Up To No Gouda – ARC Book Review

The first in a delicious new culinary cozy series featuring a grilled cheese eatery owner who must solve murders in her small town before she is put under lock and brie

Back in Balsam Dell to heal after the death of her husband, Carly Hale is finally pursuing her lifelong dream—opening Carly’s Grilled Cheese Eatery. After only five months, business is booming as Vermont vacationers and townspeople alike flock to lunch on her Party Havartis and other grilled cheese concoctions. All but Lyle Bagley, Carly’s one-time high school boyfriend and now town bully who just bought the building that houses her eatery and wants Carly out. After a muenster of a fight, Carly’s forced to put her nose to the rind and find a solution to keep her business afloat.

That is…until Lyle is discovered dead behind the dumpster of Carly’s shop, and one of her employees becomes the prime suspect. In order to save her eatery and prove her friend’s innocence, Carly must sleuth out the killer before she’s the one who gets grilled.

With a delightful cast of characters, an inventive amateur sleuth, and a whole host of cheesy hijinks, Up to No Gouda is the perfect cozy murder mystery to melt into.

Cozy mysteries with a culinary background is one of my favorite type of genres and so I was so excited when I got the first book of the grilled cheese mysteries.

Carly owns a grilled cheese diner which becomes one of the sought out places among Vermont vacationers. But five months into successful business, Carly’s ex-boyfriend from high school and the town’s bully, Lyle wants Carly to vacate the premises. However Carly is not willing to give up her fight and is determined to fight for her place.

But soon, Lyle’s body is found in the parking lot in front of her own diner the next morning and her friend Suzanne, who threatened Lyle the day before Lyle’s murder was the main suspect. Carly knew her friend is not responsible for Lyle’s murder and so she starts investigating the case on her own.

I actually enjoyed reading this book! Besides all these murders and sleuthing, the descriptions of the grilled cheese made me hungry as well. The writing was good and the author does a good job of drawing the reader into the story. Carly’s character also grew into me and I do like how the community as well as friends supported her. It was quite unputdownable, there were too many suspects who had genuine reasons to want Lyle dead. Overall, this was an unputdownable thriller that will keep you hooked into the story and I so cannot wait for the next adventure of Carly! Worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion.