Of Merlot & Murder

Tangled Vines Mystery #2

by Joni Folger

Foul play at the festival When her family's winery becomes one of the sponsors at the Lost Pines Food and Wine Festival, Elise Beckett's spirits soar at the chance to help with their booth. But as the festival gets underway, her cheerful mood turns sour when rival vintner Divia Larson is found dead. With all clues pointing to her grandmother as the prime suspect, Elise and her deputy sheriff boyfriend team up to clear her name. But Divia's murder is as complex as a fine wine, with a strong bouquet of suspicion, bitter notes of betrayal, and more than a hint of danger. Will Elise and Jackson be able to untangle the mess before another victim is corked? "Lively and entertaining . . . [a] well wrought whodunit."― Publishers Weekly "A light, pleasant case of murder."― Kirkus Reviews " This is a fun read with a little bit of Everything. All readers will be rooting for Grandma to get out of this mess, and enjoy the suspense that is truly riveting as it builds to an ending that's a real surprise!" ― Suspense Magazine

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2014

About the author

Also published under J.G. Sauer

A native of Oregon, I spent twenty-two years with an airline traveling and moving around the country before settling down near the beautiful Pacific Ocean with my three very spoiled cats.

I was lucky enough to find an outlet for my creativity and healthy imagination the moment I stepped out onto my first theater stage. After 20 years of theater, I still enjoy performing, but it doesn’t hold a candle to creating my own worlds and characters on a blank page.
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When I’m not spending quality time with the characters I create, I enjoy gardening (though not always as diligent with the flower beds as I should be –damn weeds), crafting (never enough time in the day), and working in local theater (did I mention not having enough time?)

Oh, and I have a terrible shoe fetish. In my opinion, one can never have too many fabulous shoes…

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free from Midnight Ink in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a really fun cozy. I'm fairly new to the genre, but I looked forward to this one with the vineyard setting (wine...what's not to like?) The characters were funny and contemporary, and the story fast paced, slightly sexy, and very entertaining. Oh, and there's a fat cat named "Chunky". My only complaint, and only because I can't relate personally, were the lead character's female sterotypical "can't pass a shoe sale and always late for appointments." Once I got past that, and it wasn't a big deal, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

[Sally906 · Rating 4 out of 5]

OF MERLOT AND MURDER is the second book in the Tangled Vines Mystery series – the first one being Grapes of Death which I read last year. The story begins a few months after the events that took place in the first book, Elsie and Jackson are now officially a couple and all is right with the world. River Bend Vineyard, the family winery, has a booth at the upcoming Lost Pines Food and Wine Festival and the family is excited to be part of it. Trouble is the booth opposite belongs to the Third Coast Winery whose owner just happens to be an old high school beau of Elise’s grandmother. His new wife is a real nasty piece of work and is universally disliked by the whole food and wine community. So when she is murdered there is no shortage of suspects – including Elise’s Grandmother who was the person who found the body and has reasons of her own to want the woman dead. Elise wants to protect her grandmother and decides to tiptoe around the investigation in case the police miss something. The investigating officer is Jackson and he orders her to stay right out of it. Of course she doesn’t listen and eventually gets into a right pickle. Overall the suspense was good – I spent most of the book wondering whodunit (and there were a plethora of suspects who had reason to kill the victim) and changing my mind every so often – including when one of my main suspects turned up dead! When the murderer was eventually revealed it was a complete surprise, but made absolute sense why they did it and how. There was lots of humour, great family banter, romance (but kept to a minimum), soap opera action, hostages and a shoe stealing cat. What more can you ask for in a book? I love this series and hope there is more to come.

[OpenBookSociety.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://openbooksociety.com/article/of...

Brought to you by guest reviewer JoAnne

While preparing for the Lost Pines Food and Wine Festival, Elise’s family realize that rival vintner Divia has requested the booth catty-corner from them, which brings her closer to make her snide remarks and backhanded compliments to them and everyone else. Plus, she dislikes Abigail because Abby once dated Divia’s husband Garrett back in high school.

After a particularly distasteful scene at the festival between Divia and another vintner, Monique, Abby steps in to try and diffuse the situation, and gets right in the middle of it. So when Divia is found dead later than night, and Abby calls Jackson for help from the hotel, suspicions naturally fall on her.

