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NAPA NOIR
NAPA'S DEADLY VINEYARDSWhen northern California's idyllic Napa Valley is shattered by the vineyard shooting deaths of two men, investigative-reporter-turned-wine-editor Dante Rath seizes the chance to salvage his sagging career.One of the dead is the winery's top investor, a high-tech genius, who was shot and killed by the winery's owner, who in turn was gunned down by Napa County sheriff deputies.
At the murder scene, Dante encounters Carmen Carelli, the lawyer for the deceased investor and whose case files he rifles after sharing wine and other pleasures.
FRAUD, DECEIT, and a DEADLY SCANDALBut when Carelli is shot and wounded jogging near her house in Sonoma, Dante knows something deeply sinister is fermenting in wine country.Doggedly pursuing the story, Dante uncovers fraud, deceit, and a toxic scandal certain to shake the wine world and topple an international wine producer. But he must stay alive to publish the story.
At the murder scene, Dante encounters Carmen Carelli, the lawyer for the deceased investor and whose case files he rifles after sharing wine and other pleasures.
FRAUD, DECEIT, and a DEADLY SCANDALBut when Carelli is shot and wounded jogging near her house in Sonoma, Dante knows something deeply sinister is fermenting in wine country.Doggedly pursuing the story, Dante uncovers fraud, deceit, and a toxic scandal certain to shake the wine world and topple an international wine producer. But he must stay alive to publish the story.
344 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2018
16 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Peter Eichstaedt
21 books30 followersPeter Eichstaedt is an award-winning author who has worked in locations worldwide, including the Balkans, eastern Europe, Afghanistan, and Eastern and Central Africa. He is the author of ten books of fiction and nonfiction, including his most recent, a mystery thriller titled Enemy of the People. In it, a journalist exposes a conspiracy behind the kidnapping of the US president, who agrees to meet with his political adversaries in a swank resort in northern New Mexico.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 21, 2021
This book is a murder mystery set in California wine country. I read this for bookclub that happens to be at a winery. We read wine themed books and thought a murder mystery would be fun to read. It was an easy read and kept me guessing, but I had my guesses as to who done it. If you like mystery and wine, this is an easy fun read
May 25, 2018
Probably actually somewhere around 3.5- 3.75 stars.
Thank you Wildblue Press for sensing me Napa Noir for an honest review.
Thank you Wildblue Press for sending me a copy of Peter Eichstaedt's Napa Noir in return for an honest review. 3.5- 3.75 Stars
Napa Noir has a thrilling introduction. It opens with Chao Ling running for his life at Morrison Creek Winery. He is being chased by Bernie Morrison, who is trying to kill him. Chao had called the police, who arrived while Chao was still alive, but they had failed to save him. The cops shot Morrison down in response. I was into the fact that the mystery did not resolve around who killed Chao, but more on what caused Morrison to snap and kill Chao.
Dante Rath, a journalist with a wine column, jumps at the chance to cover Chao and Morrison's murders. He wants to know what Morrison's motivations were. Dante had a tense history with Morrison himself. As Dante investigates the deaths of Chao and Morrison, he starts to uncover seedy business dealings in the wine world and discovers a deadly secret that some big shots in the wine industry would like to remain secret.
The pacing for the most part was decently paced although there were points in the story where it seemed to lag. I feel that points where the story dragged it was due to the fact that Eichstaedt did not develop the mystery to be a convoluted mess and every chapter did not have a huge reveal. Sometimes the plot was bogged down by repetitive descriptions. For instance, Chao's sister Mei was described as being "disgusted" by her brother multiple times. It is never phrased as she speaks about Chao with disdain or Meil looked down on her brother's choices.
The lack of word choice also gave me a strong clue as to the identity of the bad guys that orchestrated many of the events that took place. However, I did struggle with determining the motive. Eichstaedt did provide a red herring or two into Napa Noir, but these people were not entirely innocent.
I appreciated how much I learned about the wine industry (business, legal, harvesting, etc). I did go into Napa Noir with very little knowledge about wine. I am interested in reading more of the Wine Country Mysteries series and seeing where the series go.
Thank you Wildblue Press for sensing me Napa Noir for an honest review.
Thank you Wildblue Press for sending me a copy of Peter Eichstaedt's Napa Noir in return for an honest review. 3.5- 3.75 Stars
Napa Noir has a thrilling introduction. It opens with Chao Ling running for his life at Morrison Creek Winery. He is being chased by Bernie Morrison, who is trying to kill him. Chao had called the police, who arrived while Chao was still alive, but they had failed to save him. The cops shot Morrison down in response. I was into the fact that the mystery did not resolve around who killed Chao, but more on what caused Morrison to snap and kill Chao.
Dante Rath, a journalist with a wine column, jumps at the chance to cover Chao and Morrison's murders. He wants to know what Morrison's motivations were. Dante had a tense history with Morrison himself. As Dante investigates the deaths of Chao and Morrison, he starts to uncover seedy business dealings in the wine world and discovers a deadly secret that some big shots in the wine industry would like to remain secret.
