โ Scribed by McRae, Cricket
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Artisan cheese making and a really stinky cold case (or two) occupy soap maker Sophie Mae Reynolds of Cadyville, Wash., in Macrae's well-constructed fourth Home Crafting mystery (after 2009's Spin a Wicked Web). Sophie heads home to Spring Creek, Colo., after her mother, Anna Belle Watson, receives a disturbing letter, lost for 18 years, that never reached its intended recipient. Sophie Mae's late brother, Bobby Lee, wrote the letter to his teen sweetheart, Tabby Atwood, shortly before hanging himself. Tabby, now married to Joe Bines, Bobby Lee's best friend, is shocked when Sophie shows up at their dairy to take Tabby's cheese-making class and show her the letter. The plot thickens after someone fatally beans Joe with a glass bottle of heavy cream. Likable characters and an easy-to-follow plot that doesn't require knowledge of previous entries in the series are a plus. (July)
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McRae temporarily moves her series from Washington State to Spring Creek, Colorado. Heroine Sophie Mae has accepted policeman Barr Ambrose's marriage proposal, but she is not giving up the family she has created in Cadyville, Washington. Instead, she is renovating her house for the soon-to-be-expanded family, and in order to escape the resultant chaos, the whole cast makes its way to Colorado, where Sophie Mae grew up and where her parents are now in crisis. McRae uses this premise to fill in Sophie Mae's backstory. We learn that her brother, Bobby Lee, committed suicide two decades ago and that a suicide note has just now been found. While trying to unravel this old and heartbreaking mystery, Sophie Mae also takes the opportunity to acquaint herself with another home craft. Her brother's old school friends now make their own artisan cheeses, and Sophie Mae is quick to learn the fine points of mozzarella, cheddar, and bleu. This series continues to add depth to its engaging cast of characters, and the home-crafting details remain a delight and an inspiration. --Judy Coon
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### From Publishers Weekly Artisan cheese making and a really stinky cold case (or two) occupy soap maker Sophie Mae Reynolds of Cadyville, Wash., in Macrae's well-constructed fourth Home Crafting mystery (after 2009's _Spin a Wicked Web_). Sophie heads home to Spring Creek, Colo., after her mother
### From Publishers Weekly Artisan cheese making and a really stinky cold case (or two) occupy soap maker Sophie Mae Reynolds of Cadyville, Wash., in Macrae's well-constructed fourth Home Crafting mystery (after 2009's *Spin a Wicked Web*). Sophie heads home to Spring Creek, Colo., after her mother
Love--and smelly cheese--are in the air. Sophie Mae has accepted Barr's marriage proposal, and they're trying to keep her mother, Anna Belle, from taking over their no-fuss, no-muss wedding plans. But when Mom finds a cryptic suicide note that Sophie Mae's brother wrote two decades earlier, Sophie M