This book started out slowly, and not having read any of the previous books in the series, I found myself a little confused as to who each character was and what was going on. It slowly got better as Sophie Mae investigated the note her brother had tried to send to his girlfriend shortly before he committed suicide.

There was a lot of focus on food within this book (cheeses and otherwise) which didn't seem to have much impact on the plot overall--so the emphasis on the cheese-making classes and such did detract somewhat from the overall story and got to be a bit too much after a while. Also, for the amount of time focused on food, I would have expected some recipes or tips to be included in the book at the end (there weren't in the copy I read).

The theme that ran underneath many of the relationships in this book was protecting someone you love from the consequences of their actions. In most cases, the consequences wouldn't have been as severe as the protector imagined if they'd come forward and told the truth from the beginning.

Because of the copy on the back of the book, I thought of this book as the "stinky cheese book" rather than referring to it by its title. ( )

A solid cozy with a nice cast of secondary characters. Although I love them when well-pulled off, I was a little concerned about the crafting aspect of this book. (The main character has a company that makes soaps and lotions; the title refers to the cheese-making classes she took.) It doesn't fall into the trap of others like it, though, and instead has this aspect running enough through the book to keep me entertained and interested, but not in an overwhelming way. I will definitely be seeking out the others in the series. ( )

And yet again another excellent addition to this series. I loved the very personal nature of this mystery, out of all the cozy mysteries I've read this one made the most sense for our heroine to be in the middle of.

I love how the author weaves continuing plot threads throughout her books without making them feel obvious or that they may become major plot points in the future. From the very first book it was established that Sophie Mae's brother committed suicide and how that had shaped a large part of her life. In this book we go back to her childhood home to revisit and solve this mystery.

As usual I found myself engaged in the characters and the story and it was great to meet her parents and have them be likeable characters as well. I did find myself highly annoyed with the subplot about he mother interfering with her wedding plans, especially with the way that storyline ended, it didn't feel consistent with the characters and pulled me out of the story whenever it cropped up but other than that the story was wonderfully paced and suspenseful in a way that cozy's usually aren't.
I can't wait to get my hand on the next one. ( )