Cheesemaker Willa Bauer is mourning the death of her mentor, Max Dumas, the owner of the last store where she worked before setting up her own business as well as the maker of the award-winning Church Bleu cheese. The recipe for this acclaimed cheese has long been one of Max’s most closely held secrets. He’d always promised to reveal it only to his favorite cheesemaker.

Naturally, everyone assumes that this will be one of his long-time employees at the Church Cheese Shop. Despite the sad circumstances, Willa is happy to be reunited with her old friends when they come into town for the reading of Max’s will. Kendall, the de facto leader of his apprentices, is as warm to Willa as always, as is Kendall’s best friend, Claire. The slightly older Pepper is prickly as usual, though her thorniness seems to be somewhat tempered by the friendship of Freddie, the newest member of their little circle.

The Church Cheese Shop employees are all hopeful that Max will have left them both the store and the secret to Church Bleu in his will. Unfortunately for them, the recent reappearance of Max’s estranged daughter Maxine might have thrown all their plans into disarray. In the last months of Max’s life, he and Maxine had seemed to make up considerably. Kendall has, in fact, already started feeling out Maxine on selling the store to her and her co-workers just in case the other woman does inherit.

So when the will is read and Maxine does indeed get the store, no one’s truly surprised. What does come as a shock are the instructions regarding how to make Church Bleu. Max was notorious for loving games and riddles, so when his only proclamation regarding his secret recipe is one cryptic sentence, it sets his entire team into an uproar.

Willa is very sorry to see so much discord among her former friends, but when one of them dies from what seems to be a deliberate poisoning, her sympathies turn to serious concerns. She hadn’t been invited to the will reading, but everything she’s gradually learning about it points to the idea that Max might have actually left that clue in his will for her. Someone has already murdered once to get closer to Max’s secret. Could Willa’s prior relationship with Max make her the killer’s next target?

This was a delightful conundrum of a cozy mystery, as Willa and her circle of co-workers and friends (aka, Team Cheese) must contend with another tightly-knit if more fractious group in order to not only solve a murder but figure out the riddle of Max’s legacy as well. As a puzzle-lover myself, I was pleased that at least one of the riddles proved a genuine challenge for me. It was also really nice to see how the members of Team Cheese supported one another, not only through their mystery solving but also in their personal lives—with Mrs. Schultz especially handing out excellent advice.

There were three recipes included here, and I went for the most comfort food one of them all.

Gorgonzola Garlic Bread

Ingredients

¼ cup butter, softened

½ cup gorgonzola cheese

1 garlic clove, minced

½ tsp dried parsley

1 (16-oz) loaf crusty bread (French, Italian, sourdough, etc.)

3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

Instructions

Set oven broiler to high.

Cream the butter with the gorgonzola cheese. Add minced garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.

Slice bread in half lengthwise and spread cheese mixture on each half.

Sprinkle the top of the bread with the Parmesan cheese.

Place bread under the broiler until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Cut into generous slices and serve.

In an effort to use up the whole container of gorgonzola I bought, I may have skewed the balance on the sharp cheese vs. the butter and bread. Or perhaps I don’t like bleu cheese as much as I’d like to think I do! My bleu-cheese-loving aunt certainly enjoyed this dish, especially when I served it as a side with spaghetti. Next time, I might dial back the amount I use—and possibly even the garlic—as I definitely threw in more than one clove. I do love cheesy garlic bread, and this was quite close to being exactly what I wanted.

Next week, we travel back to the East Coast to welcome the impending Halloween holiday with a seasonally appropriate murder and a wonderful baked treat for fall. Do join me!

See also: Cooking the Books: Murder and Mamon by Mia P Manansala