twists I didn’t see coming and I didn’t guess who the killer turned out to be.

As always, I enjoy the friendship and banter between Willa, Archie, Baz, and Mrs. Schultz. It was also nice to see Willa working with Detective Heath again. He’s not officially on this case, it’s not his town, but that doesn’t mean he’s not interested in making sure the murderer is found.

And of course, it left me craving cheese. Although I’m a little like Baz and not very adventurous in my choices.

Fondue or Die is book #5 of the cheese shop cozy mystery series by Korina Moss, and it's the third one I've read. Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for giving me an advance copy.
In this novel, first-person protagonist Willa Bauer and her cheese shop employees spend the weekend in the neighboring town of Lockwood, which is holding its annual Dairy Days festival. Willa's cheese shop, Curds & Whey, has a booth there. Archie and Mrs. Schultz are involved with the Miss Dairy beauty pageant. In the first chapter, we see Nadine, the pageant director, bark orders at her young cousin, Mary Ann, the contestants and their doting mothers, and then get into a confrontation with Fiona, one of the pageant judges.
Later in the day, when Willa and Archie go to the on-site museum to search for a prop, they discover Nadine's body, crushed under a fallen bookshelf. The local police come to investigate and quickly determine Nadine's death was an accident. However, Willa isn't convinced, and she tries to point out several clues that suggest murder.
The police chief isn't interested. The mayor and the festival director want to minimize publicity so as not to disrupt the pageant.
Willa and her "Team Cheese" decide to investigate on their own, evaluating motive and opportunity for multiple suspects. Some of the Yarrow Glen police officers are helping with security at the event but are kept out of the investigation. Detective Heath shows up in civilian attire, and his romance with Willa heats up more in this book. Because the Lockwood police chief won't ask for his help, Heath is relegated to amateur sleuth status just like Willa and Team Cheese.
This was a well-written, well-constructed mystery, and my mouth watered at all the descriptions of cheese products at Curds & Whey. A fun read.

A die-hard cheese fan from the Midwest makes me pretty much the perfect person to review Fondue or Die by Korina Moss. Dairy Days? A description of I'm guessing at least a dozen cheeses? Punny names? I'm here for it.

Fondue or Die is book five in Moss' Cheese Shop Mystery series. If you haven't read it, it's perfectly fine to read as a standalone or as part of the series. There's enough backstory presented without being overwhelming that a new reader can catch up pretty quickly. It's a nice little cozy mystery to curl up with. Willa is the owner of Curds & Whey Cheese Shop, and the story is set over the events of a neighboring town's Dairy Days. To be honest, it sounded like something straight out of small-town Wisconsin or Minnesota. I mean... Minnesota has a Dairy Princess who is the ambassador for dairy farmers.

Willa and her motley crew get involved in a murder mystery, that at first is questioned if it's even a murder. Not happy with how the local police chief is handling the investigation, Willa enlists Team Cheese to get to the bottom of what is happening. There are a few twists and turns, and brief discussion on the place of pageants in modern times. One word I had pop in my mind when thinking of how to describe the book is "sweet," and not as in sugary sweet but as in wholesome and low key. I mean as much as you can use that to describe a murder-mystery. I definitely enjoyed the book and it was a nice break from some of the heavier books I've been reading.

Please be advised I received an Advance Readers Copy (ARC) from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fondue or Die is a well-written and fun cozy mystery. Willa gets caught up in the mysterious death of the Miss Dairy pageant director, at the Dairy Days festival, and something stinks worse than the limburger cheese. The Team Cheese group are on the case. They gather info and help Detective Heath solve the case. I didn't figure out the killer until the very end. If you love cozy mysteries, this one is great. I received a free copy from Netgalley with no expectations.

This 5th installment in the Cheese Shop Mystery series, one of my favorite cozy mystery series, is outstanding. Lots of fun, lots of great recurring characters, and a clever plot. Here, at the neighboring town's annual Dairy Days and pageant. Of course, cheesemonger and owner of the Curds & Whey Cheese Shop, Willa Bauer, is the sleuth, with help from her employees, nicknamed Team Cheese.

Charming and fun and a book sure to please cozy mystery fans. Highly recommended!!

OMGOOODNESS!!! #TEAMCHEESE!
This time the gang is visiting a neighboring town for Dairy days! Along w/ all the other fun events at a festival they will be crowning the dairy days Miss Dairy. Things turn murderous when pageant runner Nadine is killed.
As always Moss paints the perfect picture of cozy! Giving us everything we love about the cheese shop series! Fun times w/ TEAMCHEESE, Archie and possible a new love interest (got Milk), and an appearance from Heath. The pacing and mystery keep you interested from start to finish, and and the mystery kept me guessing!
Cheese Louise this was a great addition to the series!
I would recommend this series to any cozy mystery lover!
I would like to thank netgalley, the author Korina Moss, and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book!

Kindle Copy for Review from NetGalley and St. Martin Press.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

A Labor Day weekend bash turns deadly. Willa will not only be serving delicious cheeses, she will have her work to solve the death of Nadine who been running around prepping for her fondue. Who did she tick off that would want her dead? This cheesy goodness you do not want to miss in this series.