Roy is the classic cozy villain- he's hiked rents and been a rat to lots of people- and he's found dead on the property Rosalee rents from him. Luckily for Rosie, Norrie, a wannabe scriptwriter who is keeping an eye on her family's vineyard, decides she'll investigate. This one had the right elements but for me, at least, fell short, Maybe Norrie was a little out there, maybe it was the implausibility of Norrie not only babysitting the vineyard but also hosting a big event, but for some reason, this one did not resonate with me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

The first book in the series was fun and the second entry in the series is as well. Norrie Ellington is baby sitting her family’s winery and while the business is still standing, bodies keep dropping around her. This time it’s a new landowner who moved to town and one of her fellow winery owners could be implicated. Norrie does her best to save her friend from become a suspect and turns into a target herself.

The characters are fun and the story moves at a good clip. This is a fun series that I’ll be visiting with again when the next book is released.

Forgetful amateur sleuth. Unhelpful police. Good friends. Good neighbors. Suspicions of extramarital affair. Wrong person accused of murder. Upstate New York wine country.

I received a digital ARC of this book from Net Galley for an honest review. It was well written. I enjoyed the scene between Norrie and Eli. I think that was my favorite scene in the book.

Norrie Ellington is managing the family winery while her sister Francine and her husband Jason spend a year in Costa Rica searching for a rare bug. Norrie is a screenwriter who has her own deadline to make, so she's needing all the free time she can get to finish it.

Unfortunately, it won't be this week, and possibly not the next, either. Her friend and a fellow winery owner, Rosalee Marbleton tells Norrie that a newcomer to Penn Yan has bought land nearby that she has a pipeline for water running though, and he's raised the rent so high she may have to close her winery. But when Roy Wilkes's body is found by Rosalee she calls Norrie in a panic. Along with another winery owner, Theo, they investigate and sure enough, Roy is dead.

But when Rosalee's handyman Kelsey is arrested for the crime and it's implied that Rosalee may have put him up to it. she begs Norrie to find out the truth. Against her better judgment, Norrie agrees. But will digging into another murder find a killer or will it put her next on the list to die?

This is the second book in the series and I have to say that I liked it better than the first. The characters are starting to develop personalities and come into their own and I felt that this was lacking in the debut book, and Norrie is becoming more comfortable with the employees at the winery, even though she's not as fond of the place as is her sister.

There were, however, a couple of things that rankled me a bit: in the first book she met a couple of developers that were so "hot" she couldn't think straight; and in this book she meets an attorney and mentions that she's never met anyone so attractive. How hot is this guy? Does Norrie find one to surpass another around every corner? Then I get the feeling that a love triangle might be in the offering. Please, please no. Love triangles are never fun to read about at all, and take away pleasure in the book.

The other thing that bothered me is the fact that Norrie doesn't realize just how much like Deputy Gary she is. She decides one person is guilty and refuses to even consider anyone else might be the culprit. She just goes around trying to prove she's right. I get that she's a screenwriter and has a vivid imagination, but she should also think logically and look for clues, sifting through them to find the truth. Instead, she comes up with hair-brained schemes she decides will bring the killer to justice. While we, the readers, had a pretty good clue as to who the killer was because of a single act, Norrie was oblivious to that fact. Also, and I can't help but wonder about this, who is the sheriff in this town, and shouldn't a homicide detective be investigating murders, not a town deputy? Just curious.

Aside from these things, I found that the story was written well and put together nicely. The reason for the murder was believable, and even the final confrontation - given the personalities involved - was believable as well.

I thought the bowlers and quilters were probably the funniest part of the story and even made me laugh out loud at one point, and I do love Norrie's "thoughts in her head." She's pretty sarcastic to herself, and it gives a bit of lightness to the story that keeps it moving along at a good pace. In the end, I thought this was a pretty decent book and a fairly quick read. The murder was tied up creditably, and I would like to see what the next in the series brings. Recommended.

Chardonnayed to Rest is the second 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 flows smoothly with a steadily paced plot, twists and turns, and a well-developed cast of quirky characters. This is a quick and easy read with an interesting mystery and humor.

