", charming and intense amateur sleuth mystery"

After Fair cheated on Mary "Harry" Minor they separated as she nursed her anger and hurt for years. Fair spent years trying to reconcile with Harry and after a few years his perseverance finally paid off. They remarried in a church with all their close friends as witnesses including their pets Mrs. Murphy, Pewter and Tucker. Many of the residents, including Harry are growing grapes so that they can make wine from them.

Professor Vincent Farland lectures on how bioterrorism can be used to destroy crops. He once taught two vintners in the area; Toby Pittman, an unstable person, who thinks people are out to destroy Rockland Vineyards, and Arch Saunders who become the partner of Rollie Barnes, the owner of Spring Hill Vineyard. Arch had an affair with Harry when she divorced Fair and he wants her back. Professor Farland disappears and the police think foul play is involved. Toby calls Fair to look at his donkey's cut on his hind leg, but he finds him murdered, by a gunshot. When the professor is found buried on Harry and Fair's land, suspicion falls on him. Harry thinks the two murders are linked and the same person who killed them is responsible for the deadly insects planted on their land. When a third vintner is killed, Harry struggles to put the pieces together even if it means exposing herself to danger.

Once again Rita Mae Brown and her collaboration with Sneaky Pie Brown has written a delightful, charming and intense amateur sleuth mystery. Part of the charm of this series is that the animals can communicate with each other across species lines and their conversations and actions win the hearts of the audience. Now that Harry and Fair are married the love they feel for one another is obvious and adds to the tale. Ms Brown has written another enthralling mystery that makes her readers feel enchanted with her storyline.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted June 18, 2006