As the newest member of the Rose Avenue Wine Club, Halsey wants to expand her palate—not solve murders. But when a neighbor is found dead, it’s up to her to pair the culprit with a deadly crime . . . Leaving behind a failed marriage, New Yorker Annie “Halsey” Hall is ready to begin the next phase of her life in coastal Southern California. From the moment she arrives at her new digs on cozy … her new digs on cozy Rose Avenue, she looks forward to joining the neighborhood ladies for their weekly Wine Club gathering. With only a rambunctious yellow lab puppy to keep her company, Halsey could really use a confidant—and a glass or two of her favorite white wine . . .
Unfortunately, she finds nothing but red at the Wine Club meeting—and judging by the dead woman lying face down in the backyard, it’s not spilled merlot. Halsey accidentally stumbled into the wrong address at the wrong time, and with suspicions about her past on the rise, she must prove that she isn’t a killer. Enlisting the eclectic talents of the Wine Club ladies, Halsey searches for the true criminal at large. But separating friends from foes isn’t easy on Rose Avenue, and as she racks up a suspect list, Halsey can’t shake the feeling that someone in her inner circle has a taste for murder . . .
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Annie “Halsey” Hall has moved from New York City to Southern California, buying a house on Rose Avenue just a couple miles south of Santa Monica. She’s excited about her new neighborhood, except for her snooping next-door neighbor, and pleased to have been invited to join the Rose Avenue Wine Club. On her way to her first meeting, Halsey and her puppy, Bardot, stumble into the wrong house and find a dead body in the backyard. Even though Halsey has never met the victim, the police consider her their prime suspect. With the help of her new friends, Halsey begins to investigate. But with everything happening in the neighborhood, will they be able to figure out what really happened in time to clear Halsey?
Even though I don’t drink wine, I decided to give this book a try after meeting the author. I wanted to like it since it is set in Southern California, and I got a kick out of seeing the characters going to places I’m familiar with. However, I found the book was just a bit too unfocused to really work well. I thought there were timeline issues early on until I began to realize that the book takes place over several months. This wasn’t obvious early on, so maybe it helped explain some of the timeline issues I thought I saw. While Halsey is developed as a main character, many of the rest are still fairly flat. They can certainly develop as the series progresses, so I’m not too concerned about that yet. The book has a couple of interesting sub-plots, but they take over at times, and too much happens in them over the course of the book. It would have been better to stretch them out over the course of several books. The mystery plot has a lot going on, but it worked to keep me guessing until the very end. However, one key piece of evidence made me shake my head. It would have made more sense if the book took place over a week instead of many months. There is quite a bit of foul language for a cozy, even compared to some of the cozies and traditional books I read that are pushing the boundaries. Overall, this reads more like an early draft that needed some polish to find the gem inside, because there is certainly a gem here. Since I already have the second book, I might find some time to read it to see if the issues resolve themselves as the series progresses.
Enjoyed this book. I have already pre-ordered the next book recipes were nice.
Full Bodied Murder by Christine E. Blum is the first book in A Rose Avenue Wine Club Mystery series. Annie “Halsey” Hall is thirty-six years old and starting over. She has divorced her husband, starting a new software apps company, and moved across country from New York to Rose Avenue in California. Halsey was happy to receive an invitation to attend the Rose Avenue Wine Club. She is off to attend her first meeting with her puppy, Bardot. Halsey finds the front door ajar and Bardot runs into the dark house. After some stumbling and knocking into furniture, Halsey finds the homeowner with a kitchen knife protruding from her body. It turns out that Halsey went to the wrong home for the meeting. The victim is Rosa Sobel and the police have set their sights on Halsey as the killer. To clear her name, Halsey, with the ladies of the Rose Avenue Wine Club, start investigating the residents of Rose Avenue to uncork the culprit. It seems, though, that murder might not be the only criminal activity taking place on their street.
Full Bodied Murder is not what I expected. I thought the characters lacked development (along with the setting—we are told about the street, but what about the town—its name) and Bardot overshadows the secondary characters. There are frequent mentions of wine and wine terminology (with dictionary at back of book for those who need assistance—like me). With the amount of wine the group drank, I am surprised that none of them have problems with their livers. I believe the author tried to cram too much into one story. Every single person on Rose Avenue is quirky and there are numerous activities going on (yogurt shop, nosy neighbor, cars shifting around during the night, drug dealers, theft, illegal cameras, angry neighbors, etc.). The story jumps all over the place with a distinct lack of focus. Of course, let us not forget the police who concentrate their investigation on Halsey who did not even know the dead woman. Halsey contaminates evidence and I am curious how they can get a conviction when she ruins the chain of custody on evidence. Then there is the flirtation, romance and sexual innuendo/tension between Halsey and then men she encounters. Full Bodied Murder also contains foul language (fair warning). The various mysteries can be figured out by the readers. The killers’ identity will come as no surprise. The next book in A Rose venue Wine Club Mystery series is Murder Most Fermented (I will not be reading it).