Norrie Ellington, a successful screenwriter and a silent partner in Two Witches Winery, her family’s winery in Seneca Lake, New York. 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 reluctantly agreed since she can write anywhere and the winery’s staff is experienced. During a meeting of Women of the Wineries, the women vote to include Theo Buchman and his life partner, Don, who own the Grey Egret Winery in their organization, and change their name to Winery Owners of the West, so they can continue to use the acronym, WOW. The local wineries are preparing for Labor Day Weekend, which is always a busy holiday for them, and in two weeks, Two Witches Winery will be hosting the Federweisser Festival. While attending the meeting, Norrie learns that Roy Wilkes, the new owner of the land where Terrace Wineries’ water pipeline runs, has raised the rent so high that Rosalee Marbelton fears she may have to close her vineyard. When one of Rosalee’s four Corgis, finds a body early one morning near the pumping station for her pipeline, instead of calling 911, Rosalee calls Norrie. Deputy Sheriff Gary Hickman is convinced Kelsey Payne, Rosalee’s handyman, is guilty and doesn’t seem to be looking any further. Since Norrie helped solve a murder before, Rosalee wants her to start investigating.

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

This lightweight cozy takes place in the Finger Lakes winery area of upstate New York. Protagonist Norrie Ellington is babysitting the family vineyard operation while her sister and brother-in-law are gone. Norrie is working hard at her "real" job as a Hollywood scriptwriter. When a dead body is discovered at a nearby winery, Norrie leaps in to investigate the case.

Not unpleasant, but light on plot plausibility and character development. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in return for my honest review.

Chardonnayed to Rest is the second installment in the Wine Trail Mysteries series set in upstate New York near Seneca Lake. Screenwriter Norrie Ellington is settling in to her temporary position of watching over the families Two Witches Winery while her sister and brother in law continue their search for an elusive bug in Costa Rica.

Two Witches has been chosen to host the annual Fedderweisser, the first harvest of the Chardonnay grapes. Anxious for things to run smoothly, Norrie is saddened to hear that neighboring vineyard owner Rosalee Marbleton is having troubles with getting enough water for her grapes. She and her sister Marilyn had purchased a waterline that ran through a neighbors property and brought water to her vines, but those owners had sold the property and the new owner, Roy Wilkes has raised her rent beyond her means.

When Roy is found stabbed to death on Rosalee's property, and with one of her ornamental planter stakes, it doesn't take long for Deputy "Grizzly Gary" Hickman to take her in for questioning. Able to prove that she's innocent, Rosalee begs Norrie to help track down the killer since the police now have their eyes on other members of her staff.

A fast paced plot with likable characters and just a touch of insight into the world of a vintner. Things are starting to heat up in the romance department for Norrie and I'm hoping the author doesn't head towards the dreaded love triangle.

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

I happened to be in the Finger Lakes region of New York for the first time as I read 'Chardonnayed to Rest'. It is beautiful there and I could easily envision Norrie and all of the accompanying cast of characters. This mystery was excellent and kept me engaged and guessing. The relationship aspects have tons of potential for Norrie and are well played by the delightful husband and wife writing team of J.C. Eaton. I look forward to many more in the series!

Chardonnayed to Rest was the second book in a series set in the Finger Lakes wine region of NY. Loved the setting of these books... it sounds beautiful and the winery trail community sounds like it would be a great place to visit!

In this book, an area resident is found dead and suspicion falls on the owner of a nearby vineyard. Norrie, still at Two Witches Winery, investigates and gets herself into hot water again. The story culminates in a festival at the winery, accompanied by a couple of new friends Norrie has made, pandemonium in the form of quilters and bowlers, and a lot of wine!

There's a lot to like about this series, including the setting, some quirky characters... and did I mention wine? I almost felt like too many characters were introduced and I had to really work to keep track of them - true of the first book in the series also. All in all, 3.5 stars, and if you're a wine lover, round up to 4!!

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this title.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

I'm so glad to have discovered yet another excellent cozy mystery book! I loved this from the first moment, despite this being the second book and I hadn't read the first. It's just one of those series that you can jump straight into, thankfully. To begin with, we have an excellent sleuth with her motley collection of trusted friends either encouraging or actively working with her to catch the killer. We have plenty of leads and no one person really stands out, although I had my suspicions. Theo and Dom stand out as two great characters that Norrie can rely upon to help, and I loved their interactions.

Not too much romance in this one (yet) but I know who I'd like Norrie to pick if it comes down it. There's an unexpected cutie here, and I can't wait to see more of him!

A really excellent cozy series, I highly recommend it. Five stars!

