This was a pretty good book. It almost had to many twists and turns to keep up and I got lost a few times and I had to go back and read a few pages. I would recommend it to anyone who likes lots of twists and turns

Norrie Ellington has been babysitting her family's winery, Two Witches, while her sister and hubbie have been involved in bug research (hubbie is an entomologist). Unfortunately during her sojourn at Two Witches she has been coming across a number of dead bodies, not a great thing to be known for. This time she didn't discover the body, two young boys did and since Norrie has the experience in these matter, the boys want her to tell them how to handle. Norrie is involved even though she doesn't want to be. The victim, when Norrie confirms that the boys, Eli and Stuart, didn't make it up, turns out to be manager of the seasonal laborers who has been in disagreement with Eli's father. The boys turn into fount of details/information but they get themselves into more hot water that their age would suggest.

I really enjoy this series not just for the mysteries, which are well-written, but the characters are fun and wine hints delectable.

This is book 7 in the Wine Trail Mysteries series. Norrie has extended her stay at Two Witches Winery While her sister and her husband search for bugs in the wilds of Madagascar. Norrie hopes to be finishing her screen lay but dead bodies are piling up at the neighboring wineries. When two young neighborhood boys show up and report seeing a dead body Norrie goes for a look see. When the boys find a second body and tell Norrie about it the police are getting a little upset with the situation.This book can be read as a stand alone with some re-0ccuring characters and some great new ones. I love these kids and hope they appear again in future books. I also enjoyed learning a little more about wine and wine tastings. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This one didn’t reach far on the excitement meter, I thought Norrie and Bradley were a bit droll, but the kids Stuart, and Eli, now they were an active and fun pair, a regular riot, I liked them. I would say this was an okay read, not very exciting, with mild intrigue and excitement. Now, don’t think because I say this, that means it wasn’t well written and had a great plot, it’s just a few of the characters, you know, they are like rinse and repeat.

Norrie is a screenwriter and is in town taking care of a relatives business while they are out of town. They have found another body. I think Norrie needs to jump to it and figure it out before someone else has to die. This book is loaded with excitement and drama. The characters are very realistic. I thought the story was very well written. I was definitely out of my league with this story. It was quite clever.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Norrie is anxiously awaiting the return of her sister and brother in law so she can return full time to her career of screen writing rather than babysitting the family vineyard and winery. The body count has gone up substantially since she arrived back home and she has two accomplices this time around. Two very young, very rascally assistants in Eli and Stuart. Eli, the son of a local winemaker who is about to debut a new port, not only has overheard conversation that might connect his father to some nefarious dealings, but he has the penchant for discovering bodies. Two of them. At different times and places. And rather than go to the police or his parents, he goes to Norrie who ends up encouraging the two miscreants.

She gets her usual cast of characters involved as she tries to solve the murder(s). While the local constabulary plods along focussed on the easiest leads, Norrie and company,including the two boys, dig deeper and find there is a hornet’s nest hidden in the vines and it is a race to figure out who is the head hornet. Someone is going to be stung and Norrie can only hope it is neither her nor her young friends.

As always, the story is fast paced with well developed and endearing characters. They are tales for both the wine lover and those who enjoy a sparkling read. Five purrs and two paws up.

I enjoyed the first book in this series but just couldn't get involved with the characters in this one. It wasn't a bad book, just not as engaging this time and I couldn't care about Norrie's life.

Norrie Ellington is a screenwriter who got roped into taking care of her family's winery when her sister Francine and her husband left the country temporarily for research. Since she's been there, she's discovered more bodies than she wanted, which was zero. But just when things are settling down, a boy from a neighboring winery comes to Norrie with a problem: he and his friend have discovered a dead body. Norrie's curiosity gets the better of her, and she enlists a friend to check it out...unfortunately, it is the body of a dead man, and he turns out to be a labor manager who supplies seasonal workers for some of the other wineries. Even more unfortunately, the boy's father was seen arguing with the man, and now he's the main suspect.

So Norrie and her friend Theo, (owner of Grey Egret Winery) are once again embroiled in a murder mystery. Hoping to stay under the radar of the local sheriff, who already has had his eye on Norrie many times (and not in a good way), are trying to find the real killer. But with little Eli and his best friend Stuart are tangled up in the web, Norrie has her hands full. She also might find that the web is more twisted than she knows, and a killer just might be more surprising than she thinks...

