Cheese Shop Mysteries

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For Cheddar or Worse

Book 7

The whey to a woman’s heart is murder. It’s time for the annual Cheese Festival in Providence, Ohio, and Charlotte Bessette’s Fromagerie is ripe with homemade specialties. Meanwhile, her friend Erin is prepping her dairy farm and inn for cheese makers, marketers, journalists, and one surprise guest from the past—Lara Berry, pretentious cheese whiz, pompous bestselling author, and pungent critic whose extra sharp tongue can crumble a reputation. Since any love for Lara curdled long ago, Charlotte isn’t surprised when the foodie is smothered to death in her room at Erin’s inn. Accusations start flying, but the one sticking to Erin strikes Charlotte as a crock. Now, to clear her friend’s name, Charlotte has to sift through Lara’s ex-lovers, former business partners, and unforgiving enemies to find a killer before Lara’s past casts a gamey pall on the festival’s future.

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As Gouda as Dead

Book 6

When a beloved bar owner is discovered murdered on her fiancé’s farm, Charlotte Bessette is deeply troubled, as is her betrothed—artisanal cheese farmer Jordan Pace—who believes they should reschedule their upcoming wedding, given the grim turn of events. With the whole town celebrating Valentine’s Day with weeklong events, including lovers’ baskets with heart-shaped cheeses at Fromagerie Bessette, Charlotte is heartsick over the postponement—and more determined than ever to contain the killer.

But when a second murder occurs, it’s clear someone is not feeling the love. As Charlotte plunges headlong into the investigation, is she in danger of getting in over her head?

If this book was made of cheese I would savor each scrumptious morsel. It was that engaging and entertaining. Charlotte is a top notch wanna-be detective that loves and cares for her friends, family and community.
—A Cozy Girl Reads
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Days of Wine and Roquefort

Book 5

Cheese Shop owner Charlotte Bessette’s life seems quieter than ever with her fiance out of town and her cousin Matthew and his children out of the house. But before she can put up her feet and enjoy a glass of chardonnay, Matthew asks her to play host to Noelle Adams, a bright sommelier visiting to help grow business for the local winery. An affable wine aficionado, Noelle is paired well with cheese expert Charlotte—but something seems to be troubling the secretive houseguest.

Charlotte’s life is upended when she finds the sparkling woman dead. Between Noelle’s hotheaded ex, the cagey owners of the winery, its jaded manager, and a wily reporter, Charlotte has her pick of suspects, but she needs to act fast—this is a mystery that only gets more dangerous with age.

Like a fine wine, this series just gets better with each new addition to the series. You can’t help but get pulled right into the story. I found it very hard to put down.
—MyShelf
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To Brie or not To Brie

Book 4

Murder, revenge, and secrets: Shakespeare has arrived in Providence, Ohio…

Charlotte Bessette—owner of Fromagerie Bessette, known by locals as The Cheese Shop—has a lot on her plate: setting a date with her fiancé, Jordan Pace, feeding the actors in her grandmother’s production of Hamlet, and planning the menu for her best friend and cousin’s upcoming wedding. At least her new creation—sinfully delicious Brie blueberry ice cream—has turned out perfectly.

Just days before the wedding, the estranged husband of Jordan’s sister turns up dead in the Igloo Ice Cream Parlor’s freezer, his head bashed with a container of Charlotte’s signature ice cream. His death threatens everything that Charlotte has been working toward, and she has no choice but to add one more thing to her to-do list: find the killer before he ruins the big day…

The only problem with an Avery Aames book is—it will make you hungry!
Kings River Life Magazine
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Clobbered by Camembert

Book 3

Charlotte Bessette—proprietor of Le Petit Fromagerie, affectionately known in Providence, Ohio, as the Cheese Shop—is busy setting up her tent for the town’s Winter Wonderland faire, where she’ll offer fine wines and scrumptious cheeses. In the midst of the preparations, Charlotte meets an old friend of her mother, Kaitlyn Clydesdale, who has come back to Providence with plans to start a new honeybee farm.

When Kaitlyn is found dead in the cottage of Charlotte’s assistant Rebecca, suspicion falls on Rebecca’s boyfriend, a honeybee farmer himself. Charlotte knows this beekeeper wouldn’t hurt a fly, so she decides to find the real killer. While the town buzzes with gossip, can Charlotte catch the culprit without getting stung herself?

Add the moments of romance and a great deal of humor, and Clobbered by Camembert is a gift.
—Lesa Holstine
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Lost and Fondue

Book 2

Charlotte Bessette—proprietor of Providence, Ohio’s charming Cheese Shop—agrees to a cater a fundraiser that her best friend Meredith is hosting to raise money to form a liberal arts college. In addition to gourmet fondues, Charlotte offers an array of delicious cheeses and scrumptious wines in a once-abandoned winery, long a source of local legends about hidden treasures—and possibly buried bodies.

When a fresh body is found in the wine cellar and Meredith’s niece Quinn becomes the chief suspect, Charlotte trades in her fondue fork for a flashlight to prove the case against Quinn has more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese. But as Charlotte’s sleuthing starts to turn up the truth, the killer starts to turn up the heat…

And, just as before, cheese lovers will find it hard to resist all the references to delicious flavors. My suggestion? Settle in with a nice cheese, a glass of wine and enjoy Lost and Fondue.
—Lesa Holstine
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The Long Quiche Goodbye

Book 1

Welcome to the grand opening of Fromagerie Bessette. Or as it’s more commonly known by the residents of small-town Providence, Ohio—the Cheese Shop. Proprietor Charlotte Bessette has prepared a delightful sampling of bold Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, delicious tortes of Stilton and Mascarpone, a taste of Sauvignon Blanc, and for the piéce de résistance, a little crime of passion…

When the shop’s landlord, Ed Woodhouse, big real estate holder and notorious womanizer, is found with one of Charlotte’s olive-wood handle knives jutting out of his chest, her grandmother is the prime suspect. After all, Grandmere Bernadette had been arguing with Woodhouse earlier in the evening, and, mais oui, she’s covered in blood.

Now it’s up to Charlotte, along with handsome artisanal cheese supplier Jordan, to save her grandmother’s name and find the real killer—not to mention get a new set of knives.

The Long Quiche Goodbye is a lovely Tour de Fromage. It’s not just gouda, it’s great!
—Bestselling Author Lorna Barrett
The Cheese Shop Mystery series is likely to be an outstanding success.
—Reviewing the Evidence
The Long Quiche Goodbye is a mouth-watering read.
—Booklady