Carly’s world in Balsam Dell is expanding with the addition of two old school friends and the town manager in the newest installment of the Grilled Cheese Shop mysteries. When a bridal shower goes awry with a poisoning and a missing person Carly’s innate curiosity has her poking her nose into the case. A consistently entertaining series with cheesy goodness mixed in!

The third story in this series was just as delicious as the first two. I always loved the food and the descriptions make me hungry. The mystery in this one was well done, I didn't figure out the killer until the reveal. The characters were well written and definitely more developed from the first two books. This is a fantastic series and I look forward to reading more books.

This 3rd book in the series is just getting better and better. A joy and fun filled cheese sandwich of a book. I just wasn't able to put down. Carly and her crew just keep the book moving that you can't get bored to what will pop up next in the book. I had a lot of fun and enjoyable read can't wait to read the next in the series keep them coming!!!!!

I haven’t read the first two books in the series and now I need to go and find them and read them as I really enjoyed this book. The plot was entertaining fun and the characters were well developed and likeable. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Cheddar Late Than Dead the third in the “Grilled Cheese Mystery” series was a great little cozy. This was my first for this author and this series and it worked just as good as a stand-alone. Having said that I will be going back and reading the other two previously releases because I enjoyed this one so much.

This starts with Carly a grilled cheese restaurant owner (I dream I didn’t even know I had until I heard of it) living in a quaint VT town seemingly living her best life. She is surrounded by a great cast of characters in her fellow workers at the shop, friends about town, and even old high school acquaintances. Carly is the outgoing type that never meets a stranger and can easily make conversation.

She seems to not be able to keep out of the local murders much to the admonishment of the local police chief. After being asked to cater a bridal shower of an old school acquaintance the groom is found at the bottom of the stairs murdered. There are twists and so many suspects but it all comes together in the end to catch the culprit. The writing style is lovely and felt very scenic and conversational. The mystery was well thought out and even though i did figure it out before the reveal I was still satisfied.

One thing is especially love about a cozy mystery is that there isn’t a lot of romance and I appreciate that. Also that everything resolves or brings itself to a happy end. I adore that there are recipes at the back, this having the special grilled cheese she made for the shower. I can’t wait to hear more of the adventures that Carly and her friends go on in the upcoming books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book is the third in the Grilled Cheese Mystery series, but the first I've read, but it works well as a standalone. Carly Hale owns a grilled cheese eatery and the descriptions of the food she serves will make you hungry! As a favor for two old high school acquaintances, she agrees to a last minute request to cater a shower. There is lots of drama at the shower and that's before the groom-to-be is murdered! When one of her old friends becomes the prime suspect in the murder, Carly decides to launch her own investigation.

The bride-to-be was the definition of a bridezilla, so I didn't care for her character. I didn't think Dawn, the suspect, was guilty of murder but I can't say I liked her either. She didn't hesitate to lie or manipulate people into helping her. Luckily, Carly, her best friend Gina, and her boyfriend Ari were likable and made the book enjoyable. Carly and Gina's friendship was great and I would like to have seen even more of Gina.

As good of a friend and girlfriend that Carly is, she can come on a little strong when questioning witnesses and potential suspects. I wasn't surprised when some innocent people became defensive and refused to answer her questions. However, Carly is able to weed out the guilty from the innocent and has a tense, dramatic confrontation with the killer. I was surprised by the identity of the murderer and enjoyed the overall ending of the book. Now that I've been introduced to this series, I am interested in going back and reading the prior books in the series.

I received an advance copy of this ebook at no cost from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Cheddar Late Than Dead is the third Grilled Cheese shopfront cozy by Linda Reilly. Released 31st Jan 2023 by Poisoned Pen Press, it's 384 pages and is available in mass market paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a fun small town cozy. The usual village eccentric secondary characters are present and cheese shop cafe owner Carly has to put her amateur sleuthing skills to the test to save her friend from prosecution when Klarissa's soon-to-be-husband is found poisoned after a very public pre-wedding argument.

Much of the book's plot arc is outlandish and silly in true cozy-mystery manner. The dialogue is rough in places, but overall, it's a fun light read. I like main character Carly's honesty and loyalty to her friends. There are tons of cheesy puns throughout, and the author has included a few recipes, including cheddar cheese donuts, which admittedly raised some eyebrows.

