Bitter Roots
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4.3 • 15 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The brutal murder of a beautiful vineyard expert and a devastating storm force Virginia winemaker Lucie Montgomery to confront painful changes on the eve of her wedding.
In just over a week vineyard owner Lucie Montgomery and winemaker Quinn Santori will be married in a ceremony overlooking what should be acres of lush flowering grapevines. Instead they are confronted by an ugly swathe of slowly dying vines and a nursery owner who denies responsibility for selling the diseased plants. With neighboring vineyards facing the same problem, accusations fly and the ugly stand-off between supplier and growers looks set to escalate into open warfare.
When Eve Kerr, a stunning blonde who works at the nursery, is found dead a few days later, everyone wonders if someone in the winemaking community went too far. What especially troubles Lucie is why Eve secretly arranged to meet Quinn on the day she was murdered – and whether Lucie’s soon-to-be husband knows something he’s not telling her.
Then a catastrophic storm blows through, destroying everything in its path. With no power, no phones, and no wedding venue, Lucie needs to find out who killed Eve and what her death had to do with Quinn.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mary Higgins Clark Award finalist Crosby's winning 12th Wine Country mystery (after 2021's The French Paradox) finds Virginia vintner Lucie Montgomery and fellow winemaker Quinn Santori preparing for their wedding. Days that should be filled with joy and frizzy nerves, however, are overshadowed by dying vines in a field of new Cabernet Franc grapes. Lucie and Quinn bring in Josie Wilde, "the premier vineyard consultant on the East Coast," to determine why they're failing to thrive. Josie blames the grafted vines themselves, bought from local supplier Landau Trees & Vines. Landau's partners, who include Eve Kerr, a former Californian like Quinn, deny culpability, blaming the growers and climate change. As the blame game heats up, Quinn comes to believe Eve isn't involved and plans to meet her secretly. When Eve turns up dead, Quinn becomes a suspect, and Lucie once again turns sleuth. Astute readers may figure out whodunit before the end, but the fully developed characters and the vividly depicted vineyards and Virginia countryside make this one hard to put down. Crosby scores another compulsively readable vino-themed mystery.
