Member Reviews

I loved this cozy mystery book! Murder Uncorked was a fun mystery that was easy to read. I love California wine country which was why I wanted to read this book. The food and wine were definitely my favorite parts, but the mystery kept me going until the end. I listened to the audiobook, and the reader was really good. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this fun mystery book!

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I gave Murder Uncorked by Maddie Day 3.75 stars

As the manager of Vino y Vida Wine Bar in Colinas, Cecelia “Cece” Barton’s first Alexander Valley harvest is a whirlwind of activity. Her twin sister, Allie Halstead, who owns a nearby Victorian bed & breakfast, is accustomed to the hustle and bustle of peak tourist season. But Cece barely has a moment to enjoy her new home in between worrying about her estranged college-age daughter, juggling her responsibilities at the bar, and navigating the sticky politics of the local wine association. Just when it seems things can’t grow any more intense, Colinas is rocked by a murder within the wine community . . . and Cece is identified as a possible suspect!

With her reputation and her livelihood on the line—and the Sonoma County deputy sheriff breathing down her neck—Cece has no choice but to open up her own murder investigation. Tensions are already high in the valley, as a massive wildfire creeps toward Colinas, threatening homes, vineyards, and the vital tourist trade. And now, with a murderer on the loose, and Cece’s sleuthing exposing the valley’s bitterest old rivalries and secret new alliances, Colinas feels ready to pop! But with Allie’s help, Cece is determined to catch the killer and clear her name before everything she’s worked so hard for goes up in flames . .

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I have had a couple of books on my TBR from this author, and this was the first one I read from Maddie Day. I liked the plot and the mystery. There were also some well written characters in this book that I liked. I did figure out whodunit, but it was still a fun mystery.

I listened to the audiobook and can highly recommend reading this book in that format. The narrator did an amazing job and I enjoyed listening to this on my commute to school.

I will be reading the second book in this new series and also pick up the other books on my TBR.

Thank you, NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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Murder Uncorked by Maddie Day
(Narrated by Linda Jones)

Such a pleasant and an easy read!

It’s a story about Cece who owned a wine bar in LA. Her twin sister Allie who run a B&B. Cece was being a suspect in a murder case and now she had to get her reputation back…

I enjoyed this cozy mystery a lot which was very fun to hear lots of wine names. It was a fast read with likable characters and great story plot. The narrator played all the characters very well and distinctive. I look forward to the next installment in this series!

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"Murder Uncorked (Cece Barton Mystery #1)" by Maddie Day is the first in a new series. However, there seems to be a prologue book or maybe a crossover book I haven't read. The characters keep referencing a murder that Cece helped solve the previous Christmas.

The mystery was pretty well presented. Your usual, disliked character gets offed fairly quickly. Due to Cece having a business argument the police questioned her as a person of interest. It would have been nice to see more of the police going after other people or a better case for having Cece has a suspect. It was pretty thin to believe Cece had anything when Cece found many others with much better motives. In the end, it was one of my top suspects.

This one is set in October, around Indigenous Peoples Day. It gets a bit politically correct a few times yet keeps changing up how Cece refers to her vegetarian-ness. However, this isn't surprising for a west coast setting with the main character having moved from California.

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What a cute and quick read! I now have ANOTHER series to add to my ever-expanding list! Maddie Day's books always make me laugh and this book did not disappoint!! I can't wait for the next installment in this series!


#MurderUncorked
#NetGalley

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Cece Barton is settling in as manager of the Vino y Vido Wine Bar in the wine area of California when she witnesses a tense exchange between two men. When one of them is found dead Cece finds herself under scrutiny because of her unpleasant emails with the dead man. In order to remove herself from suspicion she starts asking questions about the man. The more she learns the more it seems that every one had a disagreement with the deceased. As she learns more things start happening that have her questioning her safety. Will the murderer be discovered before someone else is killed?

This is the first book in a new cozy mystery series. Set in a small town in California it contains everything a reader could want, picturesque setting, interesting group of friends, and wine. I look forward to reading more in this series.

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I really liked the setting and characters of this book. I think the build up of the mystery was good just a but drawn out. Overall I think this was definitely a fun cozy mystery that would be perfect for fall.

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I listened to the audiobook and the narrator had a nice, easy to listen to voice. Maddie Day is a great author and I usually love her books but this one didn’t feel the same. While it is only the true first in a series (there is a novella in part of a Christmas collection), I felt like the characters were flat and not as interesting as her typical books. Hopefully the next one will be more like I’m used to reading from her.

