Scan barcode
A review by kimdavishb
Murder Uncorked by Maddie Day
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.