A young winery owner won’t let one sour grape ruin the bunch in the first installment of this exciting cozy mystery series.
Parker Valentine has always dreamed of opening her own winery in her hometown of Boulder, Colorado. But she gets more than she bargained for when a food and wine critic unexpectedly shows up at Vino Valentine on opening day. A negative review could be fatal for her business, and not only does he seem to hate her chardonnay, he also collapses and dies shortly after drinking it.
Although Parker hoped that the attendees would put a cork in it, soon her winery is at the center of a social media firestorm. With #killerchardonnay trending online, Parker’s business is in danger of closing, and she has no choice but to investigate the murder herself.
To restore her reputation, catch a killer, and keep her struggling business open, Parker needs only one thing: some good proof.
Release Date: May 26, 2020
Series: A Colorado Wine Mystery
Book: 1
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley
Price: $7.99
Parker Valentine is proud of the work she’s done to get her new winery, Vino Valentine, up and running in Boulder, Colorado. Her excitement turns to nervousness when she realizes an influential food and wine critic is attending her grand opening event. A favorable review by Gaskel Brown would give her fledgling winery great publicity. However, when he dies of poisoning after sampling the wine at the event, #KillerChardonnay begins trending in social media, which is not the type of publicity Parker was hoping for. Now if Parker doesn’t want her winery to close before it even gets off the ground, she needs to find out who really killed the opinionated critic.
Killer Chardonnay is the first book in a new series. The author does a good job of introducing readers to the important characters in the book without bombarding them with too many people to get to know all at once. Parker sometimes feels a little too sorry for herself because her parents didn’t offer financial backing even though she used money inherited from a beloved aunt to start her business. She is sometimes too harsh on her brother, but most of the time she is likable because of her determination to make her business a success and how much she cares about her best friend, Sage.
Parker has plenty of suspects to look into since Brown made a lot of enemies with his often scathing reviews. She is able to find connections to the man that the police weren’t able to uncover. The parts of the book with Parker’s brother Liam being a target of suspicion falls flat. However, I enjoyed the other parts of the investigation. In addition to the investigation, I enjoyed the information about the different types of wines and potential food pairing. I also like that there is some character growth for both Parker and Liam by the end of the book.. While trying to salvage her winery and conducting a murder investigation, Parker still finds time to share some romantic moments with a bad-boy chef. She also catches the eye of a former classmate who is now the detective investigating Brown’s death. By the end of the book, it looks like a love triangle could be forming between Parker and her two admirers. Depending on how it’s handled, this could be interesting in follow-up books. The identity of the killer wasn’t a huge shock, but there are enough credible suspects to keep the reader guessing throughout the book. Fans of Nancy Parra or Ellen Crosby will enjoy this debut book in the Colorado Wine mystery series.
~ Christine
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