Winery tour guide Taylor O’Brian must weed out a killer before her own blood is spilled in this intoxicating series debut for fans of Laura Childs and Ellen Crosby Prospects are looking rosy for Taylor O’Brian, founder of “Off the Beaten Path” Wine Country Tours, who lives on a small winery with her Aunt Jemma and leads tours around romantic Sonoma County. At first blush, things are running … are running smoothly, until a tour member is found dead—with Taylor’s corkscrew buried in her neck.
Taylor has no nose for detective work, but as she begins to follow a trail of bottled-up secrets, events take a sour new turn. Only two weeks after the murder, her assistant Amy marries Dan, the dead woman’s husband, whose short-lived bereavement seems like a sham. And just as her investigation begins to take shape, Dan’s sister turns up dead. Could Taylor be next on the list?
Now it’s up to Taylor to uncork this open-bottle mystery before more blood is spilled. A dry, witty, complex bouquet of a whodunit, A Case of Syrah, Syrah, the charming first in Nancy J. Parra’s Sonoma Wine Country mysteries, will delight cozy and wine lovers alike.
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A Case of Syrah, Syrah by Nancy J. Parra is the first in A Wine Country Mystery series. Taylor O’Brian has returned to Sonoma, California and is living in pool house at her Aunt Jemma’s place called Sookie’s Vineyard. Taylor has decided to start Taylor’s Off the Beaten Pat Wine Country Tours. Her first tour is for Laura Scott and her employees for a team building day. Taylor is setting out lunch for the group and it is mentioned that Laura is missing. A search ensues, and Taylor finds Laura near a stream down a cliff. Despite being warned by the 911 operator to not go down the cliff, Taylor scrabbles down along with Laura’s husband, Dan to check on Laura. Laura Scott is dead with Taylor’s missing corkscrew in her neck. Sheriff Ron Hennessey is in charge of the investigation and quickly narrows his sights on Taylor. Patrick Aimes, Taylor’s attorney, warns her to not talk to anyone regarding the case and keep a low profile. However, Taylor’s new business venture is in jeopardy along with Aunt Jemma’s winery. Aunt Jemma states that they need to find the culprit on their own. Taylor starts nosing around, but then the investigation gets derailed when an arrest warrant is issued. Someone is setting up Taylor to take the fall for Laura’s murder. Out on bail, Taylor continues her quest for the killer. Then Taylor finds another victim and her puppy, Millie is kidnapped. Will the killer be caught before Taylor gets prosecuted?
A Case of Syrah, Syrah is easy to read, has a lovely setting of Sonoma (California) and an adorable cover. I did find the pace a little slow in the beginning. There is an abundance of speculation and inept questioning by Taylor (she ends up angering people). The author did not take the time to properly develop the characters (or tell us much about the town). I found Taylor a hard character to like. She is irresponsible, impulsive, does not think things through, and ignores counsel from others (I found her annoying and a danger to others). I do not know why she bothered to retain an attorney if she was going to continually ignore his advice (seems a waste of money). Taylor got into one ridiculous situation after another throughout the book. While she does have these traits, Taylor is otherwise very bland (lackluster). Part of the problem is readers are not told what Taylor is feeling. I am giving A Case of Syrah, Syrah 3 out of 5 stars. There are two mysteries in the story. The murder and an identity theft problem. Master cozy mystery sleuths will find solving this one effortless, while others will be surprised when the solution is revealed. There are two possible love interests for Taylor who are (of course) handsome (let us hope this does not mean a love triangle in future books). There will be a twist to Taylor’s tours in the future that I found intriguing. A Case of Syrah, Syrah will appeal to cozy mystery readers who prefer light, humorous cozy mysteries.
Taylor O’Brian has moved back to beautiful Sonoma, CA to help her Aunt Jemma with her winery. She is also starting up her own tour business. The very first tour seemed to be going great until one of the group members went missing and was found murdered. Taylor is now a person of interest in the death and Jemma convinces her to investigate the murder to clear her name.
The mystery had some interesting twists and turns and you will probably change your idea of who is guilty many times in the story. This is the first story in A wine Country Mystery series and I felt I could have related more to the characters and setting if there had been more details and descriptions. The author did a good job of teasing us with a couple romantic possibilities in the future and also a new twist to her business that will make you want to be sure to read the next book.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley for an advance copy. The opinions are my own.