A Riesling to Die is the debut book in J.C. Eaton’s (the husband and wife writing team of Ann I. Goldfarb and James E. Clapp) The Wine Trail Mysteries series. The story flowed smoothly with a steadily paced plot, twists and turns, and a well-developed cast of characters. A few of the eccentric characters, a Nigerian Dwarf goat named Alvin and a Brindle Plott Hound named Charlie add humorous moments to this whodunit.

Norrie Ellington is a successful screenwriter living in Manhattan, New York and a silent partner in Two Witches Winery, her family’s winery in Penn Yan. Her older sister and brother-in-law, Francine and Jason Keane, are spending a year in Costa Rica while Jason researches a bug and Francine asks Norrie to temporarily move to the winery and oversee operations. Norrie is hesitant and reluctantly agrees since the staff is experienced to do the work and she hopes she’ll be able to enjoy the peaceful countryside and work on her writing. Elsbeth Waters, the owner of Peaceful Pines B&B, is upset about the cannons the local wineries utilize to keep the birds, deer, rabbits, and foxes away from the grapes among many other things were bad for her business. Francine tells Norrie there’s a development company, Vanna Enterprises, owned by Lucas Stilton and his partner, Declan Roth, that wants to buy out the small wineries and build a mega-winery and that they believe the company might be trying to sabotage them. Francine explains that she and Jason will be off the grid, but that Theo Buchman and his life partner, Don, who own the Grey Egret, and Henry Speltmore, the president of the wine association and will help her if she encounters any problems with the developer. The morning after Francine and Jason leave, two vineyard workers wake Norrie up with the news that they found a body while working on the irrigation system in a new vineyard. Norrie identifies the deceased as Elsbeth Waters. When the death is ruled as suspicious, Norrie doesn’t want to wait while Yates County Deputy Sheriff Gary Hickman slowly investigates. Determined to uncover the identity of the killer so the vineyard can resume normal operations, Norrie slips on her sleuthing cap and seeks guidance and help from some of the vineyard’s employees and neighbors. Deputy Sheriff Gary Hickman advises her to mind her own business, but she believes the murder is her business and rushes forward, jumping to conclusions, and placing herself in harm’s way.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

The first in the Wine Trail mysteries. Norrie Ellington is a silent partner in a family winery (Two Witches Winery) in upstate New York. By profession, she is a screenwriter but has reluctantly agreed into running the winery for the next year. Her sister and brother-in-law take are headed to Costa Rica for a fully funded research grant. The winery has a fully operating staff and she is not expected to be that involved. So how hard can it be right? When the dead body of a local B&B is found at the winery, Norrie feels she must investigate to save the winery. Francine her sister, had mentioned some sabotage (suspected to be real estate developers) prior to going but she never expected murder. This was a great introduction for this series. I am not familiar with the Finger Lakes area of New York but have now put this area on my list to visit. I enjoyed the mystery and the introduction to all the secondary characters. That is always a tricky thing for the first in the series to get a solid mystery that keeps the book moving and introducing the series and setting it up for the next installment. I think the author did a good job of balancing that. Will definitely look for the next installment in this series.

3.5 stars

The first Wine Trail mystery was a fun and promising debut. Screenwriter Norrie Ellington preferred to leave the operation of the family winery to her sister and brother-in-law while she enjoyed life as a New York City girl. But a sabbatical opportunity for her brother-in-law means that Norrie is the winery overseer for a year.

She is just getting her balance learning the systems and personnel when a body turns up in the vineyard. Unfortunately, the victim is a nasty neighbor who had run-ins with everybody in the vicinity.

Norrie is a good character although prone to some screwball thinking. The plotting action where she decides to solve the mystery, and the outlandish scheme she uses to try and accomplish this are head-scratchers. But the action is non-stop, and she does stumble through to a solution in the end. She is properly chastened when she looks back at some of her actions.

Nice setting, good group of ensemble characters. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A fun well thought out mystery! The characters are well developed and engaging. The setting is perfection on paper. The mystery was superbly written with just enough twist to keep the reader present. A story you wouldn't mind getting lost in.

A Riesling To Die is the first book in The Wine Trail Mysteries series.

Norrie Ellington, a successful screenwriter, has reluctantly agreed to manage the families winery, when her sister, Francine, tells her that she and her husband Josh are going to research a rare bug in the wilds of Costa Rica. Norrie has been a “silent” partner and is somewhat familiar with the day to day operation and has started visiting the workers, many of she knows and is busy meeting the new ones. As she is talking with the tasting room manager, Cammy, Norrie is approached by a lady wanting to speak with Francine. After explaining to the lady that Francine is out the country, the lady tells her that she has filed a complaint with the county about their winery setting off cannon fire in the mornings. Cammy soon explains that the lady, Elsbeth Waters owns the B&B next to the winery and complains about everyone and everything in the Fingers Lake region. A day or two later as dawn was about to break, Norrie is raised out of her sleep, with pounding on her front door. She arrived at the door to find two of the field workers telling her there was an emergency in the vineyard. The workers led her to where a dead body lays and it turns out to be Elsbeth Waters.

