While this isn't the first murder mystery set in a vineyard, it is first in a Wine Country Mystery series. Syrah or Shiraz is a rich dark wine. Let's see what ill deeds could possibly occur in A CASE OF SYRAH, SYRAH.

Due to her aunt's ill health Taylor O'Brian moved from San Francisco to Sonoma, California to help her manage the small boutique vineyard. A wine manager, Juan Martinez, actually runs the winery so now Taylor gives the tours. Taylor enjoys the life but she'd love her own business, so she's starting to giving wine country tours. While California has undergone a drought, grapevines use less water than fruit trees and can be drip irrigated, she explains to her clients as they sip the zinfandel and syrah wines. One client, Dan Scott, annoyingly tries to sign her up for a course on running a business. Not long after, Dan's wife, a yoga teacher named Laura, falls partway down a cliff. What a terrible start to Taylor's venture.

Despite good first aid, Laura doesn't make it, and alarmingly a corkscrew is found to have injured her. The wine tour becomes a crime scene. From then on the amateur sleuth tale takes precedence, with Taylor being advised to get a lawyer and everyone's alibis needing to be checked. I like that a wide variety of locals are introduced, including artists and those working with the less well off, while the circle of possible suspects is widened by the fact that tour members had been tweeting their locations.

Threats range from legal ones to invasion of privacy, identity theft and flung rocks. Distinctively the central character actually gets charged with causing the death -- making her desperate to find the real killer. Do we care about Taylor? Yes, she left a career to help her aunt and wants to be independent, while caring for a cat and adopting an abandoned pup. She talks the same way to everyone, regardless of means. Taylor, still in her twenties, is helpful and keen, mature in some ways but with a lot to learn in others. She likes looking at handsome men but doesn't drool over them. I cared about her resolution of the issue and will enjoy reading more of her adventures.

I did find the telling a bit repetitive as Taylor goes over the story with police or friends. At the end we are shown some food and wine pairings, rich tastes like lamb, chocolate and cheese for the red wine. Nancy J. Parrah has previously written several mysteries and her expertise shows in the careful construction of A CASE OF SYRAH, SYRAH. Cheers! Pour me another one.