Cheddar Off Dead (Undercover Dish Mystery #2)
written by Julia Buckley
narrated by Ann Marie Lee
My Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f
Blurb:
From the author of The Big Chili comes her latest mystery about caterer and cook Lilah Drake who is up to her elbows in deadly trouble during the Christmas holidays…The Christmas holidays are one of Lilah’s favorite times of the year, filled with friends, family, and, of course, tons of food orders for her covered dish clients. But Lilah’s Yuletide cheer ends when she sees a most Grinch-like crime: the murder of a Santa in a school parking lot.
It turns out the deceased Kris Kringle was a complicated tangle of naughty and nice, with a long list of people who might have wanted him dead. And whoever did the deed wants to make sure that Lilah keeps quiet. Now, Lilah will have to team up with her former fling, Detective Jay Parker, to unwrap the mysteries of a deadly Christmas killer and stay alive long enough to ring in the New Year…
My Review
I received a free audio copy from Tantor audio and voluntarily reviewed it.
Cheddar Off Dead is the second book in the Undercover Dish Mystery series. I really enjoyed the first book and was excited to listen to the second one. Sadly it took me a while to get into this one and I found the start a bit less engaging, but after a while it got better and I really liked seeing it all play out and reading more about these characters.
The mystery was a good one, but I couldn’t help but compare it to the one in the first book, which I felt was better written and more interesting. In this book someone gets murdered while dressed as Santa and Lilah witnesses the aftermath. Again she’s under police protection and again she tries to solve the mystery. I didn’t like how she got under police supervision again just like in the first book, but I did really like her interactions with her bodyguard Wendy.
The mystery has some good twists and turns. I like how Lilah gets involved and slowly finds out more. I did feel some of the investigation scenes felt a bit more forced than in the first book, but that’s mostly because it felt so natural in the first book. Especially the second half of this book I thought was great when the clues start adding up and slowly Lilah gets closer to the truth. The murderer kinda reveals themselves instead of Lilah figuring it out and I have to say I didn’t care too much for the confrontation scenes. I did like the wrap up and having everything fall on it’s place. I also thought it was interesting how Lilah learn more about the dead man and his life throughout the investigation as she only met him once before his death.
I liked reading more about Lilah and her friends and family. This one also has some great holiday vibes as it’s set during the week or so before Christmas. I liked seeing Lilah make friends with Wendy and later on Bets as well. I also liked seeing more of her friends and family that we met in the first book already. I have to say I didn’t really care for the romance in this one, there was so much drama romance wise and it took so long for them to work things out. I also am not a fan of the police officer as love itnerest as I have read so many cozies that do that.
I enjoyed the cooking and food focus and it was fun to see a few of the same undercover dish clients be back for another dish in this one. I had hoped to see a bit more of the new catering job Lilah takes on, but because of the mystery and danger she takes some time off. This series has a big focus on food and I like reading about all the food Lilah makes.
It took me some time to get used to the narrator again. I think she does the emotions in the scenes well, but at times it can feel a bit too much for me especially with the changes in volume.
To summarize: This was a good second book in the series. It took me some time to get into the story and get used again to the narrator, but the further I got the more I enjoyed it. The mystery in this one wasn’t as interesting to me as the one in the first book, but I did like seeing how Lilah investigated and seeing more clues come to light. And the further I got the more I enjoyed the mystery. I didn’t really like the confrontation scene and how the murderer sort of revealed themselves instead of Lilah figuring it out. I like reading about Lilah, her friends and family. It was fun to see recurring characters from the previous book and Wendy and Bets were fun new characters introduced in this one. The romance was a bit too heavy on the drama for my taste and I hope they will be more settled as a couple in the next one. The narrator does the emotions for the scenes well, but it can feel like a bit too much at times and the changes in volume bothered me again. I really like the food focus of this series and reading about all the food the character make and eat.
That cover is so cute.
It is a cute cover and it fits the book well with the Christmas theme.