She Treads Softly: Board to Death

Monday, August 10, 2026

Board to Death

Board to Death by J.C. Eaton
8/18/26; 314 pages
Level Best Books
A Charcuterie Shop Mystery #5

Board to Death by J.C. Eaton is a recommended cozy mystery, for the right reader, and the fifth book in the Charcuterie Shop Mysteries series. J.C. Eaton is the penname for Ann I. Goldfarb and James E. Clapp.

Katie Aubrey owns the Char-board, a charcuterie restaurant and sandwich shop in Cave Creek, Arizona. Katie also has a vintage-clothes-loving ghost, Edith Ellroy, living in her home and apparently Edith is in trouble with her Supervisor from the Netherworld Larkeshian Drimmelspout, Larken for short. Edith has missed her bi-annual performance review and Larken is looking for her. Edith, who seemingly follows Katie around everywhere is constantly interrupting and making snarky comments only Katie can hear.

The busy week has even more complications when the Heavenly Holsteins Dairy Farm is sabotaged resulting in a whole lot of cows running loose and blocking roads. Katie and her employees Lilly-Ann, Javie, and Matt, already have several caterings, including preparing twenty custom charcuterie boards for an event at The Pinnacle, a prestigious five-star senior residence. Then, as the event is winding down, Katie and an employee discover the body of The Pinnacle's manager beneath a date palm. It was murder, and there is some evidence that connects it to Javier. Clearing his name is the impetus for Katie to start investigating the Pinnacle and its residents on her own.

Honestly, at the heart of this novel is a very good cozy mystery. Katie inserts herself into the investigation and looks for clues that will solve the whodunit. What sets it back and significantly lowered my rating is the gimmicky inclusion of the multiple ghostly annoyances, and their overly large and exaggerated role in the novel. The synopsis mentions Edith, but it didn't hint at the major role she plays in the plot. That Katie even replies to Edith, out loud, with others around, was exasperating and points to questionable mental health. Sure, I guess all the shenanigans add an element of humor to the plot, but what it takes away from the plot is credibility.

The novel can be read as a standalone novel, although reading the previous novel would provide more background information about the character. Intrigued by the charcuterie plot element, this was my sampling of the series and I'm going to bypass the previous novels in the series based on the plague of irritating ghosts. 2.5 rounded up when needed. It would be 4 but for the bothersome Edith and friends.

Board to Death will best be appreciated by those already following the series. Thanks to Level Best Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.