I absolutely loved this book. While it isn’t technically a cozy – there is some swearing, though not offensive – it is still a great mystery. The characters had a lot of depth and it was easy to get into the story and be carried right along with it as the action progressed. There was a romance going on between Jackson and Elise, but not so much that it overwhelmed the plot; but enough that you knew these two were in a new relationship and trying to find their way around each other.

Yet Elise being who she is: naturally curious and wanting to protect her grandmother even with Jackson’s warnings to stay out of it, she manages not only to drag herself into the investigation, but those of her family members and best friend as well. Which doesn’t bode well for them or for her when Jackson and her grandmother find out what she’s doing (which of course doesn’t stop her).

The ending took me completely by surprise; I was as stumped as Elise and when I found out who the killer is, but it all came together in a nice little package that made complete sense. I fully intend to read the first book in this series, Grapes of Death, and I suggest you do the same. Highly recommended.



Of Merlot and Murder
Tangled Vines Mystery, Book #2
By Joni Folger
ISBN13: 9780738740768
Author’s website: http://www.jonisauerfolger.com/joni-f...
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra

http://openbooksociety.com/article/of...

Synopsis:

Foul play at the festival

When her family’s winery becomes one of the sponsors at the Lost Pines Food and Wine Festival, Elise Beckett’s spirits soar at the chance to help with their booth. But as the festival gets underway, her cheerful mood turns sour when rival vintner Divia Larson is found dead.

With all clues pointing to her grandmother as the prime suspect, Elise and her deputy sheriff boyfriend team up to clear her name. But Divia’s murder is as complex as a fine wine, with a strong bouquet of suspicion, bitter notes of betrayal, and more than a hint of danger. Will Elise and Jackson be able to untangle the mess before another victim is corked?

Review:

I must say, I have not enjoyed a cozy so much as this book!!!! It had all of the requisite components…a murder (or two), great characters, witty dialogue in everyday language and of course…discussions of wine (a personal favorite topic of mine). Of Merlot and Murder is the second book in the “A Tangled Vines” series. Elise Beckett is the main character. I usually am a bit apprehensive about reading a second book in a series when I have not read the first book however I quickly got caught up in the lives of the main characters and not having read the first book was not a deterrent with respect to my enjoyment of this second book in the series.

Elise is in a new”ish” relationship with Jackson Landry, the deputy of the town. Knowing this, the reader can already surmise there will be tension between the two when Elise puts on her amateur sleuth persona to clear her grandmother of suspicion of murder. You can certainly feel Jackson’s exasperation come into play…but one never loses sight of the fact that her cares for Elise very much.

There were many potential suspects and as such, this kept me guessing throughout the story! This is what I look for in a good cozy mystery…..well…..the mystery. Many characters were hiding something and it made them appear guilty. It took until the very end before I found out “who did it”…..just the way I like my mystery reads J. I also loved that this mystery was chalked full of humor and interesting family dynamics! One favorite character for me was Abilgail (Elise’s grandmother) and main rival of the newly dearly departed Divia. Abigail was humorous and had moxie…. :)

I am most certainly going to get the first in the series (Grapes of Death) and read that title as well.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good mystery, but I do wish it would have been easier to solve myself, rather than the big reveal at the end. A quick read, good for cozy mystery fans.

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 STARS

I really got a kick out of the main characters. They are fun group of family and friends. I would like to see them again. This is the second book of Tangled Vines Mystery. First one I have read. It does a good job of standing alone, but if you are going to read both of them I suggest reading them in order. (Because It does give up lots of spoilers of the first book) I would still like to read it sometime though.

The suspense of the book was good. Kept me guessing most of the book. Lots of suspects who hated the victim. Some action. Lots of humor, wise cracking of characters. Lots of relationships, lots of secrets, some soap opera from some of the characters.

The pace of the book was good and fast. Most of the book took place in one week during The Lost Pines Food and Wine Festival.

Elise Beckett is the main character. She works at the family winery. She is dating Jackson who is the family friend and a deputy. She is very curious and gets lots of lectures to leave the police work to Jackson from everyone. She gets her sister Madison, brother Ross and best friend C.C.'s all taking notice and asking questions.

Jackson is Ross's best friend since childhood. Now it has finally worked out that Elise and him are free to date each other at same time. He feels like part of the Beckett family. He has to ask tough questions about everyone the evidence takes him. Even if it is Abigail Elise's grandmother.

