the detective who loves good wine and beautiful women
580654
This is another superb story from Harley Mazuk full of delicious details of the period, the late 1940s.  I agree with the reviewer before me - I can't wait to read the next book about Frank Swiver, the detective who loves good wine and beautiful women.
4354354
This series is a charming collection chronicling the tales of the world's newest crime-fighting duo: Archangel and Kelly.  Archangel is the eccentric cross-dressing detective who looks drop dead gorgeous in a skirt and sky high heels, while Kelly is his assistant who's expertise has more to do with breathing fire and cooking up a delicious breakfast than solving murders. Together, this oddball pair works together to create the greatest crime solving team since Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.  While a bit on the eccentric side Michael Archangel is an expert detective and can solve almost any case in under 24 hours. Kelly on the hand is endearingly average, with no background in criminal studies or forensics; her civilians perspective when surveying crimes scene make the readers connect with her almost instantly. Filled with witty repertoire, pop culture references and some pretty serious crime solving this is one of the best mystery series out there today. And it comes at a pretty amazing price; you'd be hard to find a single novel selling for the low price of this entire collection!  While the first book of the series is relatively short, in comparison to the others, it's the perfect introduction to our two favorite characters and sets the stage well for the following books. While equally charming and hilarious, the last two books of the collection definitely take a more serious turn as the crimes turn more serious and the characters are given much more depth. By the end Archangel and Kelly seem real enough to leap off the page. The only thing I'm disappointed in is that there isn't more!  I really hope this author comes out with some more books to add to this series, I'd love to hear more about Archangel and Kelly's lives.
2436189
In cottages around his main house a famous crusty artist, Ranulph Byatt, now in poor health, has attracted a colony of amateur acolytes who cream over him unapologetically.  The painter's work is in decline until a young Irish lad, Declan, comes to work as the old man's helper. Suddenly with a new painting there is hope that the artist will have a creative burst of energy almost equal to his red and purple periods. His covey of admirers, "fawners and flatterers" are excited by this prospect.
 Robert Barnard only occasionally has series detectives; most of his best mysteries are standalones. In this book he recycles his Detective Superintendent Mike Oddie and Detective Constable Charlie Peace for this mystery that takes place in Bronte Country. Barnard is good at painting his setting, the interesting environment, the Britishness of the place, and he sketches his eccentric characters in broad brush strokes. As a storyteller he doesn't miss a beat, keeps the narrative on track, keeps his readers hypnotically absorbed.
 The denouement of the book confounds common sense and made this reader unable to suspend his disbelief. Also there were a few loose ends, missing persons, that were not cleared up at the end of the book. To me at the end the book's plot goes awry and astray, and common sense is jettisoned for the sake of a solution. Barnard can be forgiven for that because he's such a good narrator, and his characters are fun to be with--like stumbling into a party and being made to feel a welcome guest by a nest of oddballs.
 This is a complex book that almost crosses over from the mystery genre to mainstream literary territory. What Barnard has to say in his books about artists is revelatory and based upon a knowledge of various arts. In his "Death on the High C's" he displays more than a passing knowledge of opera. This book is well worth reading.
1392210
This latest offering in the Winemaker series begins in a small village of Bommes, Sauternes, Southwest France, approximately 3 kilometres from the Chateau d'Yquem of the title. An elderly couple lie shot dead in their bed.  Why were they murdered?  It was unlikely to be for money.  "A postal employees pension, combined with the meager savings of a seamstress, was hardly enough to motivate a crime like this."  The couple had been simple folk, according to the Mayor, with few close friends, but no enemies either.

Benjamin Cooker, acclaimed Wine Expert, and author of the esteemed Cooker's Guide, reads of the murder and, his curiosity piqued, decides to attend the funeral, accompanied by his assistant, Virgile Lanssien, who had spent two years in Bommes, at the Viticulture School, before going on to University.

