A phone call at two thirty in the morning is never good
news. Lucie Montgomery's semiestranged brother, Eli, calls
her in France to tell her their father, Leland, has been
killed in a hunting accident on the family's five-hundred-
acre Virginia vineyard just as the fall harvest is about
to begin. By the time he calls, Eli has already made
funeral arrangements with what Lucie argues is indecent
haste.
It is an emotional trip home -- the first since an
automobile accident two years ago, which left Lucie
disabled and dependent on a cane. Her family's once
elegant home and winery are now shabby and run-down,
thanks to her father's penchant for fringy business deals.
Eli, also cash-strapped and desperate to support his new
wife's extravagant lifestyle, has already convinced their
rebellious younger sister, Mia, to sell the debt-ridden
estate and reap the profits from the valuable land it sits
on, overruling Lucie's protests. On the eve of the funeral Lucie's godfather, Fitz, a
partner in the family business, tells her Leland's death
was no accident. Whoever killed him was motivated by the
potential sale of the vineyard. It is the last
conversation she will have with Fitz. Now the lone holdout
preventing the vineyard sale, Lucie realizes she's next in
line for another "accident." With her greedy brother, hell-
raising sister, and a seemingly cut-rate vintner hired by
Leland just before he died, all the suspects are
disturbingly close to home. Unsure whom she can trust,
Lucie must uncover the truth about the deaths of her
father and godfather -- and oversee a successful harvest
to save the vineyard she loves.
Start Reading THE MERLOT MURDERS Now
Wine Country Mystery
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