Who Stabbed the Groom?
I had saved the second Cheese Shop Mystery for a trip home to Sonoma County, the setting for the series. Ironically enough, I almost read Curds of Prey, the third in the series, while I was up there, too. But I didn’t wind up cracking it open until I got home. Not that I needed to be in Sonoma County to enjoy Curds of Prey.
For those new to the series, it lets us spend time with Willa Bauer, the owner of Curds & Whey, a cheese shop in the fictional community of Yarrow Glen. In the year since she opened the shop, she’s made some good friends and found a community she loves. Unfortunately, Willa keeps stumbling upon dead bodies, and she feels compelled to solve the crimes.
The wedding of Summer Harrington, daughter of the richest family in Yarrow Glen, and Nelson Trumbull, the nephew of the town’s mayor, is fast approaching. Willa is thrilled that several local businesses are involved in the shower, including Curds & Whey. Willa is busy setting up the cheese bar she will be offering, but it gives her a front row seat to a fight between the supposedly happy couple that leads Summer to call off the shower. However, things take a turn when Willa finds Nelson stabbed to death in the stable a little while later. Unfortunately, Willa’s almost boyfriend, Roman, looks to be the prime suspects. Can Willa prove Roman is innocent?
The book does a great job of setting up suspects and motives quickly, leaving Nelson dead before too many pages have turned. There are some interesting dynamics to this mystery that make it fun to see just how Willa will go about figuring out what happened. I appreciated the way she did manage to get some important clues and how she pieced everything together at the end.
Being the third in the series, we’ve gotten to spend some time getting to know the supporting characters and some other residents of the town. I loved getting to spend time with them all again. There’s a sub-plot that allows several of them to shine, and I appreciate how some events from the previous book played into the sub-plot here. It really makes it feel like we are checking in with real people, doesn’t it?
Speaking of previous books, there are references to previous books, but nothing that will spoil key plot points if you haven’t read them yet.
Anyway, the characters are once again great to spend time with. I am intrigued by how a few things developed here, and I’m very curious to see where author Korina Moss is going to go with these storylines moving forward. The suspects were also strong, and I had a hard time figuring out just which one of them would turn out to be the killer.
This book will make you crave cheese. And, if you want to try out a few of the recipes Willa makes over the course of the book, you’ll be happy with the three cheese based recipes at the end.
Each book in this series has proven to be fun. If you haven’t started it yet, now is the time to jump in. Curds of Prey left me hungry for more.
Be sure to check out the rest of the Cheese Shop Mysteries.
Thank you so much, Mark! I’m thrilled you enjoyed it. This “curdn’t” be a better review!
ReplyDeleteI definitely need to give this series another chance. This looks like a great read!
ReplyDelete