An interesting read, especially learning about how vineyards and wines are made. I really wanted a glass of wine while reading this book! The characters seem a little bit contrived and some of them are predictable. How the main character, Lucie, gets into some of her dangerous situations is ridiculous. The reader knows she is going to have the murderer try to kill her! ( )

Review: The Merlot Murders by Ellen Crosby.

This book was like an old-fashioned mystery. It was a fast read and enjoyable. The author created excellent characters that kept the mystery and suspense flowing. The story is set in Wine Country along the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The story starts out with a young woman who was injured in a car crash and went away to France as she had a slow recovery. Her leg was badly injured and she now walks with a cane. Back home in Virginia her father has died and Lucie Montgomery decided to travel home for her father’s funeral and to settle the Estate. Once Lucie gets home she finds the old vineyard which has been in the family for generations and where she and two other siblings grew up, has not been kept in a good condition. Her despicable brother Eli and her younger sister Mia have know interest in keeping the home and vineyard. In fact her brother already has plans to sell the whole estate because there was a heavy dept incurred by her family led them to no other choice.

However, Lucie differs with the selling of anything and thinks someone may have murdered her father and she had a very close friend and her Godfather, Fitz who agrees with her. The story moves on and the elder friend is murdered and a few attempts were made to kill Lucie. By pure luck and someone watching her back Lucie manages to stay alive. The story is filled with suspense and mystery to the very end. ( )

3.5. I liked the main character and grew to like the wine maker as he grew more complex, like his wines. The author uncorked him to breathe with life starting about midway through the book. I also enjoyed the setting--Virginia Wine Country--in which I spent many happy hours at one time t in my life.

I would read another in the series. ( )

Lucie Montgomery's father, Leland, has been killed in a hunting accident on the family's Virginia vineyard. Lucie's godfather tells the death was no accident. With her greedy brother, hell-raising sister, and a seemingly cut-rate vintner, all the suspects are disturbingly close to home. Unsure whom she can trust, Lucie must uncover the truth-and save the vineyard. First in the Wine Country Mystery Series.

okay... here's the thing: a while ago, i bonked my head. badly. it's messed up many things for nearly 3 months now, including my reading. my ability to focus on more challenging or deeper books has been flattened. so i've been flailing about trying to find less taxing reads that are entertaining and well written. that, apparently, is a task easier said than done. cozy mysteries have worked for me in the past. i somehow stumbled onto this series, so decided to give it a shot. along with mysteries, i like wine. though the titles in this series are cheesy (more wine, please), i was drawn to the setting and the fact the author is a journalist. so there's how we got here.

overall, this novel was fine. it's a reasonable setup for the books which follow. the whodunnit dragged out a bit as the suspects piled up, and some plot points were flimsy, but i didn't mind several of the characters and i am curious as to how things will evolve through the series. the book worked for what i needed and there's potential here. ( )