I do like J.C. Eaton's books quite a bit. They're very descriptive and also quite a twisted web; so much so that you might need a cheat sheet to keep things straight. In this series, Norrie just wants to go back home and forget the winery, but family obligations won't allow that. Also the fact that she keeps getting involved one way or another in murders. It's bad enough that she's found dead bodies, but now people are bringing dead bodies to her -- as in the case of Eli and Stuart, who do just that, telling her she needs to go look at one.

The entire situation becomes more strange and often funny with the boys being a bit more precocious than anyone could ever imagine. So much so that Theo wants to stay far away from them (as if that's going to happen). But it's also rather endearing and the story is fun and engaging, and worth reading in one sitting, as I did.

When we get closer to the end and everything begins to join tightly, Norrie's mind starts to put it all together quickly and it's a different climax with a humorous twist that had me chuckling. I really did enjoy this mystery and hope to see more of these characters in the next. Recommended.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I believe this is my first time reading this author. This is the 7th book in a series of cozy mysteries. I know that I have not read any of the previous books. This reads pretty well as a stand alone. I did have some confusion, but overall easy to catch up. This was just ok to me-maybe because I lacked background? I know I just said it was easy to catch up... I did love the 2 young rascal boys! I guess I wasn't invested in the story. Why did she stay involved in the murder? 3.5 stars

Although it's getting a little old that Norrie is constantly delayed in resuming her New York city life by her sister and brother-in-law, once again the writing team of J.C. Eaton has provided an expertly crafted addition to their The Wine Trail Mysteries series. Norrie and her delightful cast of surrounding characters, aided by two precocious 10 year-olds are enmeshed in a mystery that results in two deaths. The story was fast-paced and hit all the right notes with humor, suspense and romance. I can't wait for more!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

From Port to Rigor Morte is the 7th book in the Wine Trail Mystery series and this was my 2nd dip into the series. Although it was book seven, I had no difficulties keeping up with characters and events and it worked for me as an individual story. It was a very entertaining read with stacks of humour and I readily found myself chuckling away.

Winery manager Norrie Ellington was a marvellous protagonist whom I find to be compassionate and smart. Set in Penn Yan in the Finger Lakes region of New York, Norrie is looking after the Two Witches Winery for a year while her sister, Francine and brother in law, Jason are in Costa Rica. Her time is almost up and she's counting down the days until she can go to the Hamptons with her friends, but her stay in Penn Yan has been extended as Francine and Jason are going to Madagascar, so Norrie's still in town, overseeing the preparations for the introduction of a new port wine. Two young lads that she knows come to her with a problem - they have discovered a murdered body.

The book was well-crafted, swift-paced and thoroughly entertaining. The mystery was very engaging and I was kept guessing until the end of this lively tale. I’m not sure why I waited so long to try this series, but I am delighted I have continued with it. There are quite a few instalments to catch up on and I can’t wait to revisit Penn Yan again. Very highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

From Port to Rigor Morte is the seventh book in the The Wine Trail Mysteries series by J. C. Eaton. I love the title right away and am always pleased to return to this fun smart cozy series. The author is a favorite cozy author of mine and I never miss any of her books. I enjoyed the previous 6 books in the series. This is a series I highly recommend for your cozy mystery reading enjoyment.

I love the smart charcters in this series. The author has a talent for writing with humor and fun . The sleuth was very well crafted and kept me guessing. I love the settings of a family run winery . The supporting charcters all add to the fun. I recommend this next in series . This is a fun series that I hope continues .

A Killer At Large, Sleuthing Begins....
The seventh Wine Trail mystery finds screenwriter Norrie desperate to avoid murder and investigations of any description. Needless to say both find her. With a killer at large, the sleuthing begins in earnest. Enjoyable, fun cosy mystery with a likeable protagonist and a colourful cast of characters. A worthy addition to this long running series.

