Up to No Gouda

Four and a half stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒ Up to No Gouda by Linda Reilly is her first book in her Grilled Cheese Mysteries series. This cozy mystery had me stumped until the very end and I loved the journey this book took me on. Carly Hale has just opened her Grilled Cheese Sandwich shop in the picturesque Vermont town of Balsam Dell. Business is going well, but when an old high school boyfriend, Lyle Bagley, buys the building, he gives her only one month’s notice to vacate her shop so he can make room for a fashion boutique for his fiance. She loves her downtown location and is angry with Lyle for forcing her out of her business. The day after she gets the eviction news, Lyle is found dead behind her shop and the main suspect is Suzannah, Carly’s employee, and Carly is a close second. Carly works to find out who the real killer is in order to clear her employee and friend Suzannah and herself. As this is the first book in the series, we spend some time getting to know Carly and the other characters in the book. The mystery is the star of this book as there are so many suspects and I was unable to figure out the mystery until the end. The characters are interesting and relatable. I loved Carly’s strength and ingenuity. *** Note: Reading this book may cause grilled cheese sandwich cravings. Many grilled cheese sandwiches were consumed during the reading and reviewing of this book. *** I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a cozy mystery. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Up to No Gouda (one of the cutest titles I’ve ever seen) is the debut novel of the equally as adorably named, Grilled Cheese Mystery series. I was able to listen to this fun novel and Reilly did a wonderful job developing the setting of small town Balsam Dell. I really enjoyed the delicious concoctions Carly Dale, the amateur sleuth and owner of the Grilled Cheese Eatery served and the mystery kept me on the edge of my seat. The red herrings kept me off the path of figuring out who the actual killer was and it was overall a great audiobook to listen to. With that being said, the protagonist did get herself into some outlandish situations that were really far fetched; making it hard to believe would happen. While I know this is fiction, I’ve recently read some cozy mysteries where the heroines solved the cases in a more realistic manner. Thanks Dreamscape Media for the alc. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.