The language and action are squeaky clean. Despite being the third book in the series, the mystery, denouement, and resolution are all self contained in this installment and it works perfectly well as a standalone. With three books extant in the series at this point, it would be a good candidate for a mini-binge read or buddy read.

Four stars. Fans of small-town shopfront cozies will likely enjoy this one as well. Recommended for fans of Korina Moss, Vivien Chien, and Amanda Fowler, this is another fun (somewhat silly) addition.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Restaurant owner Carly Hale isn’t exactly thrilled to be roped in at the last minute to serve refreshments at Klarissa Tadeo’s bridal shower. While they got along well enough when they went to high school together, Klarissa has turned into a total bridezilla now that her nuptials are impending. Carly would turn down the catering gig altogether if it weren’t for the sheer desperation of another former classmate, Dawn Chapin. Dawn is Klarissa’s wedding planner as well as her best friend since childhood, and will suffer the brunt of Klarissa’s wrath should Carly refuse.

Carly is further thrown out of her comfort zone by the bride’s insistence that grilled cheese donut sandwiches be served at the shower. While Carly’s restaurant specializes in grilled cheese, she’s never attempted grilling them with donuts before. Fortunately, her talented staff stands ready to help her figure out recipes and accompaniments. With their assistance, Carly pulls together a menu centered around the unusual item, then preps for the big day.

At first, the bridal shower goes smoothly. Even Klarissa’s generalized anxiety is soothed by how well everything is proceeding, which she credits almost entirely to Carly’s food and service. She insists Carly come out and say hello to all the guests, even though Carly would love nothing better than to keep her head down in the kitchen, steering clear of any drama and just getting the job done. So it’s pretty mortifying for Carly when Tony Manous, Klarissa’s intended, unexpectedly shows up. He doesn’t seem at all happy with his fiancee, but allows himself to be headed off by Dawn before he and Klarissa can get into a fight. Carly is still trying to figure out how to exit gracefully herself when she comes across Tony’s body just a short while later, dead at the foot of the grand staircase.

Dawn immediately falls under suspicion of murder, and begs Carly for help in clearing her name. Carly has, after all, acquired a bit of a reputation in their town of Balsam Dell for nabbing murderers. Despite the warnings of the police chief to stay out of this case, Carly feels compelled to keep helping Dawn. Will her attempts to prove her old friend’s innocence wind up jeopardizing her own life though, as a killer lurks in the shadows, waiting to strike again?

This was another solidly entertaining installment of the Grilled Cheese Mystery series. It’s nice to meet more characters from Carly’s past, even as new ones, particularly in relation to her restaurant staff, are introduced. It was also nice to see Carly’s resilience save a life, all while realistically weighing the cost of friendship against her own safety.

There were two recipes included here and I absolutely had to try the dish at the heart of this novel:

QUOTE
Grilled Cheese Donut

1 glazed donut (the bigger the better!)
Salted butter, softened
Shredded, sharp cheddar cheese (as much as you can pile on!)

Using a serrated knife, slice the donut in half lengthwise. Spread softened butter on both <i>unglazed </i> sides.

Set one half of the donut in a non-stick skillet or cast-iron pan, butter side down. Pile shredded cheese on top of the glazed side. (Don’t worry about bits of spillage into the pan–they make nice little crusty edges!)

Top the cheese with the other half of the donut, butter side up. Grill over low to medium heat, pressing down lightly with a spatula. Carly suggests <i>not</i> using a grill press, as the weight will squish the sandwich too flat. Grill on one side until golden brown, then flip over and grill the other side.

When grilling, add pieces of crispy bacon or sliced tomato atop the cheese, if desired.
END QUOTE

I genuinely had no idea what I was in for with this recipe, but I love grilled cheese sandwiches and I adore glazed donuts, so I figured that the end result couldn’t possibly be too, too terrible. Imagine my elation, then, at how wildly this exceeded even my modest expectations. Grilled cheese donuts are shockingly good sandwiches! The sharpness of the cheddar really offsets the sweetness of the donut, and the buttery crust just makes for a perfect comfort food. If cheddar isn’t your thing and you’re looking for a substitute, I do recommend sticking with a sharp cheese regardless, as the contrast really sells the dish.