Several of the local wineries meet on a regular basis to discuss was is going on in the area and try to help each other with similar problems. It is at one of these meetings that Norrie finds out that a land developer has been trying to buy up many of the local wineries to form a mega-winery and make it a tourist attraction.

With a great deal of help from Theo and Don, owners of The Grey Egret Winery, she sets out to clear the name of her Two Witches Winery in the death of Waters and hopefully learn who the killer is before any other deaths occur and in addition to put a stop to the land developers from acquiring any vineyards and turning the beautiful Finger Lakes into an amusement park atmosphere.

I found this story to be very entertaining and very well written with just the right amount of discussion about wineries, winemaking, and wines to be informative and not to overshadow the mystery itself. The story has a very good cast of believable and likable character and will be looking forward to learning more about them in future books.

I will be watching for the next in series to what Norrie will get up to next.

Norrie Ellington is a romance screenwriter and a silent partner in her family’s Two Witches Winery in upstate New York. When her sister’s husband receives a grant to study in Costa Rica for a year, Norrie is guilted into returning home to head up the Winery in their stead.

As soon as Norrie ships her sister and brother in law off, a neighbor is murdered and the body is found in the Two Witches vineyard. Norrie suspects the development company that wants to buy up the local wineries is guilty and sets out to get their confession. But Norrie has to mail the murderer before she’s next.

The first book in The Wine Trail Mysteries, is off to a solid start.

Nice start to a new cozy series by an experienced cozy writer. Norrie finds herself not only running her family's vineyard in the Penn Yan, New York, she's also got a murder on her hands! Quite a switch for a screenwriter who knows little about either. The murdered woman, who owned a B&B, was really a pain, even though she should have been grateful to the wineries in the region for bringing tourists. Norrie's got Charlie the dog and Alvin the goat to keep her company, as well as some new friends. This isn't too twisty (I guessed) but it's entertaining. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes.

This review fluctuates between 3.50 & 3.75.
I really wanted to like it a lot more than I did.
The main character had too much happening to really get to know her.
It seemed like things went to smoothly, there weren't as many twists and turns that I'd hoped for.

I would consider reading another book to give myself a second chance to get more familiar with the author's style.

I voluntarily read an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

Interesting debut for the Wine Trail Mystery series…

The story starts with screen writer Norrie Ellington agreeing to take over management of the family business, Two Witches Winery, while her sister and brother-in-law move to Costa Rica for a year. The set-up is good, the threads of the mystery become visible at a reasonable pace. Characters are introduced, relationships established. The owner of a B & B is found murdered on the vineyard’s grounds and Norrie’s sleuthing begins, abetted by Don and Theo, owners of an adjoining winery.

The imagination of the screen writer takes over and comes up with a harebrained and potentially dangerous idea to trap the individual Norrie believes is the killer. This plot device is startling and breaks the flow of the story. The extreme nature of her plan feels a little out of character and really makes the reader wonder what the heck is she thinking.

Twists, turns and red herrings abound. The resolution is not unexpected but has its own unique twist. Maybe the second adventure…

The writing on this was pretty flimsy. The protagonist’s motivations and drive weren’t convincing enough and the secondary characters fell into pretty broad stereotypes.

This was a really fun read. Good mystery, lots of twists and turns. Wish the main character didn't do so many dumb thing's, but it was still a goid read with lots of quirky characters. Excited for the next one.

If I were in upstate New York touring wineries, Two Witches Winery would be one of my stops. The cozy ambiance of the tasting room calls to visitors to sit, sip, and savor samples before making their take-home selections. Protagonist Norris Ellington is actually a successful screenwriter who’s come to oversee the winery while her sister and brother-in-law travel to Costa Rica for a year. Norrie’s inner Nancy Drew kicks in fast when the body of a querulous Bed and Breakfast owner turns up dead in the middle of some new vines the workers just planted!

A dangerous masquerade with two powerful businessmen could cork a killer or cost Norrie’s family the winery. With a mixed bouquet of suspects, this debut story in the Wine Trail Mysteries will have readers putting their thinking caps on if they want to solve the mystery before the author reveal. I had one person tapped as suspicious, but couldn’t figure out motive. Plenty of chuckles throughout the story, and a great supporting cast of characters for Norrie. Add a cute dwarf goat and a smart dog and this cozy is great entertainment.

I reviewed a digital ARC via NetGalley and the publisher.

A Riesling to Die is the debut of The Wine Trail Mysteries series set in the upstate New York town of Penn Yan and featuring screenwriter Norrie Ellington. I love books that have animals in them even if they are secondary makes the book more charming. Norrie is asked to take over a winery while her sister and husband go on a once in a lifetime adventure but Norrie doesn't know much about the wine business and it isn't on the top of her list to do but family is family. While reading the book I wanted to have a glass of wine. It was a good mystery and leaves a lot of room for the characters to grow. Looking forward to more in this series.

This is the first of the Wine Trail Mysteries. Having read Eaton's 2 Sophie Kimbell mysteries, I was anxious to read this one.

