Book Description

If you've been to the beautiful Napa Valley, the title alone will draw you into this entertaining mystery. The Wine Train is a favorite trip for locals and visitors alike. With lunch or dinner parties that run almost daily, a delightful addition to any tour of the area. The unique event in this story is different, and it's the inaugural trip to honor and unveil several new and exciting wines grown in the valley. Tickets to the special event sold out early. This train trip is all about tasting the new flavors, along with delightful food. At least until a bar helper found a body; the victim was a very unkind and disliked restaurant and wine critic, David Hatchett. The suspect list jumps to include 230 people on the train. A murder has a way of changing a person's mood. Which brings us to our featured character, Hank Carson. On board to write a freelance article about the event. He asks a few questions for his article before a steward tells Charles Beaumont, the promoter, there's a body in the wine cooler. Fortunately for the investigators, Hank, a retired LA police detective, assumed the role to protect the scene of the crime. Hank offered to take part in the investigation, in the search for a killer, and his attraction to Alicia Tomlinson, the lead Agent in charge. Interviewing a trainload of suspects was a time-consuming and confusing activity. As they check and cross check alibis to eliminate suspects, what they find narrows the field but increases the mystery. Later they learn a passenger went missing before the passenger interviews. If you enjoy good police procedural stories, you'll enjoy this book. An all-around entertaining read. If you know the wine train, you will enjoy the setting. It is fast and fun, with likable characters. A good start to the new series from Bruce Alan Jensen. If you like your mysteries spiced with romance, you'll love this one.