Abigail and Divia are not friends. Divia ended up marring Abigail's high school boyfriend. They are going to be at the wine festival. Divia is not well liked. Abigail finds her body at the local motel and calls Jackson to report it.

Reading this book makes me want to go watch a Sandra Bullock movie again. I need to remember a scene in it better.

I would read more books by Joni Folger based on this book.

I was given this ebook to read and asked in return to give honest review of it by Netgalley and Midnight Ink

[Kim Reads (Read Your Writes Book Reviews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Read Your Writes Book Reviews
by Gemini

This was by far the best cozy mystery that I have read so far this year. The characters were very likeable and everything that happened was realistic. Considering that the other cozy mysteries I have read included characters that talked to themselves or other inanimate objects, this was refreshing. I was starting to believe that all cozy mysteries had to focus on outrageous characters that could not exist in the real world.

Of Merlot and Murder is the story of Elise Beckett and her inability to keep her nose out of police business. After the murder of her grandmother’s rival, Divia Larson, Elise feels compelled to drag her siblings and best friend into the investigation in order to make sure that her grandmother is cleared as a suspect. Incidentally, her boyfriend Jackson Landry is the lead investigator on the case and he is constantly reminding her that she needs to let him do his job and stay out of it. One would think that this would be easy since Elise had already gotten close to getting herself killed while she was investigating her uncle’s murder a few months prior. Needless to say, Elise is not a member of law enforcement. She is a horticulturist working for her family’s winery but she thinks that she is Nancy Drew. She just can’t help herself.

There is a large suspect pool that made it a little difficult to keep up with everything. Everyone had a secret so that made it a challenge to figure out who the killer actually was. Oddly enough, that’s what made the book entertaining. Just when I thought that I had it all figured out, the author threw a curveball. There is a great message about family throughout the book as well. Of Merlot and Murder is the second book in the series and I just may have to go back and read it.

**Received a copy from Midnight Ink in exchange for an honest unbiased review.**

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cozy mystery paperback that I picked up a while back at a library sale. It’s the second of three in a series. There are plenty of references to the first book so that you really don’t have to have read it. And, I have no interest in reading the third book. I understand that the basic premise for a cozy is that ordinary people are thrust into situations where they must investigate the latest crime or murder in their vicinity. However, the main girl here was just too annoying and so blatantly interferes with the investigation that I don’t see how her boyfriend, who is the local law-enforcement, tolerates her. It also seemed rather far-fetched that not one but two unrelated people from the past suddenly appear in the story, and the very little referenced second person ends up being the killer. It was all just too improbable. Perhaps I just need to switch to more authentic crime stories.

[Delenn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely awful. Only read it for a library challenge.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got a used copy of this book, and whoever had it before me had written "the editor should be let go" on the title page - obviously, I had to keep reading.

I'm a sucker for sub-par murder mysteries - they're intriguing enough to keep me invested, but watered down enough to read before bedtime. That being said, this book was awful even considering the genre. I'm surprised it has such high ratings on here.

The whole book was littered with comma errors, but that issue seemed especially prevalent in the first chapter. There were also frequent quotation mark errors. The author missed a word in a sentence in the second chapter. There was questionable adjective choices throughout the novel as well, and some words would be misspelled or incorrectly used (i.e., "diffuse" instead of "defuse" on page 107, "some" instead of "sum" on page 125, "up front" instead of "upfront" on page 126, "peak" instead of "peek" on page 240, and "purpose" instead of "propose" on 268).

It seemed that "don't get your panties in a twist" (and slight variations of the phrase) was the most clever quip the author could come up with on multiple occasions, with it being used at least three times in the first 100 pages. "Bite me" was also used with ridiculous frequency.

The dialogue was awkward and unnatural at times, not flowing the way that real-life conversations would. Attempts at letting a character's personality shine through fell flat and added to the awkwardness. Much of it felt redundant, with plot points being repeated to various characters as they arrived in the scene, which felt like a waste of pages since the reader already understood those exact plot points without the repetition. Characters were frequently described as smirking or laughing over things that did not warrant either reaction.

As for the story content itself: the story started somewhat slow, but I appreciated the attempt at world-building. That being said, the world that the author built was still boring. Although set at a wine festival, there's very little relevance to the events that occurred.

The characters sucked. They were very two-dimensional and could largely be broken down into their gender stereotypes (sometimes to a point where some of the characterizations felt almost like sexist caricatures). The author characterized both the protagonist and the victim as such dislikable characters that I didn't really care how either of their storylines concluded, and even felt like rooting against the main character at times.

