Hi, I’m Willa Bauer. Thanks for coming to meet me. The one thing you should know about me is I believe most of life’s problems can be solved with cheese. I mean, maybe it hasn’t exactly solved mine, but it sure helps soothe the soul in the meantime. Hey, I’m a cheesemonger, I can’t help but talk about my favorite subject. Oh, a cheesemonger is basically a person who lives and breathes cheese. . . when we’re not eating it, that is. I spent the last eight years working in cheese shops all over the country, but I’m thirty-three and it was time I stopped running from my heartaches and settled down so I could do what I’ve always wanted to do—open my own cheese shop.

But you’re not here for the backstory. Let me show you around my apartment. It won’t take long—it’s what realtors like to call cozy. Just step around the boxes. I spend more time in my shop than at home, so I still haven’t managed to unpack them all.

I usually wake before my alarm goes off. It’s the farmer girl in me—I’ve never gotten used to sleeping past six. The television’s not on for me, it’s for my betta fish, Loretta. She swishes her red tail like a flamenco dancer when I turn on Chopped. She has a thing for Ted Allen. The first thing I did unpack was my coffee machine. Here, I made you a cappuccino. Come out on the deck with me. I know it’s a little snug but look at this view! The rolling hills of Sonoma Valley and the gorgeous mountains in the distance. . . you can’t beat it. Plus, I can’t get any closer to my shop than living above it. It’s just a quick walk down the deck stairs and through the alley. I’ll take you around front.

I’m sure you can see why I chose to move to Yarrow Glen. Look at those blossoming crepe myrtle trees lining the sidewalks. Isn’t this the quaintest street you’ve ever seen? Sure, we’re not as fancy as the surrounding vineyard towns, but we’re full of small businesses and neighbors who really seem to care about each other. . . when they’re not killing one of their own, but let’s save that for later.

If you weren’t tipped off by my Curds & Whey sign above the door, all that wonderful cheese displayed in the windows is a big hint that this is my shop. I’ve only been open two weeks. Let’s go into my French-inspired shop. It’ll awaken your senses faster than that coffee.

These are my employees, Mrs. Schultz and Archie. She prefers you call her Mrs. Schultz. She doesn’t mind telling you herself she’s smack dab in her sixties. (And she wouldn’t mind it, either, if you noticed her good ankles.) This is Archie. Yes, he’s always this enthusiastic. It’s a perk of being nineteen, I suppose. And that gorgeous hunk of cheese is our Monster Cheddar Wheel, the star of the hour. We’re collecting guesses on how much it weighs. Do you want to take a guess?

Sorry, I keep getting distracted with the cheese. You want to know about a day in my life. Well, not every day is the same. Take yesterday, for example. I devoured more cheese than usual to help my anxiety about Guy Lippinger from All Things Sonoma magazine coming to review my shop. If we could get a good review and get enough votes to be chosen as Best New Business by the magazine readers, it would really help to boost Curds & Whey. I’ve sunk everything I have into this shop, and I took out a hefty loan too. I calmed my anxiety by arranging the cheeses (I find it meditative), but I also had a cheesemaking class to prepare for. It wasn’t just any class—I’d invited my new neighbors and fellow business owners to get to know me and my shop. I was hoping we could bond over stretching mozzarella.

Instead, everybody who showed up became a murder suspect. I guess I should tell you, you’ll find out soon enough—I found Guy Lippinger stabbed with one of my engraved Curds & Whey cheese knives. Now Mrs. Schultz, Archie, and I have to solve the crime before it gets pinned on me. That guy that just barreled in here? That’s Baz, the handyman who came to fix our toilet last night. The next time I saw him, it was over Guy’s dead body. He’s also my next-door neighbor and he’s willing to help us prove that I didn’t do it.

Like I said, I think cheese can solve most any problem. But murder? We’ll see.

Cheddar Off Dead, A Cheese Shop Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: March 2022
Purchase Link

In Korina Moss’s cozy series debut, Cheddar Off Dead, cheesemonger Willa Bauer discovers that her new home in a small Sonoma Valley town is ripe for murder. . . something here stinks to high heaven, and Willa knows it’s not the cheese.

Cheesemonger Willa Bauer is proving that sweet dreams are made of cheese. She’s opened her very own French-inspired cheese shop, Curds & Whey, in the heart of the Sonoma Valley. The small town of Yarrow Glen is Willa’s fresh start, and she’s determined to make it a success – starting with a visit from the local food critic. What Willa didn’t know is that this guy never gives a good review, and when he shows up nothing goes according to plan. She doesn’t think the night can get any worse. . . until she finds the critic’s dead body, stabbed with one of her shop’s cheese knives. Now a prime suspect, Willa has always believed life’s problems can be solved with cheese, but she’s never tried to apply it to murder. . .

Meet the author
Korina Moss is the author of the Cheese Shop cozy mystery series set in Sonoma Valley. She loves creating quirky characters who live in idyllic small towns. Moss grew up on a healthy dose of Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie novels, which developed her passion for solving mysteries and eventually writing her own. She lives in a small New England town with its own share of quirky characters.

All comments are welcomed.