In the pre, World War II innocence of small-town America, a dapper off-Islander impresses the locals. Drawn to the prettiest girl, he is upset when an elderly woman tries to break off their romance. In a drunken stupor he murders the troublesome woman. Through an amazing confluence of circumstances, he avoids prosecution. The reclusive, paranoid teacher of the victim attracts the attention of a distracted district attorney who is eager for a sensational trial to promote himself in an impending election. The teacher is arrested and charged with the murder. The looming shadows of war on the international stage capture the people of Martha's Vineyard, and the local murder fades into the murky memoirs of history.

Red Like Wine, The North Fork Harbor Vineyard Murders, is a sometimes comical, always intriguing mystery fermenting in quaint North Fork Harbor on eastern Long Island, NY - an area transitioning from farming-and-fishing village to wine-based, tourist destination. But as city crime writer Vin Gusto and his former girlfriend, photographer Shanin Blanc discover, more than wine is being made at the vineyard. When a renown but reclusive winemaker turns up dead in a vat of his own juice, Vin and Shanin try to solve the crime and repair their relationship and careers amid the murders and mayhem.

The death of a former presidential candidate in a fiery car crash at her Virginia vineyard has ties to a thirty year-old murder, as well as to Lucie Montgomery’s own near fatal accident ten years ago, as she searches for a killer who now may be stalking her. When Jamison Vaughn—billionaire real estate mogul, Virginia vineyard owner, and unsuccessful U.S. presidential candidate—drives his gold SUV into a stone pillar at the entrance to Montgomery Estate Vineyard, Lucie Montgomery is certain the crash was deliberate. But everyone else in Atoka, Virginia is equally sure that Jamie must have lost control of his car on a rain-slicked country road. In spite of being saddled with massive campaign debts from the recent election, Jamie is seemingly the man with the perfect life. What possible reason could he have for committing suicide . . . or was it murder? Before long Lucie uncovers a connection between Jamie and some of his old friends—an elite group of academics—and the brutal murder thirty years ago of a brilliant PhD student. Although a handyman is on death row for the crime, Lucie soon suspects someone else is guilty. But the investigation into the two deaths throws Lucie a curve ball when someone from her own past becomes involved, forcing her to confront old demons. Now the race to solve the mystery behind the two deaths becomes intensely personal as Lucie realizes someone wants her silenced . . . for good. The Vineyard Victims is a nominee for the 2018 Mary Higgins Clark Award.

Noted California historian rips the oh-so-laid-back label off the California wine trade to show the violent and obsessive world underneath

When her French chef boyfriend inherits an ancient vineyard in Provence, Maggie Newberry leaves Atlanta for the tiny village of St-Buvard and the rich tastes, smells and sights of French country life. But murder has gone long before them and follows close behind.

Raymond Chandler called it “The Simple Art of Murder, ” but It never has been simple to write mysteries. This volume explores the crimes in novels that are rooted in the worlds of art, architecture, and antiquities.

A guide to series fiction lists popular series, identifies novels by character, and offers guidance on the order in which to read unnumbered series.