A Sweet Review for BORDEAUX: THE BITTER FINISH

The Midwest Bookwatch Review is a monthly online book review publication showcasing reviews and commentaries from both staff and contributing editors and reviewers.  In the June edition, Klausner's Bookshelf featured a sweet review for our very own Janet Hubbard's Bourdeax: The Bitter Finish:

American wine critic Ellen Jordan asks NYPD Detective Maxine Maguire to act as her bodyguard while she visits Bordeaux, France. Once in country Ellen asks French speaking (from her mom) Max also to protect one of the four wine magnums valued at over $30,000 each by auctioneer Paula Goodwin though the American believes these are worthless frauds.

At the annual regional wine tasting gala in Lussac, experts test the contested wines for authenticity. However, Ellen dies from asphyxiation in her hotel room and the magnum Max left in the hotel safe has vanished. Max believes her client was murdered so she persuades her former lover French magistrate Olivier Chaumont and Commissaire Abdel Zeroual to allow her in on the investigation.

With a nod to Ellen Crosby's Wine Country Mysteries (though in France rather than Virginia) the second Vengeance in the Vineyard Mystery (see Champagne: The Farewell) is a super whodunit as suspects straddle both sides of the Atlantic. Fast-paced from the moment Max learns Ellen died, readers will enjoy this solid whodunit as questioning those with motives seems to disprove Vino Veritas.

Cheers -- I'll drink to that!

For more information about Janet, her books, and her wine visit her official website and follow her on twitter.

Posted By Book-nerd/Wine-snob Intern Stacy Briscoe

April Book Release Announcement: Janet Hubbard's BORDEAUX: THE BITTER FINISH

Deep, intense, and full-bodied, Jannet Hubbard's latest novel brings readers murder, mystery, and wine.  The author recently celebrated pre-release with a book reading at the Book Passage in San Francisco's Ferry Building.  Kimberley Cameron was there to support her client along with intern Emily.

Janet Hubbard & Kimberley Cameron

Intern Emily & Janet Hubbard

See Janet's events page on her personal website for future readings, book signings, as well as wine tastings.  Follow her on twitter for information direct from the author.

Bordeaux releases Tuesday, April 1 and is ripe for reading and storing in any good book collection -- pre-order now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Indiebound today to get a copy.

Posted by self-proclaimed Book-Nerd and Wine-Snob Stacy Briscoe @SLBriscoe

Save the Date: Author Janet Hubbard Brings Murder, Mystery, and WINE to San Francisco's Ferry Building March 26

Bordeaux: The Bitter Finish won't be released until April 1, but Author Janet Hubbard will be launching her new novel with a book reading at the Book Passage in San Francisco's historical Ferry Building next Wednesday, March 26.  Click here for details.

Synopsis

"NYPD detective Max Maguire returns to France as bodyguard to a famous American wine critic. Max's mother is French--so Max is not only bilingual but blessed, or cursed, with disapproving (and devious) French relatives. Max is not just escorting the critic, she's also keeping an eye on a very expensive bottle of wine whose authenticity is in dispute, a pawn in cut-throat wine wars involving critics, wine collectors, and auction houses. Checked into their Paris hotel, it's not long before Max discovers her client dead in her room and the bottle stolen from the hotel's safe. So she has no choice but to team up with examining magistrate Olivier Chaumont, the man she had fallen in love with the year before while solving a murder in Champagne. Olivier's sidekick, Commissaire Abdel Zeroual joins in. Max has no police role in France but she stays a step ahead of the French investigators using tactics learned back in New York, while Olivier weaves in and out of Bordeaux society where he is certain the murderer lurks. Is this something local, or is there really a counterfeit wine operation in play? Moving back and forth from Bordeaux to Manhattan among vintners, "restaurateurs," auctioneers, collectors, the rich, as well as among less privileged players, everyone is propelled towards a shocking climax."

About the Author

Editor and writing instructor turned successful novel writer fell in love with food and wine when visiting Champagne, France.  Putting her passions together, she wrote her first full-length novel, Champagne: The Farewell: A Vengeance in the Vineyard Mystery. 

For more information about Janet Hubbard, visit her personal website, or follow her on twitter and Facebook.

Cin-cin! Here's to fine wine and a good read!

Posted by the self-proclaimed book-nerd and wine-snob intern, Stacy Briscoe @SLBriscoe