Brie Careful What You Wish For

• Author: Linda Reilly
• Genre: Cozy Mystery
• Publication Date: April 9, 2024
• Publisher: Beyond the Page
• Series: Grilled Cheese Mysteries #4

Thank you to NetGalley and Beyond the Page for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When a mean and quarrelsome woman is found murdered in her own home, most of the residents of Balsam Dell can only say feta late than never . . .

With the summer heat sizzling, grilled cheese restaurant owner Carly Hale is thrilled to have Ross Baxter delivering her sandwiches to local seniors. She’s never met a more polite or hardworking young man, and she brushes it off when one of her more difficult customers complains about him. But then Ross returns to the woman’s home to make another delivery—and finds her dead body. The police and half the town immediately suspect he killed her, so Carly steps in to investigate, determined to prove them wrong.

Carly soon learns that the victim had an estranged stepson and stepdaughter, both of whom needed her money to get their lives back on track. Worse still, in her younger days the dead woman had a reputation for preying on other women’s husbands, leaving broken marriages in her wake—and a list of suspects a mile long. But Ross’s fingerprints were found on the murder weapon, leaving Carly hungry for any clue she can find. Until she comes face-to-face with the killer, and realizes this time she may have bitten off more than she can chew . . .

Includes melt-in-your-mouth sandwich recipes!

The prior three books in this series were delightful, and I was eager to dive back into Balsam Dell with Carly and her quirky crew. This has become one of those fun series where I have gotten attached to the characters, to the point where they feel like real people to me, and a new book is like a chance to revisit my friends. 

The title is a cheesy pun, but I still love it, and I’m amazed at how many the author can come up with. (The recipes at the end of the book never hurt either, and they always sound so good!) But back to the story itself: We’ve had a slow-burn romance developing over the course of the series, and it was awesome to see the relationship between Carly and Ari really taking off now. 

The relationships that Carly has built within the town of Balsam Dells are wonderful. As a restaurant owner, she has the opportunity to interact with just about everyone in the town, and while some are nicer than others, she’s still a magic touch with even the tougher customers for the most part. But since this is a cozy mystery, you know the grumpiest customer of all gets murdered and Carly manages to find herself in the middle once again—when her delivery driver is the number one suspect. 

From here, the story takes off at a pretty fast pace, and kept me guessing at every turn. Naturally, there are certain people who look shady, and they’d be the obvious choice for the murderer, but Reilly is a master at red herrings. She keeps her readers guessing the identity of the murderer for much of the story, until she basically lays everything out for us. Or at least, that’s how my experience went. You might be better at predicting the murderer, but I tend to enjoy the ride even if I can’t guess the right villain. 

One of the biggest appeals of this series and this book, especially, is the strength of the relationships. Reilly’s characters have personalities that are complex and multifaceted, and while their relationships have a natural feel and have become deep over several books. I particularly adore the friendships between Gina and Carly, and Becca and Joyce; the former a long-term friendship, and the latter a caretaking relationship that is mutually beneficial and has become a friendship as well. I’m clearly a huge fan of this series, but don’t just take my word for it, give it a read yourself and see what you think! I highly recommend it.

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