Douglas Stewart's Blog

On 28th June 1973, ten tax inspectors arrived at 124 Quai des Chartrons, Bordeaux, then the HQ of the highly respected Cruse family. Someone had tipped them off about illegal activity on this prime historic building across the road from the mighty River Garonne. They were refused entry and forcibly and angrily sent packing by Lionel Cruse!

The family had been producing and exporting fine wines from the prestigious Bordeaux region of France since the 19th century. By 1973, the family business known as Cruse & Fils Frères was being run by two brothers, Hermann and Lionel together with Yvan, a cousin.

Like gold and fine artworks, wine had become an investible and much speculated commodity. The price of Grand Cru wines from this region had been rocketing to perhaps 16 times greater than a decade earlier – to the enormous profits of the wine producers and négociants in this region. Buyers had become attracted to the great vintages as an investment, confident of ever-rising values of wines stored in cellars or in bond.

The Bordeaux négociants were merchants / wholesalers responsible for turning the humble or noble grape into magnificent wines – often (but not invariably) bottled at the grand Châteaux they owned.

Supply could not keep up with demand.

Pierre Bert

Enter Pierre Bert, a négociant with the solution for the Cruse family:

• Fill the bottles with cheap wines from Algeria or from other less renowned parts of France such as the Languedoc.
• Use the same labels as for the genuine bottles.
• Falsify the supporting paperwork.
• Sell at top dollar prices to satisfy the demand, especially from the USA.

Three Million Bottles

With help from Monsieur Bert, some three million bottles of dishonest wine were created and sold by the Cruse family business – at enormous profit.

Although the tax inspectors had been refused entry, investigators from another division of Government, again raided the premises in August 1973 and were not to be denied. The whole rotten edifice collapsed. Besides applying false labels, dirty tricks of sweetening wine and adding chemicals, to include colouring, were uncovered.

In October 1974, 18 defendants stood trial. Hermann Cruse could not cope with the scandal and threw himself off a bridge into the river. The two surviving brothers never admitted wrongdoing. They only received suspended sentences and the company was fined the equivalent of $8 million dollars – today approaching $60 million.

The rascally Monsieur Bert proclaimed he had never had complaints about the quality of the fake wine and that, after all, what have I done wrong when 90% of the traders and 50% of the producers in the region are doing the same thing. Whether his assertion was true to an extent or a gross exaggeration is unknown. His comment inflicted enormous damage on other entirely reputable wine producers. Bert was jailed for one year.

Why Winegate?

This took place at the same time as US President Nixon was being hammered over the bugging over the Democratic HQ in the Watergate Building in Washington DC. Since then, the scandal which had originally been called L’Affaire Cruse, had the word Gate added to become known as Winegate. The Cruse family had also protested that there had been a political element to the attention they had received. A prominent French politician, the Mayor of Bordeaux was a candidate for the French Presidency. He was a good friend of the family and supporter of the Chartrons community – and the scandal did him no good.

The Consequences

Although other Grand Cru wines from the region had not been involved in the scandal, a question-mark hung over every bottle of Grand Cru wine from Bordeaux. The prices crashed and it was some ten years before confidence in the market was restored. To pay the fine, the Cruse family had to sell what had previously been their flagship brand and premises of Château Pontet- Canet. Today, however, the Cruse name lives on – in particular with their renowned Château d’Issan and Château Laujac wines.

My Interest

I was gripped by the scandal at the time and this led to me to investigate a series of other frauds in France, Austria and Italy in particular. This resulted in me writing Cellars’ Market, my successful crime thriller then published in the Collins Crime Club series and now once again available on Amazon Books.

23rd May 2024

Douglas Stewart

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Here’s my video interview with Humphrey Hawksley. Hope you like it!