I made several grilled cheese donut sandwiches for my family, all of whom would like me to make this again and soon. I’ll probably try it with the sliced tomatoes and some beef bacon next time, just to see if there’s any chance at improving on perfection.

Next week, we travel to the midwest for a deliciously healthy baked treat while investigating the death of a television producer whose luck has finally run out. Do join me!

Carly Hale owns a grilled cheese eatery and seems to have a knack for investigating crimes. When two former high school classmates convince her to cater a shower, she ends up investigating the mysterious death of the groom-to-be. This is part of a series that has some good characters and fits the cozy mystery model to a T. Unlike some cozies, it's not immediately obvious who committed the crime, so it kept my attention. It's quite entertaining and filled with lots of mouth-watering food references.
Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Loved this one!! This is the third book in the cozy series so far and I have loved each one more than the last. The setting is so fun and the characters are well described and feel like they are real. I can’t wait for more!!

Carly is helping an old high school friend, Klarissa, out by catering a wedding shower, at the maid of honor’s family home, and another friend and also wedding planner. The home is a beautiful mansion, full of interesting rooms and hallways that one easily gets lost in.
All is well until the groom shows up, and not only that he falls of the stairs dead. Accident or murder? As always Carly is in the thick of things – can she clear the bride and her maid of honor?
Great cozy – keep the pages turning

I am a fan of this author and this installment in her Grilled Cheese Mysteries series is well done! I enjoy how she combines multiple dramas going on, sometimes unrelated (employee drama vs murder drama). Her main character is a strong, fierce woman having survived personal loss and I enjoy when she empowers those around her, rather than being a victim. Her interactions with her old high school classmates were a little out of character (jumping right back in for people she wasn’t that close to that didn’t seem like that great of people) but that does also show the nature of most people. Another winner and can’t wait to see what happens next in Balsam Dell.

What a fun cozy this was. The amateur “sleuth”, Carly, owns a restaurant known for toasted cheese sandwiches. She lives in a little town so cute and well-described it could be my little town here in New Hampshire. Catering a wedding seems fun til the bridegroom drops dead from poisoning. Not a good way to start a relationship :)

This has what I call all the “elements” of a cozy…an amateur sleuth, a handsome boyfriend, neat smalltown friends, and of course, a dead body. But it wasn’t totally like your everyday cozy. I think the reason is the writing. Somehow, Linda Reilly made the town of Balsam Dells very real. She made the people easy to picture and their relationships very like the small somewhat nosy town I grew up in.

This isn’t heavy reading. It’s clean and comfortable with hints and herrings woven up in a good mystery. Definitely want to read more of these. Want to try a fried cheese donut sandwich too.

Cheddar Late Than Dead is the third installment in the Grilled Cheese Mysteries. The series is set in the small town of Balsam Dell, Vermont. We follow Carly Hale after she returns to her hometown and opens a grilled cheese restaurant.

In this edition, Carly is reunited with Klarissa and Dawn, two former classmates. Dawn is a wedding planner, and Klarissa is a bride-to-be. After a misunderstanding, Carly finds herself catering Klarissa's bridal shower. While there, Carly finds Tony, the groom, at the bottom of the stairs as if he fell from the second floor. A few days later, the town manager goes missing. Are the two events connected? If so, how?

Readers are treated to winter in Balsam Dell and all the coziness that comes with it. The relationship between Ari and Carly continues to grow. And, of course, Havarti makes several appearances!

If you enjoy cozy mysteries, you should give the Grilled Cheese Mysteries series a try!

Carly runs a grilled cheese restaurant in Balsam Dell, she is also an amateur sleuth on the side .
She is persuaded to cater for a bridal shower and things don’t go to plan when the groom is found dead.
Carly begins to investigate in her unique way and the story that unfolds makes an entertaining read.
This cosy mystery is an easy and enjoyable read.
Looking forward to the next in the series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press.

A solid addition to the Grilled Cheese Mysteries Series.
I was happy to visit with characters from the first two books and be introduced to some new ones (will Dawn become part of the group, will the Chief have a new girlfriend??).
This was a pleasant read, although I feel that book 2 (No Parm No Foul) is still my favorite of the trio. In this installment, Carly is catering a wedding shower for an old classmate (who she hasn't seen since high school) and the groom is murdered. What was a little hard to believe was how all these people who didn't know Carly at all spilled so much information to her... it was a bit of a stretch. I was happy to see that, like previous books, Carly is a smart main character who doesn't purposely put herself in sticky situations.
Looking forward to book 4.

