"As the manager of Vino y Vida Wine Bar in Colinas, Cecelia "Cece" Barton's first Alexander Valley harvest is a whirlwind of activity. Her twin sister, Allie Halstead, who owns a nearby Victorian bed & breakfast, is accustomed to the hustle and bustle of peak tourist season. But Cece barely has a moment to enjoy her new home in between worrying about her estranged college-age daughter, juggling her responsibilities at the bar, and navigating the sticky politics of the local wine association. Just when it seems things can't ...
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"As the manager of Vino y Vida Wine Bar in Colinas, Cecelia "Cece" Barton's first Alexander Valley harvest is a whirlwind of activity. Her twin sister, Allie Halstead, who owns a nearby Victorian bed & breakfast, is accustomed to the hustle and bustle of peak tourist season. But Cece barely has a moment to enjoy her new home in between worrying about her estranged college-age daughter, juggling her responsibilities at the bar, and navigating the sticky politics of the local wine association. Just when it seems things can't grow any more intense, Colinas is rocked by a murder within the wine community ... and Cece is identified as a possible suspect! With her reputation and her livelihood on the line--and the Sonoma County deputy sheriff breathing down her neck--Cece has no choice but to open up her own murder investigation. Tensions are already high in the valley, as a massive wildfire creeps toward Colinas, threatening homes, vineyards, and the vital tourist trade. And now, with a murderer on the loose, and Cece's sleuthing exposing the valley's bitterest old rivalries and secret new alliances, Colinas feels ready to pop! But with Allie's help, Cece is determined to catch the killer and clear her name before everything she's worked so hard for goes up in flames."--Provided by publisher.
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Add this copy of Murder Uncorked (a Cece Barton Mystery) to cart. $2.53, good condition, Sold by Dream Books Co. rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Denver, CO, UNITED STATES, published 2023 by Kensington Cozies.
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Add this copy of Murder Uncorked (a Cece Barton Mystery) to cart. $2.53, good condition, Sold by Goodwill of Greater Milwaukee rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milwaukee, WI, UNITED STATES, published 2023 by Kensington Cozies.
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Murder Uncorked by Maddie Day was a struggle for me to read. The biggest problem is the unlikeable Cece Barton. Cece lacks confidence in herself, which we get to hear about often. She tends to blather on about her food choices (I could care less) and other mundane subjects. We also get to hear how Cece is estranged from her college aged daughter, her twin sister�s busy life, and Cece�s new job. This information allows us to get to know the character, but I do not feel the details need to be repeated (repetition is a big problem in this book). The characters lack development. When Cece reaches out to her daughter during the case (a bid for sympathy), the situation feels contrived. The scene had me rolling my eyes. The mystery is simple. It is silly that Cece sees herself as a suspect and feels the need to clear her name. There is a small suspect pool. The killer can easily be identified (did everything but hire a skywriter). Cece goes over the clues and suspect list repeatedly. She withholds information from the police. I know that is common for amateur sleuths in cozy mysteries, but I feel that when your life is endangered, it is time to talk to the cops. I found it annoying the number of times that Cece would put off looking up or doing something to aid the case (once or twice maybe, but multiple times). Quilt stalling and solve the case already (of course, I already knew who did it but I wanted confirmation). The pacing is slow (which made the book feel long). The character�s dialogue tended to meander (I would reread a conversation trying to figure it out). I did not appreciate the author using the book as a platform for her politics. I read books to escape reality, not to be preached to. While Murder Uncorked is technically the first book A Cece Barton Mysteries, we are introduced to Cece in Murderous Mittens which is one of the books in Christmas Mittens Murder. The mystery from Murderous Mittens is mentioned more than once in Murder Uncorked. This book felt like something a newbie writer would produce instead of an established author like Edith Maxwell. I will not be continuing with this series. As you can tell, A Cece Barton Mysteries is not for me (I do suggest you download a sample to judge it for yourself).
Lori
Oct 28, 2023
A Grand Start for this Series
Dollycas's Thoughts
Cece Barton was originally introduced in a novella as part of Christmas Mitten Murder.
Cece Barton is a widowed single mom. With her daughter away at college and their relationship struggling Cece has moved north to Colinas where her twin sister Allie Halstead owns a Bed and Breakfast. She is now the manager of Vino y Vida Wine Bar and is learning the politics regarding the local wine association. She is also experiencing her first Alexander Valley harvest and all it entails. The tourists are now flocking to the area too and a wildfire is getting closer and closer to Colinas.
When Vincent Sardo who works for the VVA, a regional group of vineyard owners, is murdered Cece finds herself at the top of the list of suspects because of a few terse emails and phone calls. New to the area Cece is going to need her sister's help to clear her name and catch the killer before she is forced to take up residence behind bars where they don't serve any wine.
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We enter Cece Barton's life at an interesting time. She is trying to move on after her husband's death while her daughter is still dealing with her own grief and is not ready for her mother to make changes. Their relationship is a struggle. Cece is very close to her sister and is happy to have her nearby. She starts out a little less confident being new in town and being a murder suspect doesn't help but she gets stronger as the story continues. I enjoy the relationship she has with her sister and the relationship that is growing with her elderly neighbor, Richard. The relationship with her daughter is conflicted but is a work in progress. Ms. Day always creates characters that feel very true to life and leaves room for them to grow as the series continues. That again, is the case here in the first book of the Cece Barton Mysteries. I am invested and want to get to know them all better.
The victim in this story had made plenty of enemies and was just very unlikable so I had no problem with his death. The author plotted out this mystery so well with some admirable twists. One clue stuck in my head though that helped others fall into place faster for me than they did for Cece. That didn't take away from my excitement of the reveal and the showdown. The only thing that I wish Cece would have done differently would have been to trust the police more and report crucial events and pertinent information.
I do love the wine bar theme and the town of Colinas and all its happenings. The author always does an excellent job of setting the scene making it easy to visualize everything.
Murder Uncorked has set this series off to a grand start. While the murder mystery is wrapped up Cece's life in Colinas is just getting started. I am excited to see what Ms. Day has planned for her next.
