Author: J.C. Eaton
Genre: Mystery
Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781958384077
Beyond the Page Publishing
252 Pages
$14.99; $3.99 Amazon
August 30, 2022
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Back at Two Witches Winery for a short stay, Norrie Ellington is warming to the holiday spirit and the upcoming Hallow Wine Weekend, and she's happy to steer clear of the writer from Wine Enthusiast magazine who's come to do interviews about this year's spectacular Merlot. But then the critic's dead body is found slumped over a Halloween cauldron display, and despite a stern warning from the local deputy to keep her nose out of it, Norrie instantly switches into sleuth mode.
Intent on discovering why someone wanted to silence the victim, Norrie quickly learns that he was an unbearable snob and known womanizer who had no shortage of enemies. But as one suspect after another leads to a dead end, Norrie's stumped -- until the one mysterious clue that's been haunting her turns the case around. Now, as all the ghouls, goblins, and trick-or-treaters come out on Halloween, Norrie's ready to unleash her spirit of justice -- she just has to close in on the killer before the Grim Reaper closes in on her...
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Norrie Ellington is a screenwriter in Manhattan, while her sister mans the family's Two Witches Winery. But when Francine and her husband Jason are off again on another quest for an elusive insent, Norrie makes the journey to take over the winery until they return -- which, she hopes, will be soon. No sooner does she arrive than she discovers that a writer from Wine Enthusiast magazine is visiting the local vintners to check out their Merlots. Norrie is more than happy to leave him to Franz, her own winemaker.
She has more on her plate than writing a new screenplay, she has to make sure the Halloween decorations and events are running smoothly, along with her meetings with the other local vintners. But one morning she gets a call from one of her workers who tells her that there's more than two witches near their cauldron decoration...someone has added a body and they're very much dead. After discovering the man's identity, she's told to keep it under her hat -- easier said than done. Now Norrie, along with her friends, is determined to find out who killed him.
But with people swarming the winery and others from the magazine, she's on the trail of a killer. But then there's another problem or two that arises, the least of these being that Norrie herself might have to sell her own soul to solve the murder...
This is the eighth book in the series, and I have enjoyed them all immensely. J.C. Eaton is indeed a talented author (and yes, I know it's a brother and sister team but I will refer to them as one) who can weave a story well, pulling the reader into the tale and making us see the winery and all the action surrounding it.
It is autumn, and you can almost smell the scents in the air as they bundle up for the season; trying to find a killer but stay out of the watchful eye of Deputy 'Grizzly' Gary, as Norrie has labeled him. This time out she manages to stay under the wire, but just barely. It was almost as if I wanted to ignore the fact of what she was doing at times.
The mystery is so well-wrought that even I had no idea of the murderer right up until the point that Norrie began to put it together. It is a taut tale of greed and murder, intrigue and secrets, and it is told well and leaves us wanting more. I eagerly await the next in the series. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on J.C. Eaton's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/j-c-eaton/
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