Thursday, December 6, 2018

Harvest of Secrets

Title: Harvest of Secrets
Author: Ellen Crosby
Published: November 6th 2018 by Minotaur Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 352 pages
Genre: Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Wine Country Mysteries #9

The Wine Country Mysteries series is not your usual who-done-it; it is also a history lesson of Loudoun County, Virginia, with a mystery thrown into keep your attention.

As the vineyard is preparing for an incoming hurricane, the workers at Montgomery Estate Vineyards unearth a skull that has been buried under a shed outside of the family cemetery. Detailed forensics reveals that the skull, and the rest of the bones, have been there for more than a century, but what is interesting is the quilt that the woman was buried in. A quilt with historic value and story that goes back to the Underground Railroad.

Lucie Montgomery has a sudden conviction that this woman is a family member, but proving it also digs up interesting family drama when a DNA test through the genome project reveals that Lucie’s father had a secret that was kept from the family. Add into that, Jean-Claude de Merignac, the wayward son of a well-regarded French family arrives and while working at a neighboring La Vigne vineyard, is killed and there is no shortlist for those that could be responsible.

The multiple stories in this book will keep readers engrossed. There is no straightforward path to the end, yet enough trails to twist your mind around and possible reasons, all wrapped up in an interesting history lesson, with a potential new character that could add even more backstory to the Montgomery family and their enduring presence is the wine country of Atoka, Virginia.

No comments: