This is the 3rd Installment of The Wine Lover's Mystery SeriesStarted: 2/18/2008
Ended: 3/26/2008
Synopsis:
As the Vineyard Manager at Malveaux Estates, Nikki Sands knows a lot about wine pairings, but she has a harder time making matches in her own life. Is it finally time to give up her crush on her boss, Derek Malveaux, and commit to winemaker Andres? With big changes afoot at the Estates, Nikki's days of wine and roses may be over sooner than she thinks...
Malveaux Estates has added a boutique hotel and spa to its beautiful grounds, and everyone in Napa is abuzz about the hotel's restaurant, Georges on the Vineyard. Its opening has been delayed a bit by the quirks of star chef Georges Debussey, better known for his cuisine than his couth. When Georges doesn't return to the kitchen after a relaxing Syrah bath splash at the spa on opening night, Nikki figures the bubbles must have gone to his head. But instead of bubbles, it was a bullet-leaving Nikki to wonder what kind of wine can be paired with murder...
Story takes place in June and several months have past since the last book.
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Characters:
Nikki Sands: Manager of the Malveaux Estate and Derek's assistant; 36 y/o; raised by her Aunt Cara who retired recently from the LAPD and is now touring Europe; suspects her Aunt is seeing a man over there since her trip has become an indefinite stay; referred to as "Goldilocks" by Simon & Marco even though she has grown her hair out long and dyed a medium brown; dating Andres for the last 3 months but not fucking (3 month rule and counting); still attracted to Derek and thus torn between two different men; after learning that Andres wants her to accompany him to Spain, she becomes pissed off that Andres & Derek even discussed her possible travels without her; especially pissed that Derek agreed to let her go so easily as if he did not depend or need her at the estate; after her cottage is set on fire and she barely escapes, Nikki takes a room at the hotel until her cottage is rebuilt; the fire marshall concluded that someone deliberately started the fire that burned her cottage and all her stuff down
Andres Fernandez: Local winemaker @ Spaniards' Crest Estate; edgy good looks with dark eyes; knows how to make Nikki laugh; has a very close relationship with his sister, Isabel; from Spain but educated in Argentina; passionate and straightforward; dating Nikki for the last 3 months but getting no kitty; wants to start another winery over in Spain and wants Nikki to come with him for several months; also wants to settle down and start a family; heads for Spain but leaves a plane ticket for Nikki to come and join him
Georges Debussey: DEAD: Vineyard's chef at Georges on The Vine restaurant; working on a 3rd cookbook (Georges at The Vineyard Cookbook) with Derek and Nikki; eccentric with a temper; French and speaks with a heavy accent; over 50 years old with a salt-and-pepper ponytail and large diamond stud earring; has another restaurant in San Francisco; found shot to death in his locked spa room taking a Syrah splash soak
Simon Malveaux: Derek's gay half-brother; newly platinum spiked hair with sea-green eyes; quick-tempered and sometimes annoying; after a recent trip to a guru at a spa in Sedona, both himself and his boyfriend, Marco, are trying to be less materialistic and more spiritual; runs the spa which has been open for a little over a month; the spa has 10 treatment rooms and a locker room; has become good friends with Nikki; revealed that he has nudophobia-the fear of looking at naked bodies (one of the most fucked up things I have ever heard of, especially for a gay man) Marco Contiello: Simon's boyfriend; thick Italian accent; olive skin with dark eyes; sarcastic sense of humor; accompanied Simon to a spa which changed his outlook on life; oversees the hotel's operations which also has been open for a little over a month; the hotel has 30 rooms and children are not allowed; has become good friends with Nikki, who trusts Marco more than she does Simon in talking about her private affairs since he is more trustworthy and discreet than his partner (Simon tends to blab); revealed that he has nudophobia as well (again-just fucking stupid!)
