Scan barcode
peachyclaudia's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
Pretty standard cosy mystery. As other reviews have mentioned the author kept referring to a past mystery, which was weird because she did it more than once and this was the first book for this series. Initially I thought it was because the author was sort of paying homage to Nancy Drew (blue car, referring to Cece as Nancy Drew), but those books only referenced the previous mystery once at the beginning, not everywhere. And of course, not for the first book. The mystery itself was sort of simple, the author gave away the villain a bit early.
theavidreaderandbibliophile's review against another edition
2.0
Murder Uncorked by Maddie Day was a struggle for me to read. The biggest problem is the unlikeable Cece Barton. Cece lacks confidence in herself, which we get to hear about often. She tends to blather on about her food choices (I could care less) and other mundane subjects. We also get to hear how Cece is estranged from her college aged daughter, her twin sister’s busy life, and Cece’s new job. This information allows us to get to know the character, but I do not feel the details need to be repeated (repetition is a big problem in this book). The characters lack development. When Cece reaches out to her daughter during the case (a bid for sympathy), the situation feels contrived. The scene had me rolling my eyes. The mystery is simple. It is silly that Cece sees herself as a suspect and feels the need to clear her name. There is a small suspect pool. The killer can easily be identified (did everything but hire a skywriter). Cece goes over the clues and suspect list repeatedly. She withholds information from the police. I know that is common for amateur sleuths in cozy mysteries, but I feel that when your life is endangered, it is time to talk to the cops. I found it annoying the number of times that Cece would put off looking up or doing something to aid the case (once or twice maybe, but multiple times). Quilt stalling and solve the case already (of course, I already knew who did it but I wanted confirmation). The pacing is slow (which made the book feel long). The character’s dialogue tended to meander (I would reread a conversation trying to figure it out). I did not appreciate the author using the book as a platform for her politics. I read books to escape reality, not to be preached to. While Murder Uncorked is technically the first book A Cece Barton Mysteries, we are introduced to Cece in Murderous Mittens which is one of the books in Christmas Mittens Murder. The mystery from Murderous Mittens is mentioned more than once in Murder Uncorked. This book felt like something a newbie writer would produce instead of an established author like Edith Maxwell. I will not be continuing with this series. As you can tell, A Cece Barton Mysteries is not for me (I do suggest you download a sample to judge it for yourself).
bookishobsessedmama's review
4.0
this was so fun. it felt like a cozy night in with nancy drew for adults - i was here for it. It was quick, fast paced and kept you on the edge of your seat the entire time. I will absolutely be reading more from this author and seeing what crime our FMC tries to solve next.
bargainsleuth's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I've read one other Maddie Day cozy mystery and liked it enough to request Murder Uncorked and try this new mystery series. But it was not for me.
First, the positives: a middle-aged woman as the main character. That's always a treat to see; sometimes the older you get, the less you can relate to the characters. And the relationships with her daughter and sister seemed real. I loved the setting, too, as I've always wanted to visit wine country, even though I'm a teetotaler.
The negatives: CeCe keeps referencing a mystery she solved previously, yet this is the first volume in the mystery series. Kind of weird. And sometimes she just goes off on these tangents about current events that seemed out of place, even if I agree with them or not. Sometimes her actions seem unbelievable, like going back to bed after someone tries breaking into her house instead of calling the police.
I'm not giving up on this series because I think it has potential, but the first go at it was a little bumpy for me. Two and half stars rounded up.
I've read one other Maddie Day cozy mystery and liked it enough to request Murder Uncorked and try this new mystery series. But it was not for me.
First, the positives: a middle-aged woman as the main character. That's always a treat to see; sometimes the older you get, the less you can relate to the characters. And the relationships with her daughter and sister seemed real. I loved the setting, too, as I've always wanted to visit wine country, even though I'm a teetotaler.
The negatives: CeCe keeps referencing a mystery she solved previously, yet this is the first volume in the mystery series. Kind of weird. And sometimes she just goes off on these tangents about current events that seemed out of place, even if I agree with them or not. Sometimes her actions seem unbelievable, like going back to bed after someone tries breaking into her house instead of calling the police.
I'm not giving up on this series because I think it has potential, but the first go at it was a little bumpy for me. Two and half stars rounded up.
kimlb's review against another edition
4.0
This new series is my favorite of the author's various series!
kimdavishb's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 out of 5
MURDER UNCORKED is the first book in the brand-new Cece Barton Mystery series by Maddie Day. I so wanted to love this book since I’ve enjoyed the other series by the author. There are a lot of things going for it:
1) Location, location, location—Sonoma wine country!
2) Wine bar! Need I say more? Except I’d love to sit and sip at Vino y Vida!
3) Close sisters and great family dynamics, aside from a disgruntled college-aged daughter.
4) A protagonist who’s in her 40’s and is independent.
5) A mystery to puzzle over.