Interesting setting and cast of characters. The book moves at a good pace. I liked the book. I did not find the victim interesting but I did like how the steps in the mystery were set out. Good twist at the end. Did not see it coming.

I received this ARC via Netgalley, in return for an honest review. I liked this book. It's the second in a series and easily readable as a stand-alone story. The protagonist is minding the family vineyard for a year, while her sister and brother-in-law are off hunting bugs (he's an entomologist). In this story, a fellow vintner's winery is threatened with a loss of water by a new owner of an adjacent property. Needless to say, the mean owner ends up dead and our heroine needs to solve the case to protect her friend and the community. The local deputy has no time for her, so she and two other winery owners enlist most of the community to solve the crime. Oh, and there are major holidays and a festival to throw in the mix, along with her trying to do her job of script-writing for a living.
This was a good, solid cosy mystery. I enjoyed it; the heroine didn't make me crazy; the writer did a good job of building the logical situations for her to continue solving the crime, as well as all the other members of the community. I recommend this is if you like a good cosy; I'd read more by this author.

In this second of the Wine Trail mysteries (A Riesling to Die was the first), we find Norrie back at the vineyard she is watching for her sister and brother-in-law while he is abroad with the family studying a rare insect. Things have calmed down a bit from the last body they found, but unfortunately, a new corpse is found, and is a landowner that was giving a hard time to Norrie’s friend. Guess who becomes the primary suspect? Especially when the murder weapon turns out to belong to the friend. Yup – things aren’t looking good, and soon the friend is asking for Norrie’s help because of her stellar work finding the killer the first time around.

I tried. I really did. I read the first book and enjoyed it, so when I had the opportunity from NetGalley and the publisher to read this one, I jumped at it. It was fun to hear back from the original characters and see what they have been up to, but it just didn’t MOVE for me. I tried to go back several times and pick it back up, but I just couldn’t finish, and I’m not even all that interested to find out who the killer was. Unfortunately, this might be the last book in the series for me. It’s not that it was BAD, but because I am not invested in the characters yet, I am giving up. There are just too many other books to read. Maybe if I were a wine drinker I would find it more interesting?

This book was originally a little slow moving at the beginning but heats up towards the middle.

The characters are easy to read about and the protagonist is easy to relate to. I also really like the friendship between Norrie, Theo and Don.

The mystery was an easy cozy mystery that had enough clues to figure it out, but wasn't blindingly obvious. I also enjoyed the journey through their wineries.

I would read more in this series.

Chardonnayed to Rest is a fine and very fun mystery with wine set in Seneca Lake, New York, at Norrie Ellington’s Two Witches Winery. After a murder is discovered, Norrie works to clear a friend unfairly suspected, but soon finds herself targeted by the killer who may wish her dead on the vine. 5/5

Thanks to the author, Kensington Books and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#ChardonnayedToRest #NetGalley

The name Two Witches Winery caught my attention in the first book, I"m glad to see the series continue. Love the characters especially the sisters and we all know about neighbor disputes. Well developed setting with an interesting mystery to keep your attention. I'll be looking for more in the future.

Fun book, but this one dragged for me a bit. Parts were very funny and the book was very enjoyable. I look forward to seeing the future escapades of Norris and her gang of quirky and fun characters.

This is a fun and enjoyable cozy mystery with a well developed plot, interesting characters and an inside view into the winery business. Norrie, a scriptwriter who is also a part owner of the Two Witches Winery along with her sister, has taken over running the place for a year while her sister and her husband are in Costa Rica for his job. She gets a call from Rosalee, a fellow winery owner, who has found a dead man on her property. The dead man was Roy Wilkes, who had bought the property next door and was threatening to cut off her access to the lake water which is critical for her winery. Norrie has a reputation as an amateur sleuth and when Rosalee's handyman is arrested and claims he is innocent Rosalee asks Norrie to investigate. Investigate she does, along with friends Theo and Don, and although threatened herself Norrie does not give up until she has unmasked the real killer.
The story flows at a steady pace with plenty of twists and turns along with insights into what it takes to run a winery. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Wine and murder. A new owner Roy Wilkes has raised his next door neighbors to water access charge to an astronomical number and he won't budge. Rosalee Marbelton can't afford this new price and her winery is in jeopardy. When Roy is found dead, did the police need to look much further than Rosalee?