The pacing for the most part was decently paced although there were points in the story where it seemed to lag. I feel that points where the story dragged it was due to the fact that Eichstaedt did not develop the mystery to be a convoluted mess and every chapter did not have a huge reveal. Sometimes the plot was bogged down by repetitive descriptions. For instance, Chao's sister Mei was described as being "disgusted" by her brother multiple times. It is never phrased as she speaks about Chao with disdain or Meil looked down on her brother's choices.
The lack of word choice also gave me a strong clue as to the identity of the bad guys that orchestrated many of the events that took place. However, I did struggle with determining the motive. Eichstaedt did provide a red herring or two into Napa Noir, but these people were not entirely innocent.
I appreciated how much I learned about the wine industry (business, legal, harvesting, etc). I did go into Napa Noir with very little knowledge about wine. I am interested in reading more of the Wine Country Mysteries series and seeing where the series go.
June 16, 2018
Napa Noir follows a journalist/wine columnist as he tries to uncover the mystery of why a Napa Valley winery owner murders his biggest investor which results in him getting shot by police himself. Overall, the story was intriguing enough that I wanted to find out the ending. It’s a classic “who done it?”/“why done it?” story with some surprises. I wasn’t too invested in the main character, Dante, however, and didn’t really care what happened to him (Not to mention his obnoxious tendency to comment on how attractive he found each female character). If you can get passed that, then you might enjoy this easy to read mystery!
November 20, 2021
There are a fair amount of flaws with this one… the main character comes across as a bit of a dud (yet still gets the stunning, intelligent woman with hardly any effort), and the dialogue is often stilted and awkward. That said, I’m a sucker for wine-related fiction and mysteries, so this is right in the sweet spot. Not sure I’d recommend paying retail, but it is a solid choice on Kindle Unlimited. (2.5)
July 5, 2018
Thanks to the Editor. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
A little piece of advice: before starting this book be sure to have at least a bottle of good wine near you. You would crave it like crazy while reading this!
If you are wondering what to read this Summer, if you’re searching for something that is fast and intriguing, something not too demanding, well, you have found your book!
This book is not a masterpiece, to be completely honest, but my humble self thinks that we don’t always need a masterpiece, sometimes something unpretentious and fast, that can keep us company for a day, it’s a welcome thing! And this book delivers just that!
Plus the wine craving. Have I mentioned that?
Dante Rath is not a detective, but it’s a journalist, he’s also not a really lucky man, especially in this period, he’s a little bit rough at the edges, and I liked him. He reminded me of some good thriller’s MCs that I have met during the year. He’s not memorable, yes, but he’s not bad! We have some other characters, obviously, some of them are original, too, but he’s the only one who made a lasting impression on me. But hey, I am not complaining!
The story is quite intriguing and we follow the investigations because even if Dante is not a true detective, he’s determined to see the end of it and he has some stacks too, in this investigation (namely his work is on the line, but not only that!). It’s a pleasant reading and I enjoyed the easy way that the author has with his writing.
There is just a little thing that bugged me during the reading… ok, there were two, to be honest: 1) if you want to use some Italian words is a good idea if you ask an Italian person to check that because there were some minor mistakes. And I am Italian so yeah, they are minor but I see them. 2) This book is set in the area of California renowned for his wine, so I was hoping to see a lot more of California’s wines all around. Mind me, there is a lot of wine involved in the story (hence the wine craving!) but we often see Italian and European wine while the characters are drinking (and trust me, they drink a lot!!!). These are not big things, that true, and I am not complaining, you can easily ignore that and enjoy the reading!
A little piece of advice: before starting this book be sure to have at least a bottle of good wine near you. You would crave it like crazy while reading this!
If you are wondering what to read this Summer, if you’re searching for something that is fast and intriguing, something not too demanding, well, you have found your book!
This book is not a masterpiece, to be completely honest, but my humble self thinks that we don’t always need a masterpiece, sometimes something unpretentious and fast, that can keep us company for a day, it’s a welcome thing! And this book delivers just that!
Plus the wine craving. Have I mentioned that?
Dante Rath is not a detective, but it’s a journalist, he’s also not a really lucky man, especially in this period, he’s a little bit rough at the edges, and I liked him. He reminded me of some good thriller’s MCs that I have met during the year. He’s not memorable, yes, but he’s not bad! We have some other characters, obviously, some of them are original, too, but he’s the only one who made a lasting impression on me. But hey, I am not complaining!
The story is quite intriguing and we follow the investigations because even if Dante is not a true detective, he’s determined to see the end of it and he has some stacks too, in this investigation (namely his work is on the line, but not only that!). It’s a pleasant reading and I enjoyed the easy way that the author has with his writing.
There is just a little thing that bugged me during the reading… ok, there were two, to be honest: 1) if you want to use some Italian words is a good idea if you ask an Italian person to check that because there were some minor mistakes. And I am Italian so yeah, they are minor but I see them. 2) This book is set in the area of California renowned for his wine, so I was hoping to see a lot more of California’s wines all around. Mind me, there is a lot of wine involved in the story (hence the wine craving!) but we often see Italian and European wine while the characters are drinking (and trust me, they drink a lot!!!). These are not big things, that true, and I am not complaining, you can easily ignore that and enjoy the reading!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews