Can Norrie stop a murderer’s reign of terroir? The descent of winter on the Finger Lakes means it’s time for the Wine Trail Association’s Chocolate and Wine Extravaganza. Unfortunately, for screenwriter-turned-reluctant vintner, Norrie Ellington, her Two Witches Winery is co-hosting the festivities. Norrie’s duties include wrangling the three international chocolatiers featured at the … chocolatiers featured at the event—bitter rivals and industry influencers who can make or break Two Witches.
But the heated competition among the celebrity confectioners soon spills out of the professional arena, and before the Extravaganza is over, one of the cocoa pros is dead, last seen sipping a Two Witches’ Cabernet Sauvignon. With spirits souring at the Extravaganza and her winery on the line, Norrie must hustle to find the uncorked killer before Two Witches’ reputation is crushed once and for all.
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Dollycas’s Thoughts
Winter weather has hit the Finger Lakes and so has the Wine Trail Association’s Chocolate and Wine Extravaganza. Norrie Ellington is on the planning committee and the Two Witches Winery is hosting one of the chocolatiers for some chocolate demos and wine pairings before the big competition which will bring in tons of people. She is also dealing with a moved-up deadline for her latest screenplay. So to say the woman has her hands full is an understatement. The last thing she needs is another murder. But that is just what she gets and it is pivotal she puts on her sleuthing hat because the deceased was last seen with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon from her winery!
J.C. Eaton has bottled a wonderful mystery within these pages. Norrie teams up again with Theo and Don to try to make sense of what is happening at the participating wineries and the international chocolatiers. The event starts with dinner at Geneva on the Lake and all the wineries have provided wines for the event. The meet and greet went well but no one was truly surprised when the chocolatier ends up dead. There are plenty of rumors flying and secrets being held. Norrie has plenty of theories, some pretty far-fetched. Don and Theo do their best to try to reel her in but with threats found carved into the chocolate blocks and other crazy happenings everyone is interested in catching the killer as quickly as possible. While Norrie’s adventures aren’t always rooted in reality, she is so much fun to follow. The ending was unexpected and I loved it!!
All the characters continue to evolve. Norrie has made herself at home and she is getting a little more involved in the winery. Her sister and brother-in-law have hired a crew of knowledgeable people so she is able to keep up with her screenwriting commitments. The employees are an eclectic group but they know their jobs and have no problem with Norrie’s hit and run management style. There is the start of a romantic triangle that I hope resolves soon although I don’t know for sure which man I want Norrie to pick
I love the setting of this series. The author has described Two Witches Winery so well, it is easy to picture everything from the wine tasting room, the goat outside, the family home, the dog mostly inside, and the roads to all the wineries in the area. I could also imagine the cold and snow. The chocolate demos had me drooling, I almost broke out the Christmas candy (meant for others) here.
Sauvigone for Good is funny and entertaining. So well-written I was in the dark about a lot of things right up to the final reveal. I am looking forward to my next visit!
This is such a fun series! The mystery kept me guessing and there’s never a dull moment when Norrie is on the case. Great characters and a highly enjoyable story!
Norrie Ellington is at it again…making wine, writing screenplays, and solving murders. This time she’s up to her elbows in chocolate, but not in a good way. When a famed chocolatier is murdered in a rather unique fashion, Norrie has to use her wits, along with a few slippery tricks, to bring the crafty killer to justice and rescue her winery’s reputation. This is another delightful addition to the Wine Trail mystery series. I hope many more will follow!
Sauvigone for Good earns 5/5 Chocolate & Wine Pairings…Engaging Fun!
I am new to J.C. Eaton’s work and delighted to learn it’s a writing duo with an entertaining writing style. In this fourth book in their Wine Trails Mystery series, Norrie has accidentally volunteered to help handle arrangements for the chocolate demos from three world-famous chocolatiers. They are set to compete in the Chocolate and Wine Extravaganza sponsored by the Seneca Lake Wine Trail and the six local wineries, including Norrie’s Two Witches Winery, will be the highlighted venues. Each winery will also select the perfect wine to pair with the chocolate creations. It’s important the event go off without a hitch, but over-the-top demands, quirky obsessions, almost chocolatier-zilla manners, and social media is trending reports on threats and rivalries. But murder? Who killed the chocolate man? Only Karma knows!
