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Death by Noir
Not yet published
Expected 18 Jun 26In an idyllic Sussex town, murder is fermenting...
Barclay Flint is the charmingly eccentric proprietor of The Bottle Bank wine shop, nestled in a picturesque Sussex town renowned for its gloriously anarchic Bonfire Night celebration.
Barclay can taste a kaleidoscopic universe in a single glass of wine and delights in matching customers to the grapes of their dreams. But when his close friend, struggling regenerative vineyard owner Victor Crawshaw, is found dead, Barclay finds himself a prime suspect.
To crack the case and clear his name, Barclay must deploy his wine detection skills and follow his nose through the rolling Sussex hills where a tangle of old resentments and rivalries awaits to ensnare him.
With a killer on the loose and Bonfire Night fast approaching, the town crackles with anticipation. This year the fireworks might not be the only things to explode...
Join Barclay and his friends from The Bottle Bank in this sparkling debut novel by wine expert Olly Smith. It's time to uncork the most exuberant and irresistible mystery of the year!
Barclay Flint is the charmingly eccentric proprietor of The Bottle Bank wine shop, nestled in a picturesque Sussex town renowned for its gloriously anarchic Bonfire Night celebration.
Barclay can taste a kaleidoscopic universe in a single glass of wine and delights in matching customers to the grapes of their dreams. But when his close friend, struggling regenerative vineyard owner Victor Crawshaw, is found dead, Barclay finds himself a prime suspect.
To crack the case and clear his name, Barclay must deploy his wine detection skills and follow his nose through the rolling Sussex hills where a tangle of old resentments and rivalries awaits to ensnare him.
With a killer on the loose and Bonfire Night fast approaching, the town crackles with anticipation. This year the fireworks might not be the only things to explode...
Join Barclay and his friends from The Bottle Bank in this sparkling debut novel by wine expert Olly Smith. It's time to uncork the most exuberant and irresistible mystery of the year!
Kindle Edition
Expected publication June 18, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
ARC Review
Death by Noir by Olly Smith is a cozy mystery set in a small Sussex town, just as the community is preparing for Bonfire Night.
The story follows Barclay Flint, the charmingly eccentric owner of The Bottle Bank wine shop. When one of his oldest friends is suddenly found dead, Barclay becomes the prime suspect due to an unfortunate misunderstanding. Determined to clear his name, he sets out to uncover the real murderer, using his unique abilities and the help of his friends along the way.
This is an engaging and atmospheric mystery. The small-town setting and touches of local dialect give the story a distinct sense of place. Barclay is a very entertaining main character, and his quirky personality and special skills add a fun, original twist. The wine descriptions are detailed and clearly written with passion, making them a standout element of the book. The secondary characters were also enjoyable, and it was nice to learn more about their personal lives.
The mystery itself is a slow build. While it becomes clearer in the second half of the story, it often feels like the focus leans more toward wine than the investigation. Because of this, the mystery element didn’t feel as strong as I personally hoped.
Overall, Death by Noir is a good and cozy read with an interesting setting and a memorable main character, but for me, it could have benefited from a bit more depth and tension in the mystery. 🍷📚
Death by Noir by Olly Smith is a cozy mystery set in a small Sussex town, just as the community is preparing for Bonfire Night.
The story follows Barclay Flint, the charmingly eccentric owner of The Bottle Bank wine shop. When one of his oldest friends is suddenly found dead, Barclay becomes the prime suspect due to an unfortunate misunderstanding. Determined to clear his name, he sets out to uncover the real murderer, using his unique abilities and the help of his friends along the way.
This is an engaging and atmospheric mystery. The small-town setting and touches of local dialect give the story a distinct sense of place. Barclay is a very entertaining main character, and his quirky personality and special skills add a fun, original twist. The wine descriptions are detailed and clearly written with passion, making them a standout element of the book. The secondary characters were also enjoyable, and it was nice to learn more about their personal lives.
The mystery itself is a slow build. While it becomes clearer in the second half of the story, it often feels like the focus leans more toward wine than the investigation. Because of this, the mystery element didn’t feel as strong as I personally hoped.
Overall, Death by Noir is a good and cozy read with an interesting setting and a memorable main character, but for me, it could have benefited from a bit more depth and tension in the mystery. 🍷📚
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Death by Noir by Olly Smith is a delightful take on the cosy genre, adding a whole new dimension and a lot of tun! Great concept and utterly hilarious!
Barclay Flint is an original and unique protagonist, whose expertise in matching wine to peoples palates transfers to detection skills after the unaliving of his close friend!
A screamer of a cosy that not only gives a fantastic mystery, but hilarity alongside the most glorious antihero. I am really looking forward to more from the infamous in his own lunchtime Barclay Flint! Outstanding!
Thank you to Netgalley, John Murray Press | Baskerville and the author Olly Smith for this brilliant ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own
Barclay Flint is an original and unique protagonist, whose expertise in matching wine to peoples palates transfers to detection skills after the unaliving of his close friend!
A screamer of a cosy that not only gives a fantastic mystery, but hilarity alongside the most glorious antihero. I am really looking forward to more from the infamous in his own lunchtime Barclay Flint! Outstanding!
Thank you to Netgalley, John Murray Press | Baskerville and the author Olly Smith for this brilliant ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I enjoy a good murder, mystery story and add in some fireworks it should be my ideal book. And yes, I did enjoy the story and didn’t guess the final outcome. Barclay Flint, a wine merchant in East Sussex is the amateur sleuth who pieces together the clues, but there were just too many descriptions of wine, tastes, aromas. It seemed that the author needed to increase the word count, and I didn’t feel that these descriptions helped to move the story along or add any interest to the story. From the ending, I’m assuming the author intends to write a further story with this amateur sleuth but please, less reliance on word padding and stick to the story. My thanks to NetGalley and the author for an ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A quite cosy thriller, mostly light on the thrill aspect until the final act, which overall is a nice read. Living near Lewes, where the book is set, it was nice to read the accurate description of places and themes such as the bonfire festivities which are an intrinsic part of Lewes life. However, it did feel throughout that Olly Smith was overly descriptive, using words that, in places, seemed rather redundant as they just emphasised things superfluously. It also felt that - unless one was a wine aficionado - the regular, detailed wine chat was a little too much. A promising debut novel though and will be interested to read any follow-up books Olly writes.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews