Terroir: A Morgan Kendall Wine Country Mystery

Right from the start, Morgan knew it was a bad idea. No sleuth should be investigating his own family-or the family of an untrustworthy ex-spouse! Talk about conflicts of interest! And Kit used to be a good, ethically inclined cop too. But when Indie, Kit’s former wife, nags him into finding out who’s been trying to kill her Uncle Jules, Kit can’t say No. And Morgan can’t say No either, when he proposes she come along. It might be the only way to keep her friend out of the clutches of his ex-spouse.Indie’s Uncle Jules is the renown Jules Romano, owner and aging patriarch of the Buckthorn Estate, a successful family winery nestled since the early Thirties into a hidden valley in northern California. Rumor has it Jules is changing his will. And now the whole extended family is coming to Buckthorn to celebrate Jules’ 80th birthday-and to hear him announce what he has gone and done. That’s the plan at least. But what if those recent threats turn into reality? So grab yourself a glass of wine and prepare for a romp in Wine Country with Morgan and Kit. You’ll laugh at the antics Kit’s former family gets up to, and you’ll gasp as Morgan discovers chaos brewing in Buckthorn’s wine caves. Who knew a winery could hold so many motives for murder! Or that fraud could so mingle with farce that people tend to disappear like rabbits into a hat. Will Morgan or Kit be able to avoid the deadly family rivalries? Will they be able to save Uncle Jules?Linda Howe Steiger is a writer living in Oakland CA. She teaches memoir writing and is the author of Fog, the first Morgan Kendall mystery.