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High-stakes casinos, black market gambling, Formula One racing, drug trade espionage, shipping piracy, sports fixing and a cast of intriguing characters created by Doug Stewart. One of the most compelling is Insp. Todd “Ratso” Holtom, whose latest adventure Deadly Hush is published at the end of February; a serial killer on the loose leaving a playing card with each victim. All of the above comes from imagination of a distinguished lawyer who has worked courts and cases of London, Las Vegas and beyond. Doug is part-time chair of the Isle of Man Employment Tribunal and, now in his early eighties, he is getting his ducks in a row to make a full-time career as a thriller writer.

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This is a review by BestThrillers.com, of my latest crime thriller Deadly Hush which is the third in the Det. Inspector Todd “Ratso” Holtom series.

A mesmerizing crime thriller that deftly explores high society’s dark underbelly. Highly recommended. 

The third instalment in Douglas Stewart’s Detective Ratso series opens in Switzerland as a killer, who is obsessed with rigid adherence to schedules as well as numerical synchronicity, stalks his prey. While careful not to reveal the killers’ identity too early, we understand that he is OCD, highly intelligent and deliciously dark.

He also loves his work. The murder of the sixty-one-year-old financier, who manages investments for a family of Ukrainian billionaires, is executed with Swiss precision. The killer soon surfaces again in London, where he targets Dermot Doyle, a beloved UK TV personality and gay icon.

Enter newly promoted Detective Chief Inspector Todd “Ratso” Holtom, who initially dismisses the idea that Doyle’s death is a hate crime because it was “far too professional.” The murder comes after a previous case in which local police were accused of indifference while investigating the murder of three LGBTQ+ victims. As Ratso’s investigation takes him deeper into a world of private clubs and high finance, he’s also forced to juggle potentially catastrophic personal issues. His boss is an “oily” homophobe who intends to make Ratso’s life difficult. Meanwhile, skilled hitman Hysen Koa – the nephew of an Albanian drug baron that Ratso helped put in jail – is closing in.

Writing in the close third person, Stewart is a master at using immersive inner dialogue to create tension. Characters routinely coach themselves through dicey situations and high anxiety, a technique that rings true and is highly effective. Stewart’s style works especially well in chapters that reveal the perspective of Ratso’s adversaries, revealing fascinatingly intimate personal habits and methods.

As the story leaves the UK and heads to the Caribbean, Stewart’s gift for vivid detail renders historical backstory all the richer (“an eighteen-metre tidal surge that had smashed and trashed the yellow, green and purple wooden shacks with their corrugated iron roofs”). Simultaneously, Stewart offers a believable police procedural, juxtaposing the mundane with the spectacular. In Stewart’s hands, even energy management has never been so riveting.

Deadly Hush works well as a stand-alone novel and can easily serve as the entry point to the series.

BestThrillers.com

  Pre-Order Deadly Hush on Amazon The first two novels in the Ratso Series Buy Hard Place on Amazon Buy Dead Fix on Amazon

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Forty years ago I wrote CASE FOR COMPENSATION. This is the first of three mystery stories about Bristol UK lawyer Alastair Duncan. He investigates an unexplained car-wreck leaving a victim paralysed. Duncan races around France and England chasing down the truth and climaxing in a courtroom drama.

In VILLA PLOT, COUNTERPLOT, Duncan takes on dangerous criminals involved in a Spanish holiday homes scam. The drama also involves the world of rare high value stamp collection.

In THE SCAFFOLD Duncan is convinced death on a building project is murder. This plot was inspired by just such a murder that I investigated in the English West Country. The murderer in real life was never charged.

Now LUME BOOKS have put them into an eBook Omnibus -The Alastair Duncan Omnibus -https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08L7TMMT9

For me, it is a delight to know there is still a big market for my mystery stories written in a diffferent era. For my younger readers this is like history. For others, the Omnibus will be nostalgic – recalling those days before mobile phones, the internet and social media.

