Middle Sister's Mid-month Review

I will admit, I've made fun of some of the mystery sub-genres the publishing houses produce. Oh, I love the tea shops, the inns, the bookstores and libraries. But it seems like they will publish a series no matter how outlandish the core concept. After all, look at the sheer numbers of mystery series with witches, vampires, and ghosts (regular Gentle Readers know how I feel about paranormal mysteries). There are series centered on knitting--full disclosure, I'm a knitter and crocheter and read several of these series, but how many of them do we need?--, scrapbooking, a gift basket store, ice cream parlors, pet groomers, a couple of crossword puzzle series, cooking shows, record shop/coffee shop combo--if you can think of it, there's probably a series centered on it. Even vampire knitters! So when I saw one centered on a gourmet cheese shop, I groaned. But dang if I didn't like Gone for Gouda by Korina Moss. Willa owns a cheese shop in a small town in Sonoma Valley, California, and when the story begins, she is excitedly getting ready to host a visit by the latest super popular influencer cum cookbook author, Phoebe Winston, who is making a comeback with a book on vegan cuisine after a scandal. Phoebe is a graduate of the local culinary school, but not everyone in Yarrow Glen is happy to see her coming home. Then Phoebe is murdered, and Willa's employee is the main suspect, so she investigates out of guilt--he wouldn't have been the last person to see Phoebe alive if Willa hadn't insisted he be Phoebe's assistant that day. I like Willa and her best friend Baz, and I wish we had seen more of Mrs. Schultz. There's enough cheese talk to ground the book in its' setting but not so much that the reader would be annoyed (even readers like me, who love cheese). I'm not sure how long a cheese shop can function as a mystery setting, but I suppose it will do just as well as a bookstore. The characters are likable, and enough time is spent on the setting and on the town to make me want to visit again. Net Galley