Killer Chardonnay

March 15, 2020
A Colorado winery's launch gets trashed when a food blogger is poisoned in the tasting room. Although bummed that her parents can't get it together to travel from the other side of Boulder to participate, Parker Valentine is thrilled that her winery, Vino Valentine, will finally open. Her brother, Liam, brings along his handsome best friend, Reid Wallace. Parker's own best friend, Sage, brings her mopey boyfriend, Jason Valleres. But the guest whose arrival pleases Parker most is food blogger Gaskel Brown, whose reviews can make or break a new business. Unfortunately, the persnickety Mr. Brown's arrival is followed immediately by his departure. He sits down, takes a swig of Vino Valentino's Chautauqua Chardonnay, and heads directly to that great vineyard in the sky, with a brief stop in Parker's rest room. It's bad enough that a peek at Brown's tablet reveals a less than stellar assessment of her winemaking skills. It's even worse that high school friend Eli Fuller, now a detective on the Boulder police force, is questioning Parker repeatedly with mounting intensity. But the absolute worst is that the Twitterverse wants Parker's head on a platter, with the hashtag #KillerChardonnay echoing through cyberspace at the speed of a million tweets a minute. So while Eli and Reid circle each other warily, each wondering who has the inside track to her affections, Parker takes matters into her own hands, stopping a heartless killer from derailing her dream. Lansing's brisk style and her heroine's efficient approach make her debut a treat.

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