At the funeral, Virgile notices a woman, wrapped in a dark coat, sitting in the first pew, and presumes it to be Cecile, the dead couple's granddaughter.  As the mourners leave the church, however, he becomes convinced the woman is the same mysterious young woman he met on a ferry across the Gironde earlier, but why would she have lied about her identity? Did she have something to do with the murder?

The book follows a meandering tale of lost loves and old friendships before the truth is finally revealed and justice is served.

An engaging story that I enjoyed reading.  You don't need to love French and French wine to enjoy this series of books, or to have read the others in the series, but, if you have not, your appetite for each may be whetted.
1668830
Ican'get enough of Bruno, the police constable have a small Frenchtown in a wine growing area of France! He is sybaritic,  loving his wine and great French food that he cooks for all his many friends. He is a true lover of the sensuous side of life with a strong sense of justice. I recommend that you read Bruno while sipping a glass of red
wine.
2966853
I received this book from my LibraryThing Secret Santa,  who I would like to acknowledge.  Thank you so much for introducing me to a delightful new series set in France's beautiful Dordogne region (which is located east of Bordeaux).  The book is a police procedural mystery set in the present day that introduces us to Bruno the Chief of Police in St. Denis located in Dordogne.  Mr. Walker allows us to make the acquaintance of  a wonderful new protagonist, and he also introduced me to the beautiful region in France where this series is set.  Bruno is one of the most sincere detectives you'll ever read about, and his knowledge of his area and of his people is what helps him the most when trying to solve complex cases.  In this book an elderly man is found murdered in his remote cottage, and he has had a swastika cut into his chest.  Bruno joins forces with a couple of national police forces to try to solve what looks like a racist crime. As a result of Bruno's investigation,  we are taken back to the second world war and to the very active French Resistance movement in the Dordogne region during the latter part of the war.  Bruno delves deeper and deeper into history to try to figure out what happened to this apparently harmless old Algerian man and as he digs, he finds that the crime is much more complicated than it appears.  What a great atmospheric mystery, and I want to pursue this series now that I've been introduced to it.
4427282
This is the third in the Winemakers Detective novel series, featuring Benjamin Cooker. This adventure sees him in Burgundy where, at the beginning of the book, he is given the honour of being named Chevalier du Tastevin by the Knights of this order, who have, as their slogan, Never whine, always wine!
The morning after he receives this honour,  he is, not surprisingly, a little slow but is soon aroused to full capacity when he goes to inspect the graffiti that has appeared overnight in the country town Vougeot, where hes staying. It inspires him since its in Latin, which isn't usual for graffiti. Sadly, the locals think its young vandals, and two of them, the Mancenot brothers, shoot two teenagers whom they believe are responsible. Cooker, appalled by this vigilante justice, isn't convinced theyve got the right person.
An elderly friend of his, Brother Clment, helps Cooker determine what this Latin graffiti is all about. Its a Psalm, and a rather foreboding one at that. Virgile, Cookers young and virile assistant, lends a hand too and the sleuthing begins in earnest.
Like its predecessors, this book is a wonderful combination of entertainment and education. We learn about wines, local folklore, history and, this time, some Latin. Theres suspense, suspicion, desperation, humour, lust and erudition. Benjamin Cooker displays his customary calm, loyalty and tenacity as he gets to grips with this definitely different mystery that faces him.
As you would expect from authors Jean-Pierre Alaux and Nol Blaen, there is some haunting imagery in this tightly-written, enjoyable novel. My favourite passage is: In the distance, the massive silhouette of the Vougeot chteau seemed to be dozing in the middle of a burial ground of vines whose bony limbs and gnarled stumps were packed all the way to the back of the vineyard. A thick sky was brushing against the points of the tower where the crows were performing sinister and mocking spirals.
If that doesnt tempt you to want to read more of this book, then Im not sure what will!
2146099
I love kick-ass police detectives especially when they're women. This book contains a superior specimen of the breed. In addition, there are a host of wonderful characters in this story supporting and enhancing the primary focus of the lead detectives on a really grisly murder investigation. However, it is a serendipitous meeting of a currently suspended detective and her home improvement contractor that sets the scene for love and terror. I most certainly recommend the satisfying battling of wits between the good guys and the really, really bad dude!

Detective Kay Griffith, who has a notoriously short fuse, on occasion pushes her luck over the brink. Even though she has been a top-notch detective for a number of years, that didn't help her avoid suspension when she crossed the line while on duty. On her home front, Kay, as the recipient of a very wealthy uncle's favorable, allowed her to purchase a sweet home setup in a rather classy neighborhood. She also inherited discretionary monies to cover the costs for some specialized home improvements. While cooling her heels during an eight week suspension, she is delightfully surprised at the woman who shows up to complete the home improvement contract and makes her strong attraction known right from the beginning. Hot stuff!

Brenda Jansen works with her dad at Jansen construction. She has recently ended a fairly long relationship with a woman who works in the forensics lab of the same police department for which Kay works. Uh-Oh! Kay is unaware of this relationship when she puts the moves on Brenda after she arrives to do the work for which Kay had contracted. Brenda is also a drummer with a band that performs fairly regularly really close to the pawn shop owned and operated by Kay and her partner Quinn's number one murder suspect. Major uh-oh!! Additionally, the shifts and twists that surround Kay and Brenda on their relationship front were a hoot and a half to observe. Hotter stuff!

I am a long-standing lover of murder mystery yarns and although this one has a plot weakness that was clearly necessary to move things to a higher tension level, I am still giving this an overall thumbs-up since there were quite a few other exceptional elements that tipped the scales in favor of my recommendation. I will leave you to ascertain the moment of plot thinness, if you are so inclined to search. On balance, I adored both Kay and Brenda and the police activities were simply delightful to me across the board. Good stuff!

By the way, I gathered that the title Desperate Measures probably came from the phrase, Desperate times call for desperate measures, which is referenced within the story. The title certainly fit several instances and most assuredly the exciting conclusion!

NOTE: This book was provided by bold Strokes Books for the purpose of a review on <a href="[...]">Rainbow Book Reviews</a>.
186193
After one or two disappointing books (with improbable twists and turns and last-minute revelations that violate all the rules of the crime novel), David Dickinson returns to better form with this mystery, revolving around the 'locked room' murder of a wine merchant at a family wedding. Sitting opposite the dead man is his brother, who refuses to say a word, even though he is found clutching the gun.

An open and shut case -- or is it? Lord Francis Powerscourt is enlisted to help with the investigation, when members of the Colville family believe that Cosmo couldn't have killed his brother. But if so, why is he mute? Powerscourt delves into the family wine business (there are some great recipes for fake vintage wines in here...) and its management in search of a scandal that Cosmo might have wanted to cover up, even at the cost of his own life. This is an intriguing book; I was fascinated to read about the wine snobbery of a century ago, just as the middle classes began consuming wine at great rates in imitation of the aristocracy, and the frenzied competition by firms like the Colvilles to cater to them at the lowest possible price. Could that have cost Randolph Colville his life? Or was it a family scandal involving his wife or his child? Or a former employee? Or... There seem to be more red herrings and blind alleys than there is time for Powerscourt to explore them. The plot comes to a suspenseful climax when Powerscourt -- and Lady Lucy, his wife -- head off to Bordeaux, and then try and race back to London with some answers, just as the trial is about to begin...

Recommended to anyone with a taste for crime dramas that revolve around the investigation; it helps to have read some of the earlier books in the series. This is the ninth book, and it's not quite up to the standards of&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Goodnight-Sweet-Prince/dp/1569475466/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Goodnight Sweet Prince</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Death-of-an-Old-Master/dp/1569475482/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Death of an Old Master</a>, but it's still a good read. One note: Dickinson's writing style can be rather formal, as if partly adopting the style of the era he is writing about. It doesn't detract from a solid plot or interesting characters, at least to me, but it means that those looking for blood and guts and less than gentlemanly conduct vis a vis the opposite sex (and certainly sex scenes) should look elsewhere.
2104495
There were many possible suspects and it kept me reading late into the night and finishing the book in just a few days because I had to know who the killer was! It was a fun and easy read and I very much enjoyed the wine element and setting in Napa Valley. I felt I was learning about the wine making process while reading an entertaining book.