*SPOILERS BELOW*

A lot of the interpersonal conflict between characters was repetitive as well - a continuous problem throughout the book is that the main character, Elise, keeps butting in where she's not supposed to, which angers/concerns/irritates multiple characters throughout the novel. It doesn't do much to add anything to the story or to character development (other than to overly emphasize Elise's stubborn nature, I suppose), and gets boring to read over and over again. It also doesn't make sense why her law-enforcement boyfriend would find it more endearing than he finds it unbearable. The sex scene between the two characters was also just embarrassingly written.

I also thought it was too convenient for the protagonist to be dating the cop who was investigating the crime, but he turned out to be fairly useless in solving the murder anyway.

As for the ending, it's frustrating that a character who has been present for the majority of the book happens to know who the killer was and just didn't offer up that information the whole time. There weren't really any interesting clues for the reader to follow to piece together who it could have been along the course of the story, and the attempts at misdirection felt half-assed.

The villain's monologue at the end about his plan and his motives felt tacky, considering nothing clever had taken place the entire book. It was also unnecessary, given that the reader could have put together all of the monologue's content after the one character confesses that he knows who did it.

Overall, I felt like this book was a disrespectful waste of a reader's time, even though I enjoyed reading it for how bad it was. It was hardly a mystery, and more than that, it was just flat-out boring. I've read children's murder mysteries that were executed far better than this.

[Edie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second book in the Tangled Vines Mysteries series. Elise Beckett and her family have a booth at the Lost Pines Food and Wine Festival. One of her grandmother's friends, whose winery also has a booth at the festival, is married to a woman whose life goal seems to be to make life miserable for everyone else. Unsurprisingly, she's murdered. Romance heats up between Elise and her deputy sheriff boyfriend.

[Linda C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Series seems to have 2 titles, not sure why. As I mentioned in my review of the first volume, I found the FMC very annoying. Was hoping for an improvement with the growth of her relationship with the Deputy, but not so. Her lying to him throughout and keeping things from him that she finds out was dangerous and not just for her but the people she drags along with her. Everyone objects at one time or another, but it doesn’t matter. Like some young teen saying ‘whatever’ and flipping them off. I’m losing respect the MMC who can’t say no and mean it. And getting very tired of twisted panties!

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. Had a nice mystery. I really enjoyed the characters.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just lighthearted fun mystery for an easy cozy snow day read!

[SE Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Beckett family is hard at work to make their booth a success at the Lone Pines Food and Wine Festival. While the Becketts' main competition and Elise's grandmother's arch nemesis, Divia Larson, goes out of her way to bring the sour grapes, the business at River Bend Winery's booth is booming. But then Elise's grandmother discovers Divia dead in her hotel room, and she becomes a prime suspect in the woman's murder. Elise must work together with her sheriff boyfriend in order to clear her grandmother's name and to discover the real killer.

Of Merlot and Murder is the second book in the "A Tangled Vines" series that features Elise Beckett as the main character. I didn't realize that when I picked up the book, but the story wasn't so reliant on the first book that I felt lost while reading this one.

What bothered me most about this book was that it's stated that Elise nearly died in the last book because she investigated a murder, and now in this one she's back at it. Her family doesn't stop her, either. Elise's siblings and friends protest slightly before helping her investigate. Only Elise's grandmother and her boyfriend, the sheriff investigating the case, are wholly opposed to her participation. I guess I understood that she wanted to clear her grandmother's name and that asking questions didn't seem all that dangerous. I don't think that I would've made the same decisions, though.

I did like the character's reactions to the murder and the investigation. Elise felt like she needed to support her grandmother and wasn't afraid to ask questions. Jackson, her boyfriend, also seemed sufficiently annoyed whenever she stuck her nose into police business. But by far, I really liked how Elise's family rallied around their own.

This book is a cozy mystery, meaning it's less about the police procedures and blood and gore. Instead, it's an amateur detective who wades through family drama and gossip to reach their conclusion. It's much more sedate than police procedural mysteries. While this book confirmed to me that I'm really not a fan of this genre, I can see how it holds appeal. This book is a leisurely mystery. There's a lot of drama that's fun to read and quite a bit of intrigue.

I'd recommend this book to a reader looking for a murder mystery that's not all that heavy on violence.

