DEATH AND WINE

In Breen’s murder mystery, one of the critics selected for a wine-tasting event turns up dead.

Wisconsin wine critic Ambrose Hauser, who is working on his latest book, has invited fellow critics to taste and rate wines over the course of several days. Cy and Liz Bartholomew arrive for the event and check into a B&B. Liz—a former librarian and a part-time sommelier just getting started in this industry—is also legally blind, and needs her semi-retired locksmith husband, Cy, to help judge the wines’ colors. (It’s all fairly dull for Cy, who isn’t allowed to taste or even smell any of the wine.) Everyone is shocked when, during a boat outing and evening swim, one critic suddenly disappears. The police later recover the body and confirm the death is a homicide (“Someone slit her throat with a knife”). As the wine tasting continues, it becomes apparent that someone involved in the event is a killer. Cy and Liz sniff around and put together a hefty list of suspects with motives and/or opportunities to commit the crime. Breen organically integrates his amateur sleuths into the investigation—Cy is friends with a detective, and the cops request his skills to open locks. The dual leads are multilayered—Liz can function just fine with her disability, especially in daylight; Cy, an erstwhile longtime partner at a private security company, checks their B&B room for cameras and listening devices mostly out of habit. They join a wonderful array of supporting characters, from the noticeably anxious Missy LeBrun to the uninhibited Carpenter Dalbesio, who spends much of her time filming for social media. Cy, who narrates, doesn’t dwell too long on the wine tastings as he and Liz mull over who among them is a murderer. The mystery is refreshingly simple yet convincing, granted verisimilitude by Cy’s meticulous and hyper-observant examinations of the crime scene(s).

A laudable whodunit featuring a sleuthing couple with series potential.