I was pleased the duo used my favorite first-person narrative giving me a fun and vicarious role in the drama through Norrie’s “I” perspective with her descriptions and inner thoughts to enjoy. The drama was well-developed starting with some backstory, but I missed some supporting character details, none of which interfered with my staying engaged. The drama had a good setup, a possible victim was obvious, and a plethora of suspects with professional and personal motives to mull over. Karma, you’re needed! Descriptive language and dialogue did well to illustrate the setting, characters, tone, and personalities. Norrie’s investigative style is realistic to a point, some over-the-top ideas, but with informal interrogations, nosiness, and happening upon clues along with a somewhat antagonistic relationship with local law enforcement, and the dead ends, false clues, and twists. The events leading to the conclusion had some “wiggly” concerns (no spoilers) and a little much, but I was pleasantly surprised. Ok, wine, food, and chocolate, but where’s the bonus recipes? It’s not imperative, and I’m a bit selfish in this, because I really enjoyed the story, but I love my recipes, too.
Entertaining and well-written cozy mystery. I enjoyed it very much.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.
Six wineries are paired up with three famous chocolatiers to showcase the pairing of wine and chocolate. Norrie is the silent partner of the Two Witches winery, reluctantly overseeing it while her sister and brother in law are in Costa Rica on a grant to study a bug. They deal with an insect and Norrie solves murders. None of this was her idea but her sister talked her into it telling her all she needed to do her writing job was a laptop and a landline. So here she is. As Norrie says “this chocolate fest had train wreck written all over it” and it started before any of them had even arrived. Things went from bad to worse and one of them turns up dead and one of the last things he ingested was one of her wines. Not good for business so of course Norrie starts to snoop and that doesn’t make the police very happy.
I have enjoyed each of the books in this series, partly for the Finger Lakes location and always for the characters and the mysteries they solve.
Cozy Mystery in The Finger Lakes Region
I have read all of the books in this series and, like wine, they get better with age. Part of it is getting to know the backstory. Most of it is that the mysteries are getting to be less obvious and take longer to figure out. I did not have a clue until the did the final reveal. It was a good story with lots of local color to go along with the chocolate and wine. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.
Series: The Wine Trail Mysteries – Book 4
Author: J.C. Eaton
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Amateur Sleuth/Writer
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Page Count: 221
From Lyrical Press comes the fourth book in the “The Wine Trail Mysteries” cozy series from J.C. Eaton, Sauvigone for Good.
When I first started reading this cozy series, I was not a fan of the main character, Norrie. Over time the character has grown into an exciting and enjoyable person that if she were real, readers would like. She still has some apparent issues; namely, she’s a bit too uninvolved in the winery business, but even this has gotten better. I like the fact that other characters have continued to evolve and grow into great supporting side-kicks.
Even though a lot is going on in this cozy series and book, it isn’t hard to keep up with the clues, or the suspects, and the plot is well thought out. Of course, I feel it is a pity when a chocolatier dies of anything. I figure most would prefer to die by eating copious amounts of chocolate, but murder might be better. In this case, the suspects, as well as others, don’t see it as a significant loss to the chocolate world. I like the fact that the victim isn’t killed in the usual fashion, either. There are some traces of Agatha Christy in this book, and this enhances its appeal. When Norrie finally finds the killer, readers may be surprised, and for a moment unsure but will conclude that it is entirely believable.
This cozy series is getting better with each new addition. Sauvigone for Good is a wonderfully entertaining story, with twists that keep readers guessing, and mouth-watering descriptions that will also make them hungry. I am happy to recommend this book and series to all readers.