The Champagne Conspiracy

September 19, 2016
Early in Crosby’s winning seventh mystery featuring Virginia vintner Lucie Montgomery (after 2011’s The Sauvignon Secret), Gino Tomassi, a member of “California winemaking royalty” whom Lucie knows by reputation, walks into the barrel room of Lucie’s winery. Gino, it turns out, is related to Lucie’s winemaker, Quinn Santori, and he wants Quinn’s help in solving the mysterious death of his grandfather’s first wife, the daughter of a Prohibition-era politician. Meanwhile, the sudden death of 92-year-old philanthropist Roxy Willoughby and a surprising last-minute change in her will shock everyone who knew her. One friend of Roxy’s is sure she was poisoned. When Lucie looks into the death of Gino’s grandfather’s wife and Roxy’s death, she discovers some striking similarities between the two. Intelligent and compassionate, Lucie is closely involved with her community. A series of cliff-hangers help propel the intriguing, well-paced plot. Like Lucie’s best wines, this story combines freshness, body, and considerable complexity. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency.

A dress found in an attic is the first clue in a mystery spanning decades.A visit from her sometime lover Quinn Santori's cousin, famous California winemaker Gino Tomassi, brings trouble to vintner Lucie Montgomery. Gino's being blackmailed about some shadowy matter involving Johnny Tomassi, Quinn's great-grandfather--perhaps the death of Johnny's first wife, Zara, whose baby, born in California just before Zara died, may have been fathered by President Warren Harding. Though Quinn's estranged from his family, he's in possession of the steamer trunk belonging to Johnny's second wife, Angelica. Gino wants the trunk, but before he gets it Lucie discovers a hidden cache of indiscreet love letters between Zara and Harding. Lucie's not surprised when she finds a group photograph taken at a house party near her family home of Zara sitting on Harding's lap. But she's very surprised to see in that photo a dead ringer for Lucie wearing the dress Lucie had found in her own attic and planned to wear to a Valentine's Day party. The look-alike is Lucie's great-great-aunt Lucky Montgomery. As she puzzles over the relationships in Quinn's family, Lucie's also helping Faith Eastman, an old family friend who overheard an argument that made her suspect that her friend Roxy was murdered just after she changed her will. Roxy had a child by a British pilot and gave the girl up to his family after he was killed. That girl's daughter is named in Roxy's new will. Attacked and left to freeze in the snow by a masked intruder who thinks she's too close to discovering the truth, Lucie survives to find the thread that binds all three families. Crosby's cases featuring the sleuthing winemaker and her troubled romantic partner (The Sauvignon Secret, 2011, etc.) are always good value. Even mystery mavens who miss the clue to who's pulling the strings will savor the spicy family relationships. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2016

Returning for a seventh outing (after The Sauvignon Secret), Virginia vineyard owner Lucie Montgomery and winemaker Quinn Santori are set to make champagne for the first time, when Quinn's cousin Gino Tomassi asks for help dealing with a blackmailer who threatens to reveal explosive family history secrets. Another cozy charmer.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2016
Lucie Montgomery, who owns a small Virginia winery, is stunned to learn her winemaker and boyfriend Quinn Santori is the cousin of the legendary vintner Gino Tomassi. Gino has come to Virginia to find out who is blackmailing him with a secret that goes back to the Prohibition era and involves Warren Harding. Intrigued, Lucie digs into the past, learning that one of her own relatives had a connection to Harding. Meanwhile, Lucie's best friend's mother, Faith Eastman, believes her neighbor Roxy Willoughby, who recently died, was murdered because Roxy had recently changed her will, leaving most of her estate to an unknown granddaughter. Lucie investigates both mysteries, past and present, while running her winery and preparing for a benefit Valentine's Day dance. The wine industry and the ins and outs of running a winery provide the background for this mystery with its well-drawn characters and satisfying puzzles. Recommend The Champagne Conspiracy to readers of Nadine Nettmann's Decanting a Murder (2016) as well as anyone who enjoys mysteries in which historical research plays a key role.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)