Book Review: For Cheddar or Worse by Avery Aames (Cheese Shop Mysteries #7)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Well-done wrap up to a fun series

Cons: Pacing a bit off at times

The Bottom Line:

Murder at retreat

Characters we love shine here

As series wraps up

You’d Cheddar Read This Book

My favorite type of cheese is cheddar, so I was thrilled when I saw that it would be the featured cheese in the latest Cheese Shop Mystery.  And fans of the series will be delighted to read For Cheddar or Worse.

The town of Providence is hosting the first annual Cheese Festival, and to go along with that, several of the people involved in making cheese are participating in a brain trust in order to help each other.  Naturally, Charlotte, owner of the Cheese Shop, is included in the retreat, and she and her new husband, Jordan, are treating this as a weekend getaway, even staying at the bed and breakfast just outside of town where the meetings are to take place.

The brain trust is surprised when Lara Berry shows up the first day.  She has written books on various cheeses and cheese farms and is a recognized expert in the field.  However, Charlotte soon sees through her pleasant shell to the truly mean woman underneath.  At dinner after the first full day, Lara unloads some horrible comments on the rest of the group before storming off to bed.  The next morning, she is dead inside her locked room.  While at first glance it might look like natural causes, the police soon determine it was murder.  But how did the killer get into and out of the locked room?

I don’t find very many locked room mysteries in the books I read, and I greatly enjoyed that aspect of things.  Yes, there is a very logical solution to that part of the puzzle.

I did feel that the plot was a bit uneven.  On the other hand, those bits are balanced out by some of the tensest scenes in the series.  In fact, I found it easy to believe that all of the suspects were capable of the murder.  Despite the clues, I didn’t have the killer figured out until Charlotte identified the villain, and the climax was great.

There is quite a large cast of series regulars, and they all get a moment or two or shine.  Series fans will be delighted to see these friends again and gets updates on them.  Obviously, I found the suspects just as fleshed out.

Author Avery Aames has shared the bad news that this is the final book in the series.  However, she was given a chance to wrap things up for the characters, and she does a great job of doing just that in this book.  A couple of these wrap-ups felt a little rushed, but that’s a minor complaint.  Honestly, I loved how things are left – major things wrapped up and a hint at the immediate future while still leaving things open to imagine what else the future might hold.  Some TV shows could take a page or two from this ending.

 Of course, there are recipes; in fact, I think we have a record number for the series with right around a dozen.  We’ve got recipes for everything from quiche to a cheddar-chocolate stracciatella ice cream and caramel cheesecake.  My mouth is watering just reading them.

While For Cheddar or Worse might be the end of this series, Avery Aames is still writing under her real name, Daryl Wood Gerber.  Still, it is always hard to see a well-loved series end.  I do believe fans will be satisfied with this book; I know I was.

And if you've missed some books in this series, here are the Cheese Shop Mysteries in order.  Looking for Daryl's other series?  Here are the Cookbook Nook Mysteries in order.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Giveaway!

Thanks to the publisher, I have one copy of this book to give away.  Because it is a physical book, the contest is limited to residence of the US.

Just leave me a comment with your e-mail address so I can get in touch with you if you win.  I will pick the winner next Tuesday, February 16th, so please leave your comment before 12:01AM Pacific Time on 2/16.  You will have until midnight on 2/21 to get back to me, or I will choose a new winner on 2/22.