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Cece Barton is new to California wine country. She is attempting to settle into her life as the manager of Vino y Vida wine bar while also dealing with a complicated relationship with her daughter. A local wine organization is also making life difficult with unreasonable requests related to the Alexander Valley harvest. Things take a turn for the worse when the head of the wine association and recent guest of Vino y Vida is found murdered. The local police target Cece as a suspect. She must start her own investigation to prove her innocence and protect her new life.

The book makes multiple mentions of a prior mystery that Cece investigated which was a little confusing considering that this is labeled as the first in the series. Her story technically starts in the novella that is part of the Christmas Mittens Murder book. Even having missed the first story I didn't have a difficult time following along. Maddie is a prolific cozy mystery writer. I have read most of her series and have enjoyed all of them. She is great at creating vibrant communities that really come alive as you are reading. I really enjoyed Cece's relationship with her sister. The complicated dynamic with her daughter is something I can see being explored more in future books.

I listened to an audio arc of this book and really enjoyed Lisa Jones as the narrator.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

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Light pleasing cozy for a first in series. At least it said it is a first in series. There were repeated references to an earlier murder, and I am guessing this is a spinoff of another series. I like CeCe and her sister. The character development was good, and the mystery well plotted. It tried a little too hard to hit all the social and environmental hot buttons that make me wonder if this will take a turn I choose to avoid. I will read the second book to see how it goes.

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This was a nice cozy mystery set in a wine bar in Wine Country in Colinas, California. The characters were developed well and the world building took place nicely. I liked the overall story telling and pace of the writing.

I had two minor things that I didn't like. First, the last name of the investigating detective was Daniel. It threw me off when someone mentioned "Daniel". I thought they were talking about another character. I personally would've at least changed the name to Daniels with the "s" at the end. The other thing that bothered me was several references to a previous crime that Cece Barton had helped solve. I saw that this was the first book in a series, but it took some quick research to find the introductory novella. I guess it gets people interested in the other book, but I didn't like the way it was mentioned over and over.

Thank you to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

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An exciting new cozy mystery set in a small California tourist town and centered around a wine bar serving locally grown wines. Cece finds herself in the midst of a police investigation when a very unlikable man that she only tangentially knew dies and the police start asking her for an alibi. There are so many potential suspects that Cece who is definitely not an investigator by any means, must turn into an investigator to clear her name. However, it seems the killer may not be satisfied with just one killing! The town is well described so that you feel as if you are standing in the streets next to Cece as she travels about. The characters are extremely realistic with lots of realistic issues that they are unraveling and which Cece gets to know about as she talks to people. I will definitely be adding this one to my must listen to list as the narrator did an outstanding job of helping bring both the people and the story to life! I can't wait for the next book to be released!

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Good start to a new series. I met Cece Barton originally in a novella and was curious to see how she would be integrated into life in Colinas; she seems to fit in perfectly with the wine community and small town she has recently moved to. I enjoyed getting to visit with her, her sister, and her nephews again, as well as getting to know her new friends, particularly her elderly neighbor, Richard. I did have some issues with the way Cece handled some things, most notably, her need to withhold information from the police. There was also a lot of preaching about various topics: Indigenous people’s day, alternative fuel vehicles, etc., that gets a little tiresome, but I powered through it as I do with Maddie Day’s other views. I will read the next one and if this trend continues, I may have to give up on them. I read to escape. I don’t need lectures.

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Murder Uncorked is a super fun & page turning cozy mystery series debut!

🍷 Wine
💔 Starting Over
🔍 Mystery
💀 Murder
🔒 Secrets

Maddie Day has created a hilariously heartwarming cast of quirky characters and I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here!

Thank you to Tantor Audio for the gifted copy.

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Murder Uncorked is the first cozy mystery in the Cece Barton Mystery series. Cece Barton has recently relocated to Colinas, California to be near her twin sister and her family. As the manager of Vino y Vida wine bar, Cece is quickly getting acclimated to her new life, but when a murder takes place Cece finds herself in the middle of it. Taking it upon herself to get to the bottom of it, she puts her sleuthing skills to use to search out the killer.

I am always excited to start a new cozy series in the hopes that it will become a series I follow for awhile and this book has all the makings of this. I enjoyed the setting that the author created and am a fan of Cece and the support system that surrounds her. I see a lot of potential for this series and look forward to following along with Cece on any cases that come her way. I have read the prequel to this book and loved how that set the tone for this new series and gave some background info on Cece and her first ever sleuthing adventures. I think this is a start to a series that is worth reading and I look forward to seeing what else comes Cece’s way!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

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Rating: 3.5, rolled up to four.

In general, I like the story, I like the characters I like the city, but one thing that drove me nuts was the continual, and I do mean continual throughout the story reference to a prior case that we have no background on. It might’ve been more helpful if after the first time that it was mentioned, that time was taken out to explain what happened and the people involved because later in the story, it’s brought up multiple times, and even some of the people that are involved in that former story that are not in this story were brought up.

I do like Richard, the neighbor in the 90-year-old who calls himself a VOM, a very old man, I think that’s cute. There are lots of different cultures represented in the story. We don’t hear it in there their speech per se, but they are there. The story also includes a same-sex couple, an interracial couple, twins, and people visiting from other countries. That was very nice to see.

There’s a twin thing that was not overdone, which I’m grateful for, mostly because not being a twin, I don’t quite get it :-)

There was not a love triangle and not many “why did she do that” moments. There were a few “OMG!” Moments and a bit of twist, at least something different from other cozy mysteries recently read.

I am curious about the the priors mystery that they referred to, but I also am all interested in reading the next one in the series
Happy Reading!

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'Murder Uncorked' by Maddie Day is a cute read and super cozy!

Premise - a wine bar owner in her midlife tries to figure out who's behind the murder of an unpleasant man. The problem is, plenty of people want him dead. When an attempt is made on her own life,

I'm rating this book for what it is - a cozy mystery that should be a relaxing way to spend an afternoon. It's not an on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller or a literary masterpiece, but it absolutely is a cute, cozy read.

The protagonist is charming and easy to root for, which is key for a cozy, and I love midlife leads in cozies. It's like hanging out with your mom. That said, this MC suffers from too stupid to live syndrome. There are plenty of examples, but a couple of the most egregious ones are when someone tries to break into her house and she just GOES TO SLEEP. She doesn't call the police?! A while later, someone in a truck targets her for a hit-and-run and she FORGETS to tell the cops. How do you forget someone tried to kill you?? It's a true wonder that she made it to her big age when that's the sort of judgement she's working with *facepalm.*

Despite an unrealistically dumb amateur sleuth as the lead, this is a fun, fast read that I think cozy mystery fans will really enjoy.

Thanks, NetGalley and Kensington, for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Murder Uncorked begins a cozy mystery series set in wine country in California. Cece Barton moves to Colinas to be near her twin Allie and her family. She takes a job managing a wine bar in the historic complex.
The descriptions of the setting are good. The relationship between Cece and her sister and her sister’s twin boys is a nice part of the storyline.
The man who was murdered was abrasive and had alienated many of those around him. This supplied a number of suspects.
Cece feels a bit more comfortable investigating since she had success the previous Christmas solving a murder. The story is told in a novella in Christmas Mittens Murder.
I had access to an ebook and the audiobook. I liked the narrator, but I had a hard time distinguishing between Allie and Cece in some of their conversations.
Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Cozies and Tantor Audio for the opportunity to experience this book.

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Set in California wine country, Murder Uncorked sets itself up to be an enjoyable new cozy mystery series. There were some growing pains in this first book but I’m looking forward to seeing how it moves forward.

I was a little taken aback because I felt like I was missing backstory even though this was the first in the series, which was a tad confusing (turns out there’s a prequel).

I liked the many personalities in this series. I wished were that Cece was a little more confident and sometimes the pace felt a little slow.

Overall a fun, cozy mystery read. The audiobook narrator was great!

Thank you to #NetGalley and #TantorAudio for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Release Date: October 24, 2023

📖📖📖📖

As the manager of Vino y Vida Wine Bar in Colinas, Cecelia "Cece" Barton's first Alexander Valley harvest is a whirlwind of activity. Her twin sister, Allie Halstead, who owns a nearby Victorian bed & breakfast, is accustomed to the hustle and bustle of peak tourist season. Just when it seems things can't grow any more intense, Colinas is rocked by a murder within the wine community . . . and Cece is a suspect! With her reputation and her livelihood on the line—and the Sonoma County deputy sheriff breathing down her neck—Cece has no choice but to open up her own murder investigation. Tensions are already high in the valley, as a massive wildfire creeps toward Colinas, threatening homes, vineyards, and the vital tourist trade. But with Allie's help, Cece is determined to catch the killer and clear her name before everything she's worked so hard for goes up in flames . . .

This is the first book in the new #cecebartonmystery by @maddiedayauthor. Murder Uncorked, bring us back to characters were introduced in a previous novella. What was really nice about this cozy mystery, was getting to meet her friends, not to mention other neighbors and colleagues. I got a kick out of her eating at some friend’s restaurants, such as Ko, Eddie and Henry. Her relationship with Allie was wonderful. I really enjoyed this book, especially all these wonderful friends, sister and her wine bar; which made this such a fun, delightful story. I also enjoyed all the different dishes she ate at the restaurants, which was vegetarian. The characters are good, the setting is scenic, and the mystery portion is good. I’m looking forward to the next book!

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