Each chapter is paired with a wine. It is a perfect book club book - setting up wine tastings along with discussions.

The main character, a strong woman, isn't flat or stereotypical. She's bold, smart, and interesting. The locations were described so well that I had great imagery in my head of exactly how the vineyards looked. The writing style is good because the author sets the tone and scene and decribes what you need to know without adding a ton of extra fluff, which I like. However, if you are into the books where authors take 3 pages to poetically describe a hairbrush, then this isn't for you.
4627060
There are a number of fictional detectives that I have tired of over time.  Guido Brunetti is not one of them.  Donna Leon continues to construct plots that are interesting, but more importantly the details of Guido's life, including the food and of course, Venice, add a touch to these stories that maks them a pleasure to read.  Thank you Donna.
4205570
Evan Dawson has a great style to capture the character of the Finger Lakes and the characters who are making it famous now, makes me want to try all the wines mentioned
2677679
A Riesling To Die is the first book in The Wine Trail Mysteries series.

Norrie Ellington, a successful screenwriter, has reluctantly agreed to manage the families winery, when her sister, Francine, tells her that she and her husband Josh are going to research a rare bug in the wilds of Costa Rica.  Norrie has been a silent partner and is somewhat familiar with the day to day operation and has started visiting the workers, many of she knows and is busy meeting the new ones.  As she is talking with the tasting room manager, Cammy, Norrie is approached by a lady wanting to speak with Francine.  After explaining to the lady that Francine is out the country, the lady tells her that she has filed a complaint with the county about their winery setting off cannon fire in the mornings.  Cammy soon explains that the lady, Elsbeth Waters owns the B&B next to the winery and complains about everyone and everything in the Fingers Lake region.  A day or two later as dawn was about to break, Norrie is raised out of her sleep, with pounding on her front door.  She arrived at the door to find two of the field workers telling her there was an emergency in the vineyard.  The workers led her to where a dead body lays and it turns out to be Elsbeth Waters.

Several of the local wineries meet on a regular basis to discuss was is going on in the area and try to help each other with similar problems.  It is at one of these meetings that Norrie finds out that a land developer has been trying to buy up many of the local wineries to form a mega-winery and make it a tourist attraction.

With a great deal of help from Theo and Don, owners of The Grey Egret Winery, she sets out to clear the name of her Two Witches Winery in the death of Waters and hopefully learn who the killer is before any other deaths occur and in addition to put a stop to the land developers from acquiring any vineyards and turning the beautiful Finger Lakes into an amusement park atmosphere.

I found this story to be very entertaining and very well written with just the right amount of discussion about wineries, winemaking, and wines to be informative and not to overshadow the mystery itself.  The story has a very good cast of believable and likable character and will be looking forward to learning more about them in future books.

I will be watching for the next in series to what Norrie will get up to next.
2309117
Dr. Phil D'Amato, NYPD forensic detective is a character who is easy to like. Smart, witty and well connected, he immediately becomes a person who the reader cares about. He is a worthy twenty-first century  heir to my favorite, Sherlock Holmes.
The story is an engrossing mystery that weaves together serial strangulation murders of young college women in Manhattan and mysterious memory gaps triggered by a new antibiotic that seems to attack unknown microorganisms that unify the bicameral human brain.
The reader comes away entertained and educated in such diverse (yet related by the author's erudition) subjects as communication via the channels of the left and right brain, Marshall McLuhan, the essence of art,  the successive (possible) rediscoveries of America by the Phoenicians, Irish (Celtic) monks,  and Vikings, and a popular brand of perfume.
Most of the action occurs in New York City but the West Coast, the Midwest and Europe are included as locales. We learn about the importance of Lindisfarne, where one of my favorite illuminated manuscripts, the Lindisfarne Gospels, originated. We are introduced to the hypothesis that the Phoenicians, on their way to North America, taught the Celts to write.

