In Seneca Lake, New York, Norrie Ellington’s Two Witches Winery has been selected by the local vintner community to host the annual Federweisser, a celebration of the season’s first fermentation of white Chardonnay grapes. But the festivities are spoiled when Norrie learns that landowner Roy Wilkes has raised her neighbor Rosalee Marbleton’s rent so high, she may have to close her vineyard.

Before the rent hike could go into effect, Wilkes is found dead on Rosalee’s property, stabbed to death, and she becomes the number one suspect. To clear her friend’s name, Norrie conducts her investigation. But as she gathers clues, Norrie finds herself targeted by a killer, and if she’s not careful, her desire to see justice done may die on the vine.

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Series: The Wine Trail Mysteries - Book 2
Author: J.C. Eaton (Ann I. Goldfarb & James E. Clapp)
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Lyrical Underground

The work of J.C. Eaton (Ann I. Goldfarb & James E. Clapp) is always original. Their combined skill makes just about anything they write entertaining and fun. Chardonnayed to Rest is the second book in the “Wine Trail Mysteries” series. The writing is easy to follow with smooth transitions.

Norrie Ellington is a bit preoccupied with her own interests. Her writing career is on the line if she doesn’t meet her deadlines. Unfortunately, the winery and murder keep getting in the way. It is easy-to-understand Norrie’s self-absorption. What writer worth a dime isn’t self-centered? But this character takes things a bit too far.

Norrie is supposed to be looking after her family winery, which her sister- and brother-in-law take care of, while they are away for a year. She isn’t good at it. In truth, if this were real life, the winery would already be shut down with Norrie in charge. She pays no attention to the winery business, and it would be astounding if it actually made money and stayed afloat. The character is just a bit too inattentive, and her interests take precedence over everything, and everyone else. It appears that if her neighbor hadn’t been accused of murder, she wouldn’t even be aware that someone had died, or of the festival her winery is hosting, or anything else that takes place throughout the story. To put it simply, Norrie is not a pleasant character. Other characters are hugely more attractive to readers.

Rosalee, with her straightforward manner, and her ability not to know when to stay silent is endearing. Don and Theo are adorable as a couple and as neighbors. They play a pivotal part in the investigation and find most of the interesting clues. Readers will want to learn more about them and follow their antics in future books. The victim, although not necessarily likable is intriguing. The more information that is uncovered about him, the more the reader will want to know why, and who killed him.

The wine country setting is exciting. Having competing wineries working together and helping each other is a delightful idea that would be great in a world where it’s every man for himself. A sticking point for some readers will be the name of Norrie’s winery; Two Witches Winery can be misleading to readers who think they are getting a paranormal/witch-based cozy.

There is some humor in this book and an interesting plot. When the killer is revealed, it won’t come as a surprise but how it transpires might. In the end, if a reader is looking for a quick read where they don’t have to do a lot of deep thinking to figure out what is going on or who the killer is, then Chardonnayed to Rest is for them.
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Norrie Ellington is winery sitting for her family for a year since she can work anywhere (she's a screenwriter). One of the area winery owners is having difficulty because of an increase in the rent for the on which a water pipeline runs, and when the owner of the land is found murdered, Norrie is the one they turn to, after all she's been through this before.

Checking out the area where the body was found after the crime scene investigators are through, Norrie finds a clue and decides that rather than let the police run with it (would they even believe her?) she and her friends will track down the murderer themselves.

The mystery was a bit lacking but the characters were fun especially the bowlers and quilters in their capacity of sleuths. The plot seemed to be a bit of a rerun from the first book, just set at another winery, so I hope the next will be a bit different. ( )

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. ( )