Fromage

by Sally Scott

Journalist Alex Grant is enjoying the last days of her summer holiday in Croatia when she is accosted by an old school friend, Marie Puharich, and her odious brother, Brian, both there to attend the funeral of their fearsome grandfather’s two loyal retainers. The only upside of the whole sorry business is meeting Marco, the family’s resident adonis. An incorrigible foodie, Alex is unable to resist Brian’s invitation to visit the family creamery in Australia’s south-west to snoop around for stories and eat her body weight in brie. But trouble has a way of finding Alex, not least because her curiosity is the size of a giant gouda wheel. What begins as a country jaunt in search of a juicy story will end in death, disaster and the destruction of multiple pairs of shoes.

224 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2021

About the author

Sally Scott wrote her first novel as an 11-year-old. It was a Famous Five pastiche and every word was precious. She kept writing cosies until an arts degree led to experimentation with short stories. None of them publishable, but joyous to write. Then ‘adulting’ happened and creative writing gave way to articles, papers and grant applications needed for her to pretend to be an academic. After lapsing from teaching, she began working as a weapons systems contractor and then at a gaming machine testing consultancy in Melbourne. After eight years interstate, Sally returned to WA to do a last hurrah at Curtin University before establishing her own business development consultancy in the engineering and construction sector. Fromage is the first novel in the Alex Grant series.

Reviews

[Denise Ackers · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was average. Had a good story line but could have been developed a bit more. I found it a bit predictable. Also found the author’s use of some unfamiliar words annoying. I don’t like reading a book where I have to keep checking the meaning of words. It was good for what I call “fluff reading”.

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too much nothing in the first half, and then the second half felt rushed. Could have been paced a lot better. Also the shoe obsession adds absolutely nothing to the book apart from making the narrator a bit more annoying.
A good idea for a story but not really executed too well, unfortunately.

[Julie Garner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book.
Fun read with quite a few laugh out loud moments. It was nice to have a mystery book that wasn’t all dark and gritty.

[Jennifer Collignon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A slow paced story with a very fast conclusion.
Lots of cheese but not as much hunger in the mystery that I had hoped for.