Carly's Grilled Cheese Eatery was very popular in Balsam Dell and with Grant, Valerie and Suzanne as her staff, they were in a good place. When two old school friends, Klarissa and Dawn, entered the eatery one day, Carly was witness to Klarissa's anger with Dawn over her upcoming wedding and the falling through of the bridal shower's venue. Carly ended up agreeing to cater for the shower at Dawn's family home in less than three weeks. What had she got herself into?

The guests at the shower loved Carly's specialty - grilled cheese doughnuts - but it was later when everyone had become loud in their enjoyment, that trouble struck. The groom appeared, drunk and angry with his bride-to-be, but it was his death at the bottom of the stairs which started the events which Carly couldn't help but become involved in. Would she discover who the killer was before another died?

Cheddar Late than Dead is the 3rd in the Grilled Cheese Mystery series by Linda Reilly and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Carly was determined not to investigate the murder, but couldn't seem to help herself, much to the Chief's chagrin. And Carly's beau, Ari, was worried about her. I found the plot a good one, and the story fun and entertaining. I'm looking forward to the next in the series and recommend Grilled Cheese Mysteries highly.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Glazed grilled cheese donut…hmmm…well if the sandwich is as good as this cozy I am all in. This is book number three of the Grilled Cheese Mystery series that takes place in Balsam Dell, where the winter is cold but Grant‘s tomato soup and Carly‘s grilled cheese sandwiches are warm and toasty. Both can be found at Carly’s Grilled Cheese Eatery sandwich shop which seems to be the place to be and is also a great way for Carly to get back into the flow of Balsam Dell life by renewing old acquaintances that both increase business and her sense of community. Which brings us to the crux of this latest mystery, while trying to do a good deed and increase her business in the off season, Carly gets herself involved in a murder mystery while catering a bridal shower of all places. The groom wasn’t even supposed to be at the shower and now he won’t be at the wedding. They bride is distraught, naturally, but also a suspect. I think that Carly is one of the few people who aren’t considered a suspect, but then again, she is well known to the Sheriff who has an open mind and a willingness to hear her when she has possible pertinent information as a result of amateur sleuthing. Good hearted Carly does her best to remind people that she is restaurateur and not an investigator, but her reputation precedes her. This story provides not only one mystery but two, when Gretel Engstrom the town manager goes missing, or is she hiding…this is a story that is sure to please and recipes to satisfy, can be read by itself or why not start at the beginning, because after all, the best is yet to be.

Well, now I've got to buy some glazed donuts so I can try recreating the grilled cheese confections that Carly and her friends whipped up for the ill-fated bridal shower that launches her into a third murder investigation.

Catering isn't one of the services that Carly's eatery offers, but when a former classmate has to make last minute changes to a bridal shower, she lets herself get talked into it. The sandwiches are a hit, but the event ends in tragedy when the groom-to-be is poisoned. With an entertaining mystery element and plenty of characters to suspect, this series is always fun and always leaves me craving grilled cheese.

Cheddar Late Than Dead is the third book in Linda Reilly's Grilled Cheese Mysteries series, but it can be read as a standalone. This is the first book that I have read in the series and by the author and I didn't feel like I missed anything by not reading the first two books.

The main character, Carly, owns an eatery that serves specialty grilled cheese sandwiches. She is roped into catering a former classmate's bridal shower. The groom-to-be unexpectedly shows up at the shower and suddenly dies and the maid of honor is the prime suspect. Carly keeps saying that she will not get involved in the investigation, but she eventually does.

Carly was not a likeable character for me. Her involvement in the case never felt natural. After the reveal at the end, I realized there were small clues sprinkled throughout the book, but they weren't enough to point out a specific person. I never felt invested in trying to determine who committed the murder. I liked the setting and I wish there were more scenes involving the eatery and Carly's staff. Carly and Ari's relationship felt off, but I wish Ari was in it more often. I think that would've helped it feel more natural.

Overall, Cheddar Late Than Dead is a decent cozy mystery set in a small Vermont town. It slightly missed the mark for me, but I think a lot of readers will enjoy it. It is the third book in the Grilled Cheese Mysteries series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.