Each revelation, no matter how esoteric, enriches the weave of the mystery, and draws the reader in deeper. Thus this excellent page turner also triggers awareness of many fascinating areas of communication. There is also a well developed supporting cast including police, academics and a politician or two.
I came away feeling enriched and entertained. The Consciousness Plague is a good read. Buy it.
4693616
If you like wine, animals, or courtroom mysteries, you will enjoy this book. Elizabeth Monnet's debut novel provides fascinating inside information on insider trading and the wine industry.  In addition to the small town and courtroom drama, this charming legal puzzler, set in the quaint town of Sonoma, includes a small cast of humorous animal characters, featuring a feisty Australian sheepdog who intervenes to assist his human defendants when they find themselves caught up in the complicated world of insider trading.  A fun read!
3840500
The main character of this book, Inspector Montalbano, is getting familiar like an old friend.  His personality quirks and love of food only get more entertaining with each book rather than tiresome.  This character carries the book.
Of course, there is a mystery.  Like Terra Cotta Dog, there are actually two mysteries the good inspector solves.  One - a seemingly straightforward murder - is obvious and he solves it almost as an afterthought.  The other - involving government intrigue - is much deeper and difficult to solve.  Camilleri coordinates and intertwines the two story lines marvelously.
The writing is consistently good, the mysteries interesting and you can not help but like Inspector Montalbano.  This is a winning combination.  This is billed as a series of Inspector Montalbano mysteries.  However it is not essential to have read the preceding books.  This book is recommended for an enjoyable mystery romp through Sicily.
4104526
The introduction to this omnibus informs the reader that Dell Shannon is the pseudonym of a prolific writer of historical fiction who chose the androgynous pseudonym not only because of her writing in another genre but because women writers of mysteries were not widely read in the sixties. Funny considering that Agatha Christie is the best-selling mystery author of all time.

These are serial police procedurals that feature Luis Mendoza, a hard-working detective in the LAPD and his equally hard-working team. Unlike other mysteries where the detectives concentrate on one or at most two cases, these detectives have to answer and cope with every call that comes in to the department. Some are immediately solved and some cases are referred to over several books. The anxiety of detectives working several cases with and without leads is very well done. The characterizations are strong in terms of the leads, but less clear with the supporting detectives. The one element I didn't enjoy was the misogyny when it came to female characters, witnesses and suspects. I have read many books published before political correctness and attitudes toward women vary widely, but the misogyny really stuck out here. I came to believe that the writer over-compensated for the fact that she was hoping to be read as a male writer of mysteries and overshot the disdainful attitude toward women.

In Kill with Kindness, Mendoza is recdovering from a bad case of measles and is absent from work. His collegeagues are coping with a nasty serial rapist, among other cases, including a religious confidence game. Mendoza'a housekeeper has brought him a very tricky case of fraud and murder, the investigation of which keeps mendoza from going stir-crazy. The mysteries are good, even though the reader tumbles to the reasons for the fraud before Mendoza does.

Schooled to Kill follows two very nasty child murders and is viscerally affecting. Mendoza also adds an English Sheepdog to his clowder of cats with surprising results. Shannon writes great animal characters and this was one of my favorite parts of this book. The solution to the main mystery is not obvious and this is a very good read.

The writing style is conversational and must have been cutting edge forty years ago when these were written and reads as surprisingly fresh even now. There are a few dated references but they don't detract from the reading experience. For instance, I giggled when one of the detectives had to have his stomach pumped after unknowingly eating the equivalent of a pot brownie. Poor man. The fears of the sixties and the world changing and not for the better are interestingly portrayed, especially from the vantage point of the future. Moderate on-page violence and minimal sex - nudity being the raciest thing referred. I recommend these as a good rediscovery of a lost author.