Rating: 3/5

Of Merlot and Murder by Joni Folger will be published as a paperback by Midnight Ink on September 8, 2014.

**I received an advanced copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.

[Randee Baty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Food and wine in the beautiful Texas hill country should be a winning combination. Unless you trip over a dead body.

Elise Beckett is back for her second outing in the Tangled Vines Mystery series. I enjoyed the first book and this one was better. Elise is helping her family with their booth at the Lost Pines Food and Wine Festival. It’s great publicity for their winery and event center. Lots of local restaurants and local vinyards will be there including Third Coast Winery whose owner just happens to be the old beau of Miss Abbie, the family matriarch. His new wife is a real piece of work and is much disliked by the whole food and wine community. If a dead body is going to turn up during the festival, it seems no surprise that it’s hers. With Miss Abbie as a potential suspect, Elise can’t help sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong.

Here’s what I like about this series and what I think is going to be its on-going appeal. The people say things that sound like real people. When Elise’s brother yells at her for being late to dinner because of a shoe sale, I think she’s completely correct when she says that men just do not get the importance of a shoe sale. I love shoes and my husband doesn’t get it. When she and her siblings joke around about who Grandma loves best, it feels like a conversation I’ve been in with my family. While bad things do happen, the family maintains its bond of love. I prefer that over angst and dysfunction.

On the other hand, Elise has to quit ignoring everything her handsome police detective boyfriend tells her. The amount of deliberate snooping she does after being warned not to by Jackson is unbelievable and borders on the TSTL category. She needs to start working with Jackson as a good citizen instead of against him as a snoop.

When I reviewed the first one in this series, I said I thought the series would get better and it has. I look forward to seeing more of Elise and the vineyard gang in the future.

This was provided to me by Netgalley and I appreciate the opportunity to read and review it.

[DelAnne Frazee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Of Merlot and Murder - A Tangled Vine Mystery 2
Author: Joni Sauer-Folger
Published: 9-8-2014
Publisher: Midnight Ink
Pages: 290
Genre: Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense
Sub Genre: Women's Fiction;
ISBN:
ASIN: B00MMMCR4G
Reviewer: DelAnne
Reviewed For: NetGalley
Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

.
With her family sponsoring some of the festivities at the Lost Pine Food and Wine Festival, Elise Becket is looking forward to the fun and festivities. That is until rive Vintner, Divia Larson turns up dead and Elise's Grandmother is the prime suspect. Elise ropes in her boyfriend, Jackson, a deputy sheriff into helping her search for answers and the real killer or killers. The clues lead to more questions and like a fine wine you have to sort through the layers to find the true sweetness of the grape.




With developed characters and established background and a thought out plot you are drawn into another deliciously wicked cozy to see if you can solve the murder before Elise does and to help Keep Elise from stepping on the wrong toes and dumped in a vat to age in the dark for years. You cannot miss a chance to enjoy another of Elise's adventures so find a quiet spot, get yourself a cool glass of wine and indulge a few hours away from reality and join Elise and the others at the Lost Pine Food and Wine Festival. There is so much going on you should not be bored. Enjoy Of Merlot and Murder I know I did. My rating is 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.




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[LORI CASWELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dollycas’s Thoughts
Thank goodness Elise and Jax are a couple because any other law enforcement officer would lock her up for her investigating. Sometimes she crosses the line by a mile and it usually ends up with her needing him to come to her rescue. But it does make a great story for us readers to enjoy.

Elise Beckett is a very independent woman with a serious shoe shopping problem but with her grandmother at the top of the suspect list she is not going to sit idly by. She gets into trouble when she gets her family and friends involved in her inquires and they are not a subtle bunch plus they don’t have enough sense to realize the killer could come after them. I love the way they all band together to help but let’s face it they don’t know what they are doing. The dialogue is priceless and sometimes full of a humor but the predicaments they find themselves in may not end up being too funny.

Folger has created a wonderful cast full of great people readers will love and plenty of suspects who they will love to hate. I love the setting of the food and wine festival, it really uncorks a bottle full of people who could have reasons to want the woman dead. Divia did not have many friends but she had plenty of enemies. There is quite a tangled web of clues, secrets revealed and lies uncovered.

The author has blended a fine mystery that I really enjoyed. Like wine this series continues to get better with age. I liked book two even more than more one. I can’t wait to decant the next story in this series.

