About the Book
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Corporate attorney Nollaig (Noli) Cooper, age 34, is tough, single, and ready to change her life.
When a family birthday brings her back to her childhood home in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Peter and Tina Hanak, her adoptive parents, propose that she stay and live at their zinfandel winery. But her first day back, the body of her childhood mentor, crusading attorney John (Fitz) Fitzgerald, is discovered in a rocky ocean cove, pecked by seagulls. The sheriff insists it was suicide. Noli knows better. She teams up with Fitz’s PI, Luz Alvarado, daughter of Mexican farmworkers, to find his killer.
Noli learns the Hanaks’ winery has been sabotaged and their lives threatened. As threats escalate, Peter Hanak is framed for murder. To defend him, Noli digs through evidence from wildly diverse the ambitions of a 19th Century robber-baron, the oral history of an early winemaker, and research on zinfandel genetics. Meanwhile, Luz risks her life to expose a dot-com mogul who will stop at nothing to acquire the Hanaks’ property. Webs of greed, hatred and revenge are at last untangled when Peter reveals a painful secret he has carried since the Vietnam war. Ultimately Luz puts everything on the line to halt the escape of Fitz’s murderer, and Noli must plunge through a wall of fire to find the answers.
My Review
Life hasn’t been easy for Nollaig “Noli” Cooper. When she’s invited to her hometown in the Santa Cruz Mountains for a birthday party, she’s excited to go back. She can’t wait to see her adoptive parents - Peter and Tina - as well as her mentor, John “Fitz” Fitzgerald. She is stunned when she arrives home only to learn that Fitz committed suicide. Noli doesn’t buy it. She teams up with Fitz’s private investigator, Luz, to find out the truth.
As their investigation gets deeper, they find some disturbing things have been going on with Peter and Tina’s winery. They may have stumbled on something worse than they ever thought possible. Now, all their lives are in danger.
This book got off to a slow start for me, but then the story took off. It became a real page-turner. The mystery is intriguing and kept me guessing. I tried to put all the pieces together along with Noli and Luz, but this is a difficult case to figure out.
Noli is a strong character who kept this story and the investigation going. Luz has the potential to be just as strong. The supporting cast were all intriguing and mysterious. I wasn’t sure who could be trusted.
It’s a captivating and intense novel. A good adventure with a great cast of characters that I would love to meet up again with someday. I hope there is a sequel. This has the makings of a great series.
For reading challenges:
Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge 2025
FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from Edelweiss and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.
It does sound like a good one.
ReplyDeleteLooks good.
ReplyDeleteThis one sounds good. And I like the winery tie-in, not that I know much about wine, but I sometimes wish I did.
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