Oaky With a Hint of Murder by Dawn Brotherton is the second in the Eastover Treasure Mysteries with Aury and Scott going to a winery in the Finger Lakes region of NY. They are tasked with finding out who is causing damage to the winery, but when someone is murdered, things get serious. With good characters and a bit of wine lore this book should please anyone looking for a good cozy.

I was so looking forward to this one as I loved the idea of a mystery revolving around wine! But I have to say I was a bit disappointed as the mystery was a bit lack lustre and the wine making was like reading a book about wine making. I think it was a good idea but overall it just didn't flow well and the story dragged a bit and took a while to get past all the details of making wine!

Not for me I'm afraid.

Thank you NetGalley and Blue Dragon Publishing, LLC for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

An interesting mystery. I enjoyed learning about wine and wine making. However,, I feel the mystery started a little late in the story..
Many thanks to Blue Dragon Publishing and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Fair. The mysterious, ghostly like movement of furniture and strange noises in the middle of the night that plague a winery in Upper New York State sets the tone early with lots of information about wine making that goes on for too long. Is there any connection to the Native American's legends in the Seneca Lake area the basis of this strange activity? Well, murder pushes this into the much more mortal realm later in the story than I would like.. While the interludes of Native American scenes hundred of years ago are interesting there are too many of them and it interrupts the flow of the story.

The mystery itself is ok. There are the typical red herrings and twists and turns though I did guess the culprit fairly early on. The characters didn't hold my attention enough for me to think that I will continue will this series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Loved reading this book. Hopefully there will be another book in this series. Was very interesting. Hope others enjoy it also.

I really liked the plot of this book on the mystery side part of it. I also learned alot about wine and wineries. I wish there were not so many characters as I got lost in the mix of them. Also I wish we had more of a back story on some of them I feel they were kind of skimmed over a bit. Lastly it took a long time for the mystery to really take place and going back and forth from the present to past was just adding more characters to get confused about. I did like the main characters and Aury, Scott, Liza and Ethan. I do feel Joyce could have taken more interest in the winery and she was not there during critical times. It was nice Aury brought her Grandmother Liza as she was somewhat comic relief. I think if the book started the mystery earlier and did not push all the murders to the end and quick and added the wine info throughout the book plus taking out the past parts it would have been a 5 star book. I give it a 4 because of potential.

So much of the beginning of the book was devoted to the process of wine making that I almost forgot it was a mystery. While the author’s research was well done, the mystery and story itself falls rather flat.

I will be skipping further entries this series.

I was hoping to enjoy this book more due to it including wine and wine growing. Unfortunately I struggled to get into it and as a result gave up.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book, sadly on this occasion it's not one for me.

Release Date: March 12, 2024

📖📖📖

Aury and Scott travel to the Finger Lakes in New York’s wine country to get to the bottom of the mysterious happenings at the Songscape Winery. Disturbed furniture and curious noises are one thing, but when a customer winds up dead, it’s time to dig into the details and see what ferments.

Is there any truth to the Native American legends that cluster near Seneca Lake? Is the warrior’s disapproval of wineries growing legs?

Aury will need to pour over the clues to unearth the mystery before the winery’s reputation is crushed. With the annual wine festival just around the corner, Aury harvests more than she bargained for when the killer tries to bottle her up for good.

This is the second book in the #eastovertreasuresmystery series. I hadn’t read the first one so I did feel a bit lost in terms of character connections. I really wanted to like this book, but I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters and the story itself didn’t hold my interest. The author got into details on how wine is processed, with what to pair certain wines and its notes. Author could be a good sommelier. If you love wine and everything about it, you’ll probably enjoy this book, but unfortunatly I was bored!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

#oakywithahintofmurder #aneastovertreasuremystery #dawnbrothertonauthor #bluedragonpublishing #bookreview #bookstagram #booklover #bookstagram #bookworm #booknerd #booktok #bookrecommendations #bibliophile #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookblogger #igreads #goodreads #bookclub #bookreviews #bookbloggersofinstagram

Interesting book if you want to go deeper into a view of how to make wine. Kept my interest to see how it ends, but must admit to skimming at times. The flash backs of the natives felt unnecessary…might just be me. The story has it’s moments and would recommend.

Unfortunately I had a little hard time while reading this book..

I have to give credits to the author for their high level of knowledge in wine and winemaking. The author got into details on how wine is processed, with what to pair certain wines and its notes. Author could be a good sommelier. If you love wine and everything about it, you’ll probably enjoy this book, but unfortunatly I was bored!

Firsts 30% of the book is about wine and winemaking. A lot of details about it and not much of a plot.
Later we have few chapters about Native Americans and their land which is now occupied by the vineyards.
I, personally, found it unnecessary.

We have main characters Aury and Scott that came to visit the Songscape winery owned by Scott’s cousin Ethan and his wife Joyce. Also Aury brought her grandma Liza with them on their vacation. Questionable but ok.

Through the book, Aury, Scott and Liza get to know the little town where the winery is, locals and picturesque places around there. We, readers, got an excursion as well.
There were few strange moments while their visit to the winery and of course murders and deaths.
Aury decided to get all job on her and find out more about death cases. She was playing a detective which I found annoying. She was very nosy and got to question in my opinion in a rude manner some locals and the ones she was suspecting.
There was a moment when Scott let Aury know that they have to return home soon due to an emergency of his employer that works on their retreat place, but Aury was way to determined to find her answers on deaths and murders on their “family’s” vineyard.

I found the plot kind of weak. I wasn’t fully interested in this book. As I mentioned above, Boring!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

#OakyWithaHintofMurder #NetGalley is the first in a new series by Dawn Brotherton.
The story takes place in upstate New York, at Songscape Winery, and features Aury and Scott, friends of the winery owners.
There are bizarre events happening at the winery and everyone has their own opinions on what's going on. Some believe it's related to Native American spirits, but Aury is not sure what to believe.

I really wanted to like this book, but I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters and the story itself didn't hold my interest.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of the book.