[Janice Liedl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun outing with Joni Folger's Tangled Vines winery mysteries. Elise is faced with a mystery that will test her family ties as well as her relationship with hunky lawman Jackson. And that's just the fallout from an increasingly complex case that's drawing all of Elise's relatives into the mix, starting with her beloved grandmother who's set up as suspect number one in the death of utterly despicable Divia: wife to a former squeeze of Abigail's.

Elise is supposed to be steering clear of investigations after the last one nearly took her life but what can she do when her grandmother's in jeopardy because of the dastardly Divia's death? She can enlist all of her relatives who'll keep the truth from Jackson about what Elise and the rest of her family are doing to clear their grandmother, of course!

If you liked her previous outing, you're going to enjoy Of Merlot and Murder. Even if you haven't read the first Tangled Vines mystery, it's easy to get drawn into the world of the winery with the festival where the action takes place and the interesting types it draws into their world. Elise is sympathetic, her eye for people problems are sharp and the mystery is compelling!

[KM · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in a very fun series. The first is Grapes of Death.
Joni is a good story teller. Her prose and plotting are great, with lots of twists and turns.

Best of all are her characters. Even though it's been a year since I read Grapes of Death, on the very first page the main character came speeding back to me with every turn in the road as she hurries to not be late "again". The previous story also came back in great detail and as she reintroduces each of her main characters, I could picture them again large as life.

Though I haven't yet finished Of Merlot & Murder, I just had to share with my friends that this is another great offering from Joni Folger.

You might also want to check out her steamier mystery Hidden Treasure published under Joni Sauer-Folger and her immortals short story Immortal Reckoning published under J. G. Sauer.

[Roberta Bettis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down once I started. Great storytelling that grabs you straight away and keeps you page turning!

The author has written a great family of characters. You can see their love for each other, but they are written as real family with foibles and dynamics. The dialogue is real, and you really hear each voice in your head as you read.

The heroine is smart & sassy. The hero is strong, brave, smart & caring. A couple of scenes had me near tears. And the climatic reveal had me on the edge of my seat--truly didn't figure out who dunnit til he revealed himself.

I can't wait to read Elise and Jax's next adventure!
W

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The family vineyard has a booth at the Lost Pines food and wine festival, unfortunately quite near the booth run by vain, unscrupulous Divia Larson. When Elise's grandmother Abbie finds Divia's body, she becomes a suspect, even though Elise's beau deputy sheriff Jax, is sure she's innocent. But Elise, her siblings, and her best buddy determine to find out some things about the other suspects, in order to clear Abbie. Elise and her sister find themselves in danger from a least-likely suspect.

[Babs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abigail and Diva are bitter enemies and things take a turn for the worse when Elise helps set up a booth at the festival. When Abigail finds Diva dead she is the number one suspect. What a fun mystery this turned out to be. Abigail is a hoot and Elise tries her best to do what is right and keep things in order. A great read and new to me author I will be checking out.
Thank you NetGalley and Midnight Ink for allowing me to review.

[Mysteryfan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Susan Wittig Albert doesn't have a monopoly on murder in the Texas Hill Country. This book is kind of a hard cozy, not too soft. It is set at a vineyard owned and run by a large family. This is the second in the series but it didn't have much recap of the first. A local disagreeable woman is murdered and all sorts of secrets come out. The plot was decent, not too predictable. I'll look for the first one.

[Merrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a highly enjoyable cozy mystery! I thought it stood out from other books from it genre b/c it had both p.o.v of the Amateur Sleuth and the local sheriff sides of the investigation. I will totally read the hole series.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The book's plot kept me interested, the fledgling romance between Elise and Deputy Jackson Landry has plenty of chemistry, and Elise and her spunky family are fun. I look forward to more books in this series.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the second installment of the vineyard murders! Characters endearing and sassy, the little details that keep you interested, and who wouldn't love a fat cat named Chunky? Love love love the wait to the end to find out who "done it".

[Alycia · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a series of mysteries centered around a winery, there is less talk of wine and fewer people drinking wine than most other books I read. MC guzzles diet soda, but I don't recall her drinking any wine.

[Lark of The Bookwyrm's Hoard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent mystery, but marred for me by the main character's willful disregard for police procedure, personal safety, and common sense. Full review to come.

[Andra Weis · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://openbooksociety.com/article/of...

[Stephanie Tadlock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read