Published by Le French Book. I received an ebook off Netgalley in exchange for a review.

This is number 6 in The Winemaker Detective series, and it's working out to be a long hot summer. Benjamin is on edge, his daughter is over from the US, and has started hanging around with Antoine Rinetti, the new estate manager for Château Gayroud-Valrose. After Margaux and Rinetti are injured in a car crash - the latter fatally - further digging by Benjamin and Inspector Barbaroux shows that Rinetti was a money man who had made himself indispensable to the Mob, and has to lie low. He has made no friends, having made many people on the Château out of work, resulting in at least one person committing suicide. It puts a different light on the crash, which was caused by tampered brake lines, and puts the focus on Rinetti rather than Benjamin as a target.

Meanwhile Benjamin and Virgile are making site visits to vineyards as consultants due to the weather, and (based on a badly spelt tip off) visit the Château and find a badly ill illegal worker on site. This allows for the authorities to go on site and it is a mix of investigations by the police, and luck on Benjamin's side, that they work out who the killer is.

As a side story, Benjamin has taken the usual annual holiday home with his wife Elizabeth and several friends. Whilst the previous book focussed more on Virgile, this allows us to see a different side of the detective - his family and friends are more visible, we get to see Elizabeth more, and this is the first time we've met Margaux. Crocker is still (over) protective of his "little" girl and is torn when she makes friends with Virgile after her accident - he's a bit of a womaniser, but he makes her laugh and pulls her out of her depression. Of course there are now the mandatory epic meals, with matching wines, to be savoured over.

A good addition to the series, and satisfying to see the characters are becoming more rounded as the series moves on.

Perhaps only 2.5* - it was a pleasant read but more for the family dynamics than the mystery. ( )

It's a hot summer in Bordeaux and the vineyards are suffering because of the lack of rain. Vine expert Benjamin Cooker's daughter Margaux is visiting and one night she and Antoine Rinetti, a guy she just met that works in a vineyard, is involved in a car accident. But the police soon discover that it was not an accident and Benjamin Cooker and his assistant Virgile begin to snoop around to find why someone would sabotage Rinetti's car.

This is the second book I have read in the "A Winemaker Detective Mystery series," the first book I read was Cognac Conspiracies and I enjoyed this one a bit more than the last one. For instance I found the story in this book much better than the last and even though there was not that many suspect to choose from just last the last book I read was it an enjoyable read. I think this series is quite nice to read when you need a break from more darker books, for instance a perfect beach book or why not in the evening on the terrace with a glass of wine.

One part of the book that I really enjoyed was the meeting between Virgile and Margaux. I was not sure if they had met before since I haven't read the first books in the series. But they hadn't met before and it was quite funny to read how uncomfortable Benjamin got when his hot and charming assistant met his young daughter. Even though they just seemed to be friendly (for now) was Benjamin a bit, how should I put it, fatherly when it came to Margaux. He likes Virgile, but damn it, he is a bit of a ladies' man. So, I will with great interests look forward to future meetings between Margaux and Virgile.

I received a copy from the publisher and france book tours in return for an honest review!

Review also posted on And Now for Something Completely Different and It's a Mad Mad World
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This is the 6th book in The Winemaker Detective Series, and although I haven't read the previous 5 books, this worked just fine as a stand alone story. The story takes place in Margaux, France, and the mystery surrounds the daughter of the Winemaker Detective himself, Margaux Cooker. Her father, Benjamin, is a winemaker (no surprise there), and apparently helps the local police out from time to time. This time his daughter is involved in a car accident that kills the driver of the car, but when it turns out to be less accident and more murder, Benjamin is determined to solve the mystery before any further harm comes to Margaux. His assistant, Virgile, is also here to assist in this investigation.

I enjoyed this book, but felt it was less of a cozy mystery and more of a book describing the beautiful scenery of the region, its delicious foods, and, of course, its fine wines. I didn't have a problem with that, per se, and found it to be very descriptive, indeed, but I would have liked a bit more mystery included. The characters were well written and the pacing was good, which made it a quick read.

4/5 stars. ( )

Perhaps only 2.5* - it was a pleasant read but more for the family dynamics than the mystery. ( )