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Thriller Writer Douglas Stewart Interviewed by Ros Gale

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Watch The Interview With Douglas Stewart

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Ratso would have been as frustrated as hell this year. As an avid cricket fan and still active player, he would have found the cancellation of all fixtures at Lord’s unbearable. As was clear in my thrillers Hard Place and Dead Fix, when not tackling organised crime for the Met. Police, Lord’s Cricket Ground is Ratso’s favourite escape.

Perhaps like me, he would have consoled himself by reading former Lancashire cricketer, Bob Bennett’s, new book From Bacup to Barbados. After his playing days as a batsman were over, Bob became a distinguished figure off the pitch. He was Tour Manager for England Test Teams and for England “A” Teams. No question, this proved to be a demanding but satisfying role.

The book is a joy to read and I commend it to cricket lovers everywhere. For the great majority of fans, reading this will be as close as it gets to understanding the highs and lows, the fun and the dramas when touring in India, Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies. Managing big name (and bigger ego) players for weeks on end is no picnic. Besides all that, for a great many years, Bob was also a very effective Chairman of Lancashire CCC.

Bob succeeded in these roles and now after publishing this book, I wish him further success.

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GIVEAWAY ON GOODREADS for USA readers only. Sign Up NOW for the chance to get one of 100 FREE copies of the acclaimed thriller DEADLINE VEGAS – His Obsession – Casino Revenge.

My two previous blogs gave the background of why I wrote this powerful story. Notably, my latest thriller is full of drama, action, tension with ample suspense. The action speeds from London to Las Vegas and the famous Strip casinos.The climax is both dramatic and chilling.

Beth Dexter dies horribly while investigating a bent casino that had cheated her. Dex, her brother, is unsuited to seek justice but nevertheless still seeks vengeance to honour his promise.

Dex gets caught up in a whirlwind of intrigue and danger as he investigates roulette, blackjack and other casino games. His obsession is to destroy the multi-billion casino group. Meanwhile, the casino bosses are determined to silence him. They will stop at nothing to save their skins.

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First of all, my thriller Deadline Vegas – His Obsession- Casino Revenge is available on Pre-Order NOW on Amazon for eBook publication on 18th June 2020.

PRE-ORDER DEADLINE VEGAS NOW

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Reviews

“Brilliant exciting book. If ever a book was perfect to be made into a movie this is it!”

“I hope Mr Stewart will take us on another journey with these main characters.”

“Full of drama from beginning to end. This truly is a book you can’t put down.”

“Deadline Vegas, a great read, gripping stuff, you wonder where Douglas Stewart is taking you. A well informed and obviously much travelled author.”

THE STORYLINE

“Dex” Dexter’s sister dies mysteriously after confronting a casino boss for cheating her of a big win. Having promised her to seek revenge, Dex rushes headlong into a dangerous world of powerful casino bosses in London and Las Vegas. Their new multi-billion casino in Vegas is soon to open and Dex has vowed that will never happen. Suddenly, he is trapped in a world of money-laundering, murder and corruption as he races against the clock to keep the promise. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?

INSPIRATION FOR PLOT

Most importantly, at the time, my work as an international lawyer gave me insight to the casino world because I was providing advice about casino operational issues in both Las Vegas and London.I created the plot when living for many years in both cities. Those happy days led to my starting point of any thriller: I ask myself WHAT IF? In the case of DEADLINE VEGAS, the question was: Do casinos cheat the players and what happens if they do?



MOST ASKED QUESTION

Casino staff may cheat you but they are being closely watched. Also, sometimes they conspire with the players to cheat the casino, a big danger to management. Finally, in certain countries where the regulators are lax, casinos themselves may cheat you – but it will be more subtle than magnets under roulette wheels.

TODAY

In contrast to the great days I had living there, as I write, the ghost-town that The Strip and Piccadilly Circus had become are slowly showing signs of coming back from the dead. These are indeed troubled times. Hopefully the problems of Covid 19 will soon be over.

My Website

Read more about me and my writing:

https://www.douglasstewartbooks.com/

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