What didn’t work for me:
I didn’t need to be told that the protagonist, Cece, is a vegetarian / sometime pescatarian every time she consumed food (and she eats in almost every chapter!) Yes, the food mentioned sounds delicious and I wish there were some recipes included in the book, but mentioning her dietary lifestyle once would have been sufficient. The constant repeating pulled me from the story. Since I read an ARC of the book, perhaps it was cleaned up in final editing.
Without going into great detail, there was over-the-top telling (preachy) throughout the book pertaining to social issues. I appreciate when authors bring a spotlight to certain issues, but show me why it matters to the characters and maybe use it in the plot… and spread the issues out over the series instead dumped into one book.
Several things happened to Cece during her investigation, which would have had any logical person running to the police. Instead, she brushes the potentially dangerous incidents aside when, by reporting them, could have aided the police in capturing a killer.
Given that this is the first book in the series, I’ll give the next one a try and hope some of the quibbles I had with the first have been resolved. Cece and the gang have a lot going for them.
I was provided with an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
MURDER UNCORKED is the first book in the brand-new Cece Barton Mystery series by Maddie Day. I so wanted to love this book since I’ve enjoyed the other series by the author. There are a lot of things going for it:
1) Location, location, location—Sonoma wine country!
2) Wine bar! Need I say more? Except I’d love to sit and sip at Vino y Vida!
3) Close sisters and great family dynamics, aside from a disgruntled college-aged daughter.
4) A protagonist who’s in her 40’s and is independent.
5) A mystery to puzzle over.
What didn’t work for me:
I didn’t need to be told that the protagonist, Cece, is a vegetarian / sometime pescatarian every time she consumed food (and she eats in almost every chapter!) Yes, the food mentioned sounds delicious and I wish there were some recipes included in the book, but mentioning her dietary lifestyle once would have been sufficient. The constant repeating pulled me from the story. Since I read an ARC of the book, perhaps it was cleaned up in final editing.
Without going into great detail, there was over-the-top telling (preachy) throughout the book pertaining to social issues. I appreciate when authors bring a spotlight to certain issues, but show me why it matters to the characters and maybe use it in the plot… and spread the issues out over the series instead dumped into one book.
Several things happened to Cece during her investigation, which would have had any logical person running to the police. Instead, she brushes the potentially dangerous incidents aside when, by reporting them, could have aided the police in capturing a killer.
Given that this is the first book in the series, I’ll give the next one a try and hope some of the quibbles I had with the first have been resolved. Cece and the gang have a lot going for them.
I was provided with an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
velcroedtobooks's review
2.0
Murder with wine? 1st book in the series, murder uncorked tells the story of Cece Barton, a widowed single mom, who moved to California and has taken over as a wine bar manager. Unfortunately, a person she is not in great terms with winds up dead and she finds herself in the middle of the murder investigation.
To start off I am not a wine person, so the wine terms definitely went over my head. But I did not let this affect my judgement of the book or the writing. The writing style was a little messy for my liking, characters were being thrown in left, right and center and made me wonder ‘where does this character fit in?’. I had to go back and read some parts again to figure out how they showed up or who they were. Some of them were quite easy to forget too.
Cece was great, she was independent, has a quirky nature but was a little nosy. Her reasons for getting into the investigation was not convincing enough and the way she went about it was quite blunt and straightforward. Which made me wonder how nobody questions her? I found myself skimming through the pages as I went further down. There was no great investigation happening and the reveal was quite underwhelming.
This book was not my cup of tea and I don’t think I would go further with this series.
Thanks to Net galley and Kensington books for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
To start off I am not a wine person, so the wine terms definitely went over my head. But I did not let this affect my judgement of the book or the writing. The writing style was a little messy for my liking, characters were being thrown in left, right and center and made me wonder ‘where does this character fit in?’. I had to go back and read some parts again to figure out how they showed up or who they were. Some of them were quite easy to forget too.
Cece was great, she was independent, has a quirky nature but was a little nosy. Her reasons for getting into the investigation was not convincing enough and the way she went about it was quite blunt and straightforward. Which made me wonder how nobody questions her? I found myself skimming through the pages as I went further down. There was no great investigation happening and the reveal was quite underwhelming.
This book was not my cup of tea and I don’t think I would go further with this series.
Thanks to Net galley and Kensington books for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
mtyler3707's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
For sure, Murder Uncorked is a cozy mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this story set in a fictional town in Sonoma County wine country (Alexander Valley to be specific) because I LOVE a wine country setting. The writing is choppy, and soooo many cliches... Maddie Day may be a wine enthusiast but it doesn’t show in her random “name dropping” of varietals. I wish the setting had been a little better researched. As for the mystery - it was fine, compelling, I’m ok with being able to figure it out - especially in a cozy mystery - I like to think I’m as clever as any armchair detective. I had realistic expectations going in and found Murder Uncorked an enjoyable read. I won’t be picking up the rest of the series.