This is a typical cozy mystery. It has all the elements of one. I have read all of the previous books in this series and enjoyed them, but I have to say that this time Norrie really irritated me. She seemed to be hyper and dramatic at the same time. Her reasons for poking her nose in the mystery were weak and ridiculous. Just say you are nosy and leave it at that. I found parts to be overblown so I had a hard time really getting into the story.

Nice cozy mystery!
The story flows easily and is fun to follow.
It has likeable characters and an interesting plot.
Can’t wait for a next instalment.

Screenplay writer Norrie Ellington is babysitting her sister and brother-in-law's business, the Two Witches Winery, while they travel the world looking for insects (yes really!) Norrie's also trying to keep up with her own job, writing romantic screenplays for television. But it seems yet another dead body has turned up in wine country and she just can't resist trying to solve the case.

While the overall mystery held my interest, I felt that some of the clues Norrie coaxed out of the locals were obtained far too easily. For example, when she decided to talk about the floral, perfumy notes of a wine in order to coax a suspect into talking about a lingering perfume clue, the ploy was such an immediate success that it felt contrived. Finding a seat in a local bar right next to a person of interest was convenient, but while Norrie listened in to his conversation with the bartender, she gained more information in ten minutes than Nancy Drew could have rounded up in a week.

What did I love? The two incorrigible young boys who not only got the story rolling, but kept it energized all the way through. Nearly every character was well-written and interesting.  The case kept me guessing all the way, and I found myself grabbing my Kindle often, needing to see where we were going.

I have not read the previous six books, but this one stands on its own quite well, so if you're new to The Wine Trail Mysteries, don't worry about that. Love a cozy? I'll admit this one's got snuggle power.

My thanks to author J.C. Eaton, NetGalley, and Beyond the Page Publishing for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Apparently when you stumble upon enough dead bodies, you become a bit of an expert at cadaver identification, at least in the eyes of an 11 year old. Instead of a trip to the cost Norrie is drawn into another murder mystery, this time it is to stop the impending arrival of Catherine's son Steven. It seems like a lot of work, maybe it would be easier to have Bradley spend the weekend or to just point blank tell Catherine that she is not available. It would be much much easier than dealing with Eli the kid who keeps finding dead bodies and getting into mischief. Not that Norrie needs any help or incentive to go sleuthing or in getting her friends like Theo and Don or her special friend Bradley to join in. Another wild adventure for Norrie that had me guessing about the way the pieces fit together. I like how she has tried multiple ways to keep her clues straight. Because there are way too many red herrings to not write that stuff down. How do these bodies/deaths link together and is it really about the Port or something else. It will keep you guessing so I suggest you grab something yummy from Wegmans and a glass of port or any other grape related libation and settle in for another Wine Trail Mystery. Of course the biggest mystery of all is when Norrie's sister and brother in law will be back from hunting rare bugs. I hope they stay away for at least 3 more books!

From Port to Rigor Morte (The Wine Trail Mysteries #7) by J. C. Eaton
Publisher: Beyond the Page Publishing
Genre: Humor | Mystery & Thrillers
Publication Date: April 20, 2021

From Port to Rigor Morte is the seventh book in the The Wine Trail Mysteries series by J. C. Eaton. I had not read the previous books, but was easily able to read this as a standalone mystery.

This was such an enjoyable book! It was very funny and cleverly written! I thought the story was great and I couldn't get enough of it! I loved the settings and the characters! I found the mystery to be so good and I enjoyed trying to figure it out!

I look forward to reading the other books in the series!

I'm so grateful to J. C. Eaton, Beyond the Page Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

This one is the seventh in the series keeping the series strong. J.C. Eaton serves up facts in the stories making the books that much more enjoyable. Well crafted characters and stories are a plus with this one.

This is the seventh in the series and unfortunately it was not my favorite. That is not a bad thing. I find that Norrie goes out of way to put herself in danger and rarely listen to the cautious advice of others. I really have a hard time believing she can oversee a winery, produce screen plays for the Hallmark Channel, and have time to investigate all the deaths around Penn Yan. But nonetheless she does.

I liked the involvement of the two hellion boys from a neighboring winery. They added a lot of pizazz to the story.

This can be read as a standalone. There are plenty of suspects and twists and turns.

I was given an ARC e-book copy from Netgalley. I am not required to leave a positive review.