Bridgette: Sous Chef at Georges on the Vineyard; young with dark eyes
Baron O'Grady: Georges' business partner; Irish and speaks in a heavy brogue; round-shouldered with green eyes and black hair; has a noticeable beer-gut; after Georges has been found murdered, he does not want to stay in the U.S. but move back to Ireland; tells Nikki that even though Georges was his best friend, Georges was not always honest and did some things that he did not approve of; revealed that Baron had a $5 million life insurance policy on Georges-but stated that Georges was fully aware of it; guilt-ridden about fucking a married woman (Lauren Trump); would go to church to confess his sins
Janie Creswell: Assistant to Georges; ~20 y/o; petite and pretty with long blonde hair and huge blue eyes; has freckles dotting her nose; recently married to Trevor; revealed she is Georges' daughter; after her mother's death and the revelation who her father was, she went to go live with Georges, who put her up in the guesthouse; believes that Georges' ex-wife will try and frame her for his death-especially since she helped put her in jail with her testimony; stayed temporarily with Nikki until her cottage was burned down; then took a room at the hotel with her husband who came rushing into town
Trevor: Janie's husband of a month; student in law school in San Francisco; clerks for a firm there; plain looking; slightly taller than Janie; soft blue eyes and light brown hair; due to his finals and thesis work, he quit the firm but was working on his resume for another job; revealed to have been in cahoots with his father (Georges' attorney-Leonard Kingston); after his father found out that Georges had a heir (Janie), Trevor pursued Janie and eventually got her to marry him; once they were married he killed Georges, knowing that all the inheritance would go to his long-lost daughter, Janie; also revealed that he is a firebug and set fire to his house when he was young, killing his mother; set fire to Georges' guesthouse, framing Bernadette and also set fire to Nikki's cottage, trying to get rid of evidence of who is real father was (Janie had borrowed his suitcase that had a picture of Kingston in a side pocket); not revealed if he or his father was the one who killed Moran
Lauren Trump: Marketing director/publicist of Georges' restaurants; ~ 50 y/o; attractive and tanned with silvered hair-cropped short in a pixie style; Nikki suspects she has had some cosmetic surgery since she virtually has no wrinkles on her face; revealed she had an appointment for a spa treatment the same day Georges was murdered but cancelled last minute; in the process of getting a divorce to Anthony Tortelli, defense attorney to the Cordova family (Mafia); getting plastered during a lunch meeting, confesses to Nikki that she was fucking both Georges and Baron (each not knowing about the other one)
Renee Rothschild: Georges' editor at Rothschild Publishing (her father is the Publisher); gorgeous with sea green eyes and caramel-colored long hair; flawless beige skin and dressed expensively; late 20's; drives a silver blue convertible Beemer; Nikki picks up on the chemistry and attraction between Derek & Renee; Nikki hates the bitch now!; pressures Nikki to write a book about the winery, hotel & spa; likes and is aggressively pursuing Derek
Scott Nielsen (aka Scotty): Renee's assistant; moonlights as a female impersonator; gay
Rick Moran:DEAD: Georges' accountant & financial advisor; slight man with sand-colored hair; wears wire-rimmed glasses; has a nerdy appearance; before he was murdered, Georges made a comment to Nikki that he was going to fire Rick because of some deals that went bad; drives a white Lexus coupe; Nikki follows him to the SF International Airport where she witnesses him checking in a suitcase at the airport travel agency for storage; using her female charms, she is able to manipulate the desk attendant into letting her look inside the suitcase, claiming she is Moran's wife-inside she discovers stacks of hundred dollar bills; Nikki spies him in cahoots with Bloomenfeld at a strip club; after being tipped off that he was taking off to Mexico he suddenly disappears only to be found floating dead in the bay; either Trevor or his father Leonard killed him
Jonah Robinson: Detective of the Santa Rosa Sheriff's Department;mulatto; 6'0-all muscle and nice ass; around 40 y/o; jade colored eyes; has well developed street smarts due to patrolling the streets of Houston,TX; told Nikki he was aware of her sleuthing past and warned her to stay out of his investigation; in the end he warms up to Nikki for helping out in solving the case
Charlotte: Therapist at the Spa; had run Georges Syrah bath, but had left early for a prior commitment; also works at Auberge de Soleil Spa in St. Helena; quits the Malveaux Spa because of the murder; tall and resembles Angelina Jolie; after Nikki questions her, she determines that Charlotte had nothing to do with the murder
Isabel Fernandez: Away in New York City to be honored by Dining Magazine as one of the best upcoming chefs; Andres is watching over her restaurant, Grapes, while she is out of town; dating (long-distance) another chef in Vegas
