This book was a fun murder mystery themed around a charcuterie class. I definitely did not expect the murderer. I loved all of the food descriptions and even some mentions of well known food places such as Crumbl Cookie and Firehouse Subs!

I found this book a bit hard to follow in the beginning mainly due to the introduction of a large amount of characters. I felt as though Edith (the ghost living in the main characters home) was a somewhat unnecessary addition to the book. Throughout the book more characters are added which I understand you need a large cast in a murder mystery, I just felt like some additions later on weren't needed.

Overall I think the book did a great job sticking to the theme and learning a bit about charcuterie boards was neat. I enjoyed reading Katie and her friends thought process about the murderer and how they came to the conclusion.

"Death on a Serving Board (A Charcuterie Shop Mystery #3)" by J.C. Eaton has Katie established enough in her new charcuterie based restaurant/catering business that she's going to try her hand had teaching a several weeks long class on charcuterie. Of course it's full of the most dramatic people in town. Not to mention the cops trying to serve a search watch during her first class because a man was found behind her building a few weeks before.

Katie and friends start to investigate because the man was involved in breaking the case on a gold theft scandal when he had worked in her build when it was a newspaper office. The biggest tie in for them is that odd things keep happening in and around Katie's shop and the neighboring one. Everyone in Katie's class seems to have a link to the man as well.

The constant forgetting by Katie to not respond to the ghost(s) was getting a bit annoying because it wasn't like she was being quirky about it. Or, that other people knew she was responding to a ghost. You'd think by this far in a series she would have established some subtle ways to respond to the ghosts. Like little nods or head shakes or using her phone. No, it's to the point it feels like it's pure filler rather than story building.

The mystery part of this story was pretty good. It kept me guessing. When my first suspect didn't pan out I wasn't quite sure who to suspect next. If it could have been a bit more mystery and actual character building with a bit less awkward/angry responses about her accidentally responding to the ghost, it would've been even better.

While I enjoy several other series by this husband, wife, writing team, this one irks me for some reason. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it, but I feel like it’s a little reminiscent of their other series. That’s most likely because it’s set in Arizona. But, it could also be some of the misuse of words like a trickle instead of trickle of water, for example. Little things like that, but just make me stop reading and reread a few entries several times. Other than that, I enjoyed the mystery itself and would definitely come back for more.

#DeathonaServingBoard #NetGalley is the 3rd book in this series, and I enjoyed reading it.
Katie is still learning how to be a thriving business owner, so she decides to teach a charcuterie class, hoping to bring in some money, and maybe find a new employee.
Things never go according to plan, and it's no different for her first class. The students bicker and toss rude comments around, causing Katie to second guess her bright idea.
When a dead body is found behind her store, Katie starts to panic, and it doesn't help that her resident ghost is driving her crazy.
This is a fun, fast paced cozy mystery, filled with strong, colorful characters.
I'm happy to recommend this book and series to readers.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.

Death on a Serving Board by J.C. Eaton

The writing team of J.C. Eaton has brought us another fun, twisting and turning mystery. Death on a Serving Board is the third installment in the Charcuterie Shop mystery series and was a very enjoyable read. This book was full of the humor I have come to love from a J.C. Eaton book, but also a well written and not easy to solve mystery. The characters are quirky and fun and having a ghost try to help solve a crime is a fun addition to the mystery solving crew. I also like that the book is set in a restaurant, but we do not have to read pages and pages of food descriptions, the mystery is the focus and for that I am glad! I recommend this series and especially this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Not being much of a foodie, I have to admit to being largely unfamiliar with charcuterie boards. Ironically, what I have read of them is dog/cat targeted, so I definitely learned a few things during this read. That said, while a huge JC Eaton fan, I never quite warmed up to this book. One of those I didn't love but also didn't like, hence basically one others may love and wonder what my problem was. I lean toward the issue being that I haven't read any of the previous books in the series. Hence, being character driven in my reading, I wasn't able to find a connecting point with either main character Katie Aubrey or the supporting cast. Well, other than Katie's dog Speedbump, a name I sometimes label my own furry girl with, too, when she gets underfoot. In any case, while I wasn't quite taken in by the characters or story, it has its moments and, as noted, believe others with perhaps more of a foodie interest will fully enjoy this one but for me it was a 3.5 rounded to a 4 star.

I did like the tight group of friends and employees that Katie has attracted. That one of them, Mercedes Alvarez, is taken in for questioning after the discovery of a dead body behind their shops, and it's Katie that her daughter Marisa calls first for support shows the closeness of their friendship. Boyfriend Ian Monroe also plays an important role of sounding board and support although he seems to be constantly busy and much of their communication seems to occur via text messages. As for Katie's employees, I have to admit to never quite getting a grasp of who they were, again, possibly my failure, not the authors' as I was finding the plot a bit slow going and more focused on clues than character, unusual for me. I did get that the ghost Edith seems to have come with Katie's rental of a house, albeit I didn't find Edith terribly interesting or likable, or even dependable for that matter.

That said, much of the humor in the story comes due to Edith's involvement in either the case or a long running feud with a second ghost who seems to have access to an incredible wardrobe of designer wear. They have some useful and not so useful skills, too, apparently ones they're learning in their ghostly world. Of course, the problem is getting Edith to focus on the issue at hand, figuring out who murdered Lindstrom Neal and Grady LaPont. Given that both had connections to Katie's charcuterie class, she may want to rethink offering classes in the future, that's for sure.

Bottom line, a quick read that while it didn't suck me in, kept me entertained. I even learned a bit more about charcuterie boards and what thought goes into the designs, so keep some note paper handy while reading if you're so inclined. Now that I have the basic background down, I'll definitely be giving this series a second-chance, so I'm looking forward to whatever strange adventures Katie's life with ghosts and food may lead me. Thanks #NetGalley and #LevelBestBooks for this sneak peek at Katie's world of food and, yikes, murder.

Death on a Serving Board is the 3rd book in A Charcuterie Shop Mystery series by J. C. Eaton (the writing duo of Ann Goldfarb and James Clapp) . This is a fun book and series with likable characters, humor, a little paranormal, and a cozy mystery. Katie Aubrey owns Char-Board, a charcuterie and lunch restaurant with employees. Lilly-Ann, Matt and Javie. Katie bought a house and got ghost Edith along with it. Edith is funny and the banter between them is humorous. She keeps learning new ghostly tricks to help Katie. Katie is dating Ian and he is a good sidekick. Katie offers an 8 class charcuterie course and there are 7 people who sign up. The.class has problems with personalities, secrets and a death. Katie, her friend Maddie and Ian try to figure out the culprit and the motive. There are only the charcuterie students that are the.culprits and the book drags a little in the middle but overall it is enjoyable. I wasn't surprised who the culprit was. I have read all of the books in this series and I liked the other two a little better but they are all good. #DeathOnAServingBoard. #ACharcuterieShopMystery
#NetGalley #LevelBestBooks

I enjoyed this book. A murder victim found behind the stores. A chartreuse class with people who seem not to get along Maķe it a fun entertaining story.