A cozy cheese-scented mystery with delightful characters, a dash of murder and tons of intrigue, perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club and The Maid.
Cheese-obsessed Bird Nichols has just inherited her grandmother’s estate in a quiet, quirky Californian town. But when a body is found on her property, her life begins to get rather loud…
Bird Nichols is ready to make a fresh start in a familiar place. Last year, her parents died together in a car crash and her beloved grandmother is presumed dead from an ocean drowning. Bird is now moving onto her grandmother's California coastal property, and finally living out her dream. Bird loves cheese like nothing else. It's her autistic special interest, and she designs her boards along her sensory needs, and other people love them, too.
But just when everything seems to be going right, the local troublemaker ends up dead on her rural road. Grizz, the closest thing Bird has to family, is the sheriff department's favourite suspect, but she is determined to prove Grizz’s innocence. So now, Bird needs to unpack her possessions, assemble her pretty cheese boards, and find the true murderer before they strike again.
What did I think?
Oh wow, I loved this fun and slightly bonkers book! I mean a cosy mystery with cheese and a cat that makes Garfield look slim, not to mention a lovable and inspirational main character who is autistic - what's not to love?
Bird loves cheese and, as a cheeselover myself, I was positively salivating at some of the vivid descriptions of the smell and taste of her cheese boards. Bird has suddenly found herself alone in the world after the devastating death of her parents followed by the disappearance of her grandmother. Bird inherits her grandmother's estate and moves to Foghorn, which despite its name used to be a quiet town until trouble followed Bird into town.
You really can't help but love Bird and her unusual name. I think the fact that she is autistic is great for diversity in literature and it really made me think about our own character quirks and how difficult it must be when they are amplified to such a debilitating degree. Bird shows that she can live and thrive with autism and she turns her fixation with cheese into her livelihood.
Just like her Grandma, Bird can't help investigating crime and she finds herself drawn into a web of danger and deceit when a murderer strikes in Foghorn. During her investigation, Bird rescues the victim's cat Bowser and just thinking of this big orange furball puts a smile on my face. What a great character he is - I could almost feel his purrs reverberating through the book!
Whilst the storyine has its own contained plot, there are some tantalising threads of the story left unfinished so I hope that this is the start of a new series. I really enjoyed my virtual visit to Foghorn and would love to return. If you love cosy mysteries (and cheese and cats) then please do not miss this book; I absolutely loved it and would highly recommend it.
I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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