Bernadette Debussey (aka Bernie): Georges ex-wife; currently in prison (Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla) for property destruction and arson; a lot younger than Georges, (30 y/0), in fact she was only 5 years older than Janie; became extremely jealous of Janie & Georges' relationship (unknown that they were daughter-father, she thought they were fucking); went ballistic and destroyed Janie's stuff, setting the guesthouse on fire; close to her brother that is rumored to be involved in a gang; curly brown hair with brown, almond-shaped eyes; Nikki goes and visits her in jail where she learns the following: 1.was setup for the arson of the guesthouse 2. Janie was always trying to seduce Georges 3. Janie was not innocent and was very manipulative 3. Was using Trevor and did not care about him; turns out she was only right about the first one; most likely will be released from jail
Stacey Redmond: Interior decorator; Nikki had noticed her crying at work one day because Georges was yelling at her; since his death, Nikki had wanted to question Stacey so she invited her to lunch under the false pretense that she wanted to discuss interior designing; hazel eyes with shoulder-length blonde hair; 3 months pregnant with 2nd child; has a young son named Jacob; married to Damon, who just opened up his own architect firm; they had been trying to get pregnant but have had several miscarriages; begs Nikki to not mention to the police her rocky relationship with Georges' as it may cause her and her family stress that could endanger her unborn child
Monica: Charlotte's roommate; young with red hair pulled back in a long ponytail; teaches classes at the local gym
Henry Bloomenfeld: Georges' Literary Agent; short, skinny & pale with curly hair; fiftyish with a uni brow; wears designer clothes; slimeball; reacted that he was unaware that Georges was murdered; Nikki follows him into a strip joint (The Busy Beaver) where he meets with Rick Moran; Nikki breaks into his office and discovers a letter from Georges that had fired Bloomenfeld six months prior for being unethical and for stealing money from him-letter also goes on threatening to sue him; Nikki believes this to be a good motive for murder; caught trying to leave the country with thousands of dollars
Alyssa: Stripper at the Busy Beaver; also a student, taking classes at night; pretty with dark hair; ~22 y/o; has a two year old son (Peter) with a heart condition and no insurance-strips to support son and get herself through school to get a better job; bonds with Nikki and wants to help her with her investigation of Bloomenfeld and Moran, because both hang out at the Busy Beaver; interested in criminology; later on overhears Bloomenfeld and Moran talking about heading to Mexico with a lot of money-tells Nikki who is able to get the police to stop them from leaving the country(however Moran never showed and was presumed missing); quit stripping and got a job as a secretary for a private investigator; Nikki also promised her that she would get her a job as a taster at the winery
Leonard Kingston: Georges' attorney; has blue eyes with thinning grey hair; married with one son; Nikki and Simon visit him under the guise of Renee and Scotty to get information about Georges heir and how much money they would inherit; they learn that Janie is indeed Georges' heir and that Georges was worth about $20 million;
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After the mystery has been solved.....Derek tells Nikki that he is leaving for Australia the next day with Renee and will be gone for a couple of weeks; he is looking to partner up and expand Malveaux Estate to an Australia winery.
The book concludes with Nikki in her hotel room reading a letter from Andres wanting her to come join him in Spain when Nikki notices she has a message on her phone; the message is from Derek, professing his love for her; Derek tells her that he did not bring Renee and wants her to come to Australia to work out their relationship; Nikki grabs her purse and races to the airport, but which cock is she hungry for? To Be Continued.....
My Review: Overall, I enjoyed this third installment, although much has not improved since the first book. I really dug the addition of the restaurant, hotel and spa to the Malveaux Estate, which gives the series lots more to play with for upcoming plotlines. But I had really hoped this series would be better (writing, plot), but it seems to be staying stagnant ( it's good, but not great). I have become fond of the characters but with some exceptions. First off why is nobody fucking in these books! Here Nikki is torn between 2 hot men and has not done shit with either one of them. No fucking, not even a hand-job? We are past sexual tension now-these people need to get laid. Then you have two gays guys and again-no fucking! And this ridiculous notion that they have "nudophobia". There is no such thing. What was the point of this. I'm sorry, but this no fucking thing is just not realistic to me. Besides some areas of very poor writing (cringe worthy), I enjoyed this book for what it is. It's a lite read with fun charcaters. Ms. Scott does a masterful job with the setting and atmosphere in these books. She makes you want to be a part of the wonderful Malveaux Estate and hang out with Nikki Sands and the gang. And yes I will read the next installment-I have to find out who Nikki picked and most importantly who she fucks!
Book Score: 8/10
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