It’s June in Boulder, Colorado, and wedding season is in full swing. Parker Valentine is excited to attend the wedding of her cousin, Emma, where in addition to celebrating the happy couple, she’ll also be providing wine for the reception. But when the fussy wedding planner is found dead midway through the ceremony, Parker knows that to get the weekend back on track, she’ll need to unveil a murderer.
Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of high tension and hot tempers during a wedding, so Parker has a long list of potential suspects. Even worse, her entire family has fixated on the state of Parker’s relationship with her boyfriend, Reid. If Parker can manage to impress her relatives with her wine skills and dodge unwanted pointed personal questions, solving a murder will be the icing on the cake.
Release Date:Â Mar 7, 2023
Series:Â A Colorado Wine Mystery
Book:Â 4
Publisher:Â Penguin Group
Imprint:Â BerkleyÂ
Price: $9.99
Parker Valentine is happy to provide wine from her Boulder, Colorado winery for her cousin Emma’s wedding. She would be happier if her boyfriend, Reid, were in town to help her celebrate, but he is in San Francisco, where he is planning on opening a new restaurant. On the day of the ceremony, Parker is surprised at how difficult the wedding planner, Prynne Pearsall, is to work with but has high hopes that Emma’s big day will turn out okay. Unfortunately, in the middle of the ceremony, Prynne’s body is discovered by the caterer, who was just fired. Parker is determined to help solve the murder as soon as possible so Emma and her groom can finally say “I do”.
Parker is no stranger to crime scenes, but I enjoyed how she teams up with her chemist mother in this case. They both notice that something seems off about the crime scene, and it looks like the real killer is trying to frame others for the crime he or she committed. When Parker’s aunt becomes one of the prime suspects, this gives her and her mom even more motivation to question the witnesses and do some research to find out who really murdered Prynne. Parker is good at talking to people to get information, and her mom does a good job getting some facts to back up Parker’s theory. There are also details about different wine pairings included in the story that are informative and make the premise of the book come to life.
This book works well as a standalone, but readers following the series will enjoy the developments in Parker’s personal life. I have read two of three of the prior books and am also pleased by the growth in Parker’s character. I still don’t always connect with her, but find her to be much more likable than when the series first began. I would be interested to see what happens next for Parker’s winery and for her and Reid.
~ Christine
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