Spotlight: Murder Uncorked by Maddie Day
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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 . . .
Excerpt
The air sizzled in Vino y Vida. The conversation between two men standing and sipping wine had turned as heated as the thermometer outside, which was on its way to pegging ninety.
Early October here in California’s Alexander Valley, one of the state’s best wine-producing regions, meant grape harvest season. And the harvest brought the start of high tourist season. The two guys in the win bar I managed weren’t my only customer at four in the afternoon, but one of the pair had become confrontational, and I didn’t like it.
I’d started this job in the spring when life was quieter, when Colinas seemed a mostly sleepy community once the winter wine tourism had ebbed. The town sat only ninety minutes north of San Franciso and was an easy drive to the several dozen renowned wineries here as well as the more famous ones in Napa Valley. Today the vibe in the wine bar was busy, boisterous, and now belligerent.
“Listen, bro.” The argumentative dude bit off his words, and his puffy face was flushed under sandy hair with a reddish tinge. He wore a maroon polo shirt emblazoned with the logo of VVA, the regional business group for vineyard owners.
“I’m not your bro,” the other man pushed back.
Angry pounded the bar with his fist. “You have no right to demand those numbers.” The color in his florid face deepened and his light eyes glared.
I glanced around the room. So far these two didn’t seem to be disturbing other customers enjoying their glass of wine.
“You know very well the board asked me to check into all aspects of the Vinyard Valley Association.” The other man stayed calm. “And you aren’t delivering the information I’ve asked for.” Silver streaked the temples of a full head of dark hair.
Hmm. I could get used to that look, along with Handsome’s soft voice and trim physique. If I was in the market for a man. Which I wasn’t. I was straight and single- or rather, widowed, and had been for ten years- but I wasn’t looking for a relationship. I cleared my throat. Neither of their glasses held more than a trace of wine.
“A second pour, gentlemen?” I held up the bottle of the Seghesio Sangiovese they’d requested for their first glass.
“I could use one, sweetheart.” Angry extended his stemmed glass. “But give me the Zin.”
I ignored the “sweetheart” and the omission of “please” and selected an open bottle of zinfandel from the same vineyard, pouring slightly less than the usual fill. “You, sir?” I raised my eyebrows and pointed to the other man’s glass.
“Not for me, thank you, Cece.” Handsome smiled, pronouncing the name he’d read off my name as “Cease,” not “Ceecee,” as I’ve always been known. “My name’s Benjamin Cohen, by the way.”
“Nice to mee you, Benjamin. I’m Cece Barton, manager and chief wine dispenser.”
“You know who I am, right Cece?” the other man asked. “The same Vincent Sardo you’ve been corresponding with about the VVA event.” He winked at me, his anger with his drinking partner disappearing for the moment.
Oh. Sardo worked for the VVA, organizing publicity events and bringing the members together, according to his job description. Whoever hired him must not have experienced his abrasive side. I had, but not in person until right now.
“But you can call me Vinnie,” he went on. “We’ve had a few back and forths, you and me, you know, over the email and phone, and you’ve been refusing to cooperate. But I didn’t realize what a babe you were.” His smile was borderline leer, but the upper lip catching on an eyetooth spoiled the look.
Eww. I might be moderately attractive at forty-two, but a babe I was not. I was reasonably fit, and at five foot eight I didn’t struggle with my weight. My nonidentical twin always said my gray-green eyes were a big asset, and having thick, honey-colored hair was one, too. But I tended to dress comfortably, and I wore flat shoes and didn’t go nuts with makeup. Definitely not “babe” material.
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About the Author
Maddie Day is the Agatha Award-winning author of the Cozy Capers Book Club Mysteries, the Country Store Mysteries, the CeCe Barton Mysteries, and the Local Foods Mysteries, as well as other series and short crime fiction written under the name Edith Maxwell. A member of Mystery Writers of America and a proud lifetime member of Sisters in Crime, she is a regular contributor at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen and belongs to the Wicked Authors, a group of bestselling authors who blog at WickedAuthors.com. Day lives with her beau and their cat Martin north of Boston, although she knows Indiana, California, and Cape Cod intimately. She is a wine enthusiast, talented amateur chef, and former farmer and can be found online at MaddieDayAuthor.com
