“Very entertaining. I highly recommend this book to the permanent library of any reader that appreciates a very well written mystery, with some twists and an intelligent plot. You will not be disappointed. Excellent way to spend a cold weekend!”–Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (regarding Murder in the Manor)AGED FOR MURDER (A TUSCAN VINEYARD COZY MYSTERY) is the debut novel in a charming … debut novel in a charming new cozy mystery series by #1 bestselling author Fiona Grace, author of Murder in the Manor (Book #1), a #1 Bestseller with over 100 five-star reviews—and a free download!
When Olivia Glass, 34, concocts an ad for a cheap wine that propels her advertising company to the top, she is ashamed by her own work—yet offered the promotion she’s dreamed of. Olivia, at a crossroads, realizes this is not the life she signed up for. Worse, when Olivia discovers her long-time boyfriend, about to propose, has been cheating on her, she realizes it’s time for a major life change.
Olivia has always dreamed of moving to Tuscany, living a simple life, and starting her own vineyard.
When her long-time friend messages her about a Tuscan cottage available, Olivia can’t help wonder: is it fate?
Hilarious, packed with travel, food, wine, twists and turns, romance and her newfound animal friend—and centering around a baffling small-town murder that Olivia must solve—AGED FOR DEATH is an un-putdownable cozy that will keep you laughing late into the night.
Books #2-#7 are available!
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Wonderful series. I always pre order the next so I don’t have to wait.
Fiona does a great job especially with humor …. great read!
Funny, Quirky Combination of Chick Lit and Murder Mystery
I hadn’t read a book by this author before, and I’m not quite sure if I’ve ever seen quite this combination of storylines and tropes. It certainly got the “Eat, Pray, Love” vibe to it, where a woman at the end of a relationship decides to radically change her life, leaving everything behind for a new adventure. This one even takes place in Italy. But that’s not the only thing going on in the book. There’s also, as you might guess from the title, a murder in the little Tuscan town she’s in—and for which our heroine is the prime suspect. So it combines ideas of following a dream and being involved in a murder. This turns her into an amateur sleuth, as she hopes to clear herself. The author wrote in deep character style, so the reader always sees what is going on in the heroine’s head, quite often a very funny place to be. The book has a surprising amount of humor. Even though I finished it, I’m still not sure quite what to make of the combination of women’s fiction and mystery. At least it’s fun to visit Tuscany, especially when no one in the US will be doing that for a long time!
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
I read the 2nd half of it straight through to solve the mystery. Easy read, nice plot. Ready to read book 2 of the series.
The first book in the A Tuscan Vineyard Cozy Mystery series a well written story that kept me turning pages. This is an Author I have not read before, I want to read the next book. Things in Olivia Glass’ life are not going well so she decides to go to Tuscany, where she gets involved in a murder mystery. I recommend this book. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I really enjoyed Fiona Grace’s Lacey Doyle mystery series, so when I saw BookSprout had an ARC available for review, I jumped at it. It was a fun story.
Olivia, after being dumped by her boyfriend and abruptly quitting her job, decided to spend two weeks in Italy with her friend, Charlotte who was vacationing there for the summer. Dreaming about a new romance as well as making her own wine (her stateside job included a marketing campaign for a wine company), she interviews for a job she saw posted during a wine tasting. The sommelier tasked with training her is a jerk who makes her life there as miserable as he can. But she’s instantly attracted to the company owner who seems to like her as well. Several days into the job, the sommelier is found dead in the wine cellar, nearly everyone at the company suspects her, and the police think she’s the prime suspect. So she decided to become an amateur detective and solve the case herself.
What I liked: The goat. Because of course, vineyards have goats. And this particular one is constantly following her home. It was hilarious.
The childhood friends vacation. That was a fun change. Instead of running away by herself to drown her sorrows in wine and pizza (which they did have a lot of), she spends time with an old friend instead. Although on that note, why were they constantly eating pizza in Italy? There are so many other foods, I’d have wanted to try!
Olivia and Charlotte trying to make their own wine from a recipe on the internet that they knew would be good because it had a lot of five-star reviews. I think you can picture this one for yourself.
Bonus: I usually hate it when authors spend too much time telling their readers what the characters were thinking, but some of it was just too funny. Like when Olivia had the realization that she had no idea how to start investigating. I mean, we all knew that, but her self-realization made me laugh.
What I was less happy with:
Olivia’s backstory was too similar to Lacey’s. A break up with a significant other leads to a vacation in another country, which in turn leads to deciding to buy a home and stay in that country. And for good measure, the douchy exes decide to try to reconcile. Also, the moms are both controlling (in different ways) and unsupportive.
Why were they always eating pizza? I’m serious. Is that what Americans eat when they go to Italy?
The need for a romance. Learn to love being single for a minute. Especially since you just got out of a four-year relationship. I know, the romance didn’t even get started in this book, but the need for one was unnecessary.
Overall, this was a fun story. It made me laugh. It was a quick, easy read. And I am sure that I will be reading more of Fiona Grace’s books in the future.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.