The Champagne Conspiracy
A Wine Country Mystery
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4.4 • 14 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Winter has come to the Montgomery Estate Vineyard in Atoka, Virginia. Lucie Montgomery and winemaker Quinn Santori have decided to make champagne, a first for the vineyard.
But then Gino Tomassi, Quinn’s uncle, turns up on their doorstep one afternoon, demanding help in solving the mystery of what happened to Zara Tomassi, the first wife of his grandfather, who died in a San Francisco hotel in 1923 under suspicious circumstances. And it seems there’s no coincidence that her death came the day after President Warren Harding passed away in that same hotel. Gino needs answers before his blackmailer takes him for all he’s worth—or exposes an explosive family secret.
Lucie searches for what happened almost a hundred years ago as she delves into Prohibition-era Washington, D.C.—a town of bootlegging and duplicity, jazz clubs and speakeasies. But then the investigation turns deadly, threatening Lucie, her relationship with Quinn, and the vineyard, as they realize someone is still out there nearly a century later who will go to any lengths to keep the truth about Zara’s death a buried secret.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Early in Crosby's winning seventh mystery featuring Virginia vintner Lucie Montgomery (after 2011's The Sauvignon Secret), Gino Tomassi, a member of "California winemaking royalty" whom Lucie knows by reputation, walks into the barrel room of Lucie's winery. Gino, it turns out, is related to Lucie's winemaker, Quinn Santori, and he wants Quinn's help in solving the mysterious death of his grandfather's first wife, the daughter of a Prohibition-era politician. Meanwhile, the sudden death of 92-year-old philanthropist Roxy Willoughby and a surprising last-minute change in her will shock everyone who knew her. One friend of Roxy's is sure she was poisoned. When Lucie looks into the death of Gino's grandfather's wife and Roxy's death, she discovers some striking similarities between the two. Intelligent and compassionate, Lucie is closely involved with her community. A series of cliff-hangers help propel the intriguing, well-paced plot. Like Lucie's best wines, this story combines freshness, body, and considerable complexity.
Customer Reviews
Truly intriguing
Never having read this series before, I was curious to see if this book would work on its own, and whether information would be presented in a way to keep the major players in the story identifiable. The relationship with Lucie and Quinn did take some adjustment to understand their dynamic, but the characterizations are so present that it wasn’t long before that dynamic was presented. Plenty of other secondary characters, sure to be familiar with those who have read the series, presented themselves, and understanding everyone’s roles and relationships to the plot and one another did take much (if not all) of the book, and unfolded in ways that made sense.
The villain in this story was wonderfully complex with his fingers in many different subplots, all coming clear at the very end. Intermixing history and the politics of the Harding era was a nice touch that helped to set both the reasons and a depth to the feud that made sense, and had me continually engaged. Not over-dramatized or laced with red herrings to increase readers’ tension, the story was reasonable in pacing and never had moments of “oh get on with it” that interrupted the flow.
Truly intriguing with plenty of characters that I am curious about and would like to see more of (Hope being a particular favorite) I’ve added earlier titles in this series to be read during my leisure time.
I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility