Wine & Whispers - A Review

Review

WINE & WHISPERS by Daisy Landish
The First Sophie Brooks Mystery 

Sophie Brooks has come to Sonoma, California for a fresh start. Leaving the fast paced Oregon restaurant world and her lying ex behind she's staying in a guesthouse next to the Cartwright Vineyard. Planning to write a farm to table blog while working on her book, Sophie soon discovers the quiet town is not as peaceful as it first appeared. There's more than meets the eye including manipulation, bribery, and threats stemming from a bitter feud between rival wineries. Despite being warned away Sophie is determined to uncover the secrets of Sonoma.  

WINE & WHISPERS is a very confusing book. While the premise is good there are serious problems. Characters pop out of nowhere and it's written as if they've been in the book all along. There's no sign of law enforcement until practically the end and then it's as if Sophie has had lots of dealings with them. The worst was when there was a sentence saying that soon a main character would be dead. Next thing we know he is dead-but absolutely no mention of how he died. Was it a natural death? An accident? Murder? No idea-there's not even a funeral. Then near the end of the book they state there was a funeral. Then there's the repetition. Near identical scenes happen multiple times. 

Sophie is a food writer, although Oliver keeps referring to her as a detective (and just who is Oliver?), and the mystery has to do with a winery, but there's really no talk of food...or wine making for that matter so I really wouldn't classify this as a culinary mystery. 

With some heavy editing WINE & WHISPERS could turn into a fine mystery, but as it is I was left more befuddled than satisfied.