Days of Wine and Roquefort by Avery Aames is the fifth book in the “Cheese Shop” mystery series. Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime, February 2014

Cheese Shop owner Charlotte Bessette’s life seems quieter than ever with her fiancé 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 the cheese expert Charlotte–but something seems to be troubling the secretive houseguest, and 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.

I enjoyed my annual visit to Providence where the savory aroma of cheese is in the air and murder on the horizon. Charlotte is on the case when her visitor dying whispers puts her on the trail of a killer. With help from her steadfast sidekick Rebecca, who loves to act out scenes from TV crime drama, and her cousin, with a few secrets of his own, this trio set a path that will uncover deceit and betrayal to bring a murderer to justice.

I love it. This book grabbed me immediately in a manner that was hard to put down in this engagingly appealing whodunit that quickly became a page turner. Once again, all the players are involved and the author did a great job in providing us with a bevy of suspects and it was fun watching Charlotte and her friends whittle down the list and there were a few surprises that kept this delightfully charming story intriguing. A job well done and I look for some exciting adventures in the next book in this character-driven series.