Norrie has reluctantly agreed to oversee the family winery while her sister and brother-in-law take a year to go to Costa Rica to study bugs. Almost upon her arrival, Norrie meets the extremely unpleasant Elsbeth Waters. She's the owner of a B&B down the road, and a royal pain in the butt to business owners all over the area. Less than 24 hours after Norrie is left alone to run the winery, Elsbeth is found dead on the winery property. Having an interest in getting the murder solved, Norrie takes it upon herself to do a little investigative work. There are suspects abound: the niece who was treated like a servant; the unscrupulous yet handsome land developers hoping to turn the lake into a wine-tasting Disneyland; and lots of winery owners who were regularly accosted by Elsbeth and her obnoxious demands.

The cast is rather unique. It seems that nearly everyone working in the tasting room were characters. Glenda is obsessed with doing a cleansing and having a seance for Elsbeth's spirit. Roger has a love and depth of knowledge about the French and Indian war that he seems compelled to weave into every conversation. Lizzie has read every Nancy Drew novel and is therefore an expert in investigations (in her mind). Cammy is the only seemingly normal one, but makes up for it by sending her frat boy cousins Marc and Enzo as back-up for Norrie when she goes to meet with one of the land developers. Marc and Enzo cracked me up - could we see more of them in the next novel?!

The murderer was not a complete surprise to me. Something was obviously going on there, but I couldn't decide what the issue was. However the identity of the killer was not obvious by any means.

I saw this was a series, and my initial thought was: how? Norrie is a city girl, perfectly happy living in NYC (although being near Little Italy, who could blame her?), and repeatedly mentions how she just didn't like the idyllic lake region. Except for a comment about how she enjoyed working at her sister's table with only the birds and occasional motorboat and none of the horn honking and rumbles of traffic of NYC, I felt sure she was planning on leaving 365 days from when her sister left her in charge. However there is a suggestion near the end on how the series could continue, so that question, while not answered, was sated for the moment at least. (No spoilers.)

It was a fun, quick read. Recommended.

A Riesling to Die is the debut of The Wine Trail Mysteries series set in the upstate New York town of Penn Yan and featuring screenwriter Norrie Ellington. When her older sister, Francine, lays down a guilt trip and asks Norrie to come oversee the family winery, Two Witches so that she can accompany her husband, Jason, to Costa Rica on a scientific research grant, Norrie reluctantly caves in. With a full staff working at the winery Norrie won't really have to do anything but watch the grapes grow and work on her latest screenplay, right?

Just one week into her new position, Norrie is jolted out of bed by a knock at the door. A dead body has been discovered in a section of the vineyard. Francine had warned her that someone has been sabotaging Two Witches and the neighboring vineyards surrounding Lake Seneca, but wasn't sure if it was a group of developers looking to get their hands on the properties or if it was the meddlesome owner of the adjacent B&B who resented the influx of tourists into the region.

Determined to find the killer and save the winery, Norrie sets out with the help of her staff and the neighbors to solve the mystery. Partnered with her gassy sidekick, Charlie, an adorable Plott Hound, Norrie quickly finds herself in the midst of a screenplay that only she could have written.

A fast moving plot with lovable, yet somewhat eccentric, characters and a delightful Nigerian Dwarf goat will keep readers turning the pages. A twist at the end reveals many more adventures are in store for Norrie and her friends.

I received an advanced copy of A Riesling to Die from NetGalley via Lyrical Press, a division of Kensington Publishing. While not required to write a review I am more than happy to offer my honest opinion.

A Riesling to Die by J.C. Eaton was a easy cozy mystery that captured my attention from the first.

Norrie Ellington is a successful screenwriter and a silent partner in her family's winery. Normally the winery is run by her sister and husband but they are off to Costa Rica for a year and Norrie is guilted into overseeing the winery while they are gone. I liked Norrie although she often struck me as being easily overwhelmed and jumps to conclusions while sleuthing. J. C. Eaton does a fabulous job of describing the Finger Lakes district of New York; and the character development is well done as introductions into this first of a new cozy series. I liked many of the secondary characters and look forward to seeing them again as this series continues. A fast paced plot that flowed smoothly as the twists and turns take the reader to a reveal that I did not see coming.

Wine and Vineyards don't usually feature in the cozy mysteries I read, but definitely enjoyed this one with the wonderful setting and descriptions and the fun characters with the interesting story line. Looking forward to more.

This is an entertaining new mystery featuring interesting characters and a wonderful setting in the vineyards of the Finger Lakes in New York State. Norrie Ellington is a screenwriter of romance made for TV movies and also with her sister and brother in law the part owner of her family's vineyard. When her brother in law gets a grant to study in Costa Rica Norrie is asked to take over running the winery for the year. On her first morning there she is awakened by her employees who have found the dead body of a local B and B owner who has been the scourge of the neighborhood. Norrie is afraid that the police in her small town are not going to be able to find the murderer so with the help of her friends she begins to investigate herself. Norrie manages to get herself in hot water with several prospective suspects before she finds the true villain. I thoroughly enjoyed this fast paced mystery and hope for further books in this series.