|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Lucie Montgomery visited France after a car accident left her leg mangled. Once she got to France she decided to live there, both to get away from her ex-boyfriend, who was driving the car when the accident occurred, and because France had some wonderful wine. Her family owns a vineyard in Virginia and discovering the different kinds of French wine has kept Lucie happy. After two years of not seeing her family and only speaking to them once in a while, Lucie's estranged brother Eli calls to tell her that their father Leland has been killed during a hunting accident and has been found dead in the vineyard. Eli also alludes to the fact that some people in their Virginia town don't believe that Leland's death was accidental, but might have been a murder. Lucie returns home to find everything in shambles. Eli doesn't care about the land and wants her and their youngest sister Mia to sign papers to sell the vineyard. Lucie is horrified at the thought and refuses to consider the sale. Eli only wants the vineyard sold so he can get more money to build a bigger house for his spoiled, pregnant wife. Their youngest sister will do anything that Eli says, and doesn't care about the vineyard either. She's too busy with her new boyfriend who is Lucie's ex, the one who crashed the car in Lucie's accident. During the funeral, Lucie's godfather Fritz, who has a problem with alcohol, tells Lucie that her father was murdered. He also asks Lucie to find her long-dead mother's diaries and to give them to him. He also gives her a key. She has no idea what the key is for, but she knows it has to do with her mother's diaries. When Fritz tells her that he has to pick up some wine for after the funeral, Lucie sees that he is drunk and asks him not to leave but he goes anyway. The next day Fritz is found dead in the winery. The police think it's an accident but Lucie is sure it was murder and that Fritz's murder has something to do with her father's death. Lucie is determined to find out why her father and Fritz were killed and what her mother's diaries have to do with all of it. She is also determined not to sell the vineyard but to work hard on it and turn it back into the wonderful winery it used to be. Like a fine wine, THE MERLOT MURDERS by Ellen Crosby should be appreciated by reading it slowly. This is a wonderful murder mystery with well-rounded characters. The readers can understand Lucie's sadness when she comes home after two years to find her father dead, her younger sister taking up with her ex-boyfriend, and her older brother trying to force her to sell the vineyard that she loves so much. The story line is complex but not so much that it can't be followed. Crosby writes about a sad family where the only light was the mother who died way too early. The mother was the one who made sure the vineyard ran to its top potential, and as soon as she died everything started to fall apart. Lucie strives to rekindle her mother's dream of having the vineyard flourish once again. There is a lot about winemaking here and even as someone who has no real interest in the subject, I have to admit it was pretty interesting to find out what has to be done to turn grapes into wine. The descriptions were fascinating. As for the mystery, it was near perfection. The dynamics of this family and their friends made this a wonderful mystery. There is some romance in it and you know Lucie has to find the man of her dreams to love her and help run the wine business, but the romance part of the story is blended in so perfectly that even non-romance readers will enjoy it. THE MERLOT MURDERS is Ellen Crosby's debut novel and since her first book is so good I can't wait to read her next one. Sit back with a glass of Merlot and enjoy.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, September 2006
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
