Rating: Good
Source: Publisher
Description: When Lucie Montgomery attends a Thanksgiving weekend party for friends and neighbors at Hawthorne Castle, an honest-to-goodness castle owned by the Avery family, the last great newspaper dynasty in America and owner of the Washington Tribune, she doesn’t expect the festive occasion to end in death.
During the party, Prescott Avery, the 95-year old family patriarch, invites Lucie to his fabulous wine cellar where he offers to pay any price for a cache of 200-year-old Madeira that her great-great-uncle, a Prohibition bootlegger, discovered hidden in the US Capitol in the 1920s. Lucie knows nothing about the valuable wine, believing her late father, a notorious gambler and spendthrift, probably sold or drank it. By the end of the party Lucie and her fiancé, winemaker Quinn Santori, discover Prescott’s body lying in his wine cellar. Is one of the guests a murderer?
Genre: Mystery - Cozy
Why I Picked This Book: I have several books from this series that I've been meaning to read and this one seemed right up my alley so I couldn't resist starting with this one.
My Impression: Okay I officially know way more about Madeira then I did when I started this book! Now I didn't start out knowing all that much but I'm now fascinated by the history and tradition. It's so fascinating. Throw in a National Treasure style secret, some massive family squabbles and likable and interesting characters and this made for a thoroughly enjoyable mystery.
This was the first book in this series and I had absolutely no problem starting this series here. There weren't so many characters that it was confusing and the amount of backstory was perfect. There didn't feel like there were pages explaining who was who and why this was happening but at the same time I knew exactly who was who and how they were connected. This wasn't a super fast moving cozy. It didn't drag but it was more of a slow burn on the action then a zip through kind of read. A mystery to be savored and not devoured. I'm looking forward to exploring this series and more and spending more time with Lucie and Quinn.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely! I enjoyed this one and am looking forward to reading more of this series.
Would I Recommend this Book? I would - especially if you enjoy mysteries.
* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *
Nice to go with the first book in the series and find it was one that made you want to keep on with it. Was just listening to Stephanie's podcast and she was crediting you with so many good cozy mystery finds. I think you are the Queen of Cozy Mystery readers.
ReplyDeleteI am not familiar with this series, but you have me interested. And set around Thanksgiving! Usually it's Halloween or Christmas. I will have to look for this one.
ReplyDeleteI've had this series on my radar but just haven't gotten to it yet. It sounds like I need to grab that first book from the library soon. Great review!
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