Ah the joys of insomnia!

1. The cover shown on Goodreads does not match the cover of the book I read. This matters to me because covers matter.
2. Detective (he’s not actually a detective) Enzo solves the case of the murdered men, drowned by wine.
3. This one was better than the last Enzo one I read.
4. Four humans murdered? Ho hum. Keep reading. THEY FUCKING KILLED THE DOG??? MONSTER. UNACCEPTABLE. Please re-write. I cannot go on.

If you're interested in mysteries and wine making in France, this is the novel for you. The story is laced with wine making and tasting history.

Narrator James Adams is no Simon Vance. I deeply missed Vance's facility with accents and character changes. Adams is fine, and I have no qualms, but he's just not Vance.

The second warning is the dog dies. The death does serve a plot point, so it's not gratuitous, but that doesn't make it any less troublesome. The same plot point could have been made by killing off one of the stupid women around McLeod.

Peter May (Native Scot, French resident) is such a fine author. While this series is perhaps not his strongest work, Enzo Macleod is a very appealing character with his Scottish accent and kilt, French language skills, sharp mind that seems to work better after a few glasses of wine, and good looks. It's almost like Enzo is actually Peter May, right down to the pony tail.

It is unclear whether this is a book in translation, but a good editor would have fixed a few problems, most notably a twice repeated misspelling of President Lyndon B. Johnson's name. This book cover is also rather unappealing even though it makes much more sense once the story progresses. There is another very nice book cover out there, and should replace this one.

All that said, this will teach readers about the cutthroat wine producing industry and the passion that people have for both creating it and consuming it. Enzo has some troubled relationships with daughters and girlfriends which somehow makes him seem very human and thus relatable. As he navigates those waters, he is also solving multiple murders. Good mystery on an interesting topic.

3.5 stars

A well written murder mystery with enough twists that I didn't manage to guess the murderer until the end ! The only downside to this book for me was a lack of interest in wine and wine making which is rather central to the plot.

Lots of description, but little substance.

3.5