The Long Quiche Goodbye by Avery Aames

A Cheese Shop Mystery

First in a Brand New Series

Release Date July 6, 2010

Berkley Prime Crime Mystery

The Fromagerie Bessette, know by the residents of Providence, Ohio, as The Cheese Shop, has been passed down to another generation.  Charlotte Bessette is the new cheesemonger and her cousin Matthew is the wine expert and Grandmére and Pépére are trying to retire but are still spending many hours at the shop. Some renovations have been made and a wine annex has been added and the grand opening is just minutes away.  The cheese platters are out and the wine bottles opened and the doors thrown wide and the shop starts to fill with people. 

But there is an undercurrent of tension, Grandmére is also the mayor of this fine little town and the election is right around the corner.  Her opponent, Kristine, and a  few of her friends are in high rally mode.  Her husband, Ed, owns most of the buildings in the area and he is a complete leech, cheating on his wife and moves around through the party pinching, leering and acting highly inappropriate with most of the females in attendance.  He also is threatening to evict the owners of The Cheese Shoppe and many others on the street which causes him to have a heated conversation with Grandmére. 

Even with the the tension, Charlotte and Matthew know they have a success on their their hands and are very excited until  "a shriek cut the air" and Charlotte rushed out of the store and found the leech's body dead on the sidewalk and Grandmére covered in blood.

Everyone including the Chief of Police doesn't believe Grandmére killed this man, but she was the one with the knife in her hand and covered with blood, she is placed under house arrest. Charlotte finds herself suspecting everyone and doesn't think the Chief is investigating enough so she starts investigating on her own to prove her Grandmére's  innocence.  

 

Yes, I LOVED IT!,  with one caution, do not read on an empty stomach, the story is filled with yummy descriptions of wonderful cheeses, wine and quiches and it includes recipes at the end.  My stomach was ready for some of that cheese all the way through.  I suggest you pour yourself a nice glass of wine and make up a little cheese platter and then curl up to read the "quichey" mystery with your snacks ready.

I loved the characters, even the mean and unstable ones.  There was the perfect amount of humor and the plot had several twists and turns to keep you turning page after page. There is also a budding romance on the horizon. This was a really good debut to the cheesy new series and I definitely have an appetite for more.

 You may visit Avery at http://www.averyaames.com

      

 Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”