Deadly Offer (Darby Farr Series #3)

by Vicki Doudera

Overview

When Darby Farr's assistant, E.T., learns that his sister, Selena, has suddenly (and suspiciously) died in her hot tub, Darby and E.T. travel to Selena's magnificent vineyard estate nestled in the heart of California wine country. There, Darby discovers that Selena was entertaining offers from three different prospective buyers—each one of whom is desperate to be the new owner of the winery. As a saboteur wreaks havoc on the property, Darby risks her life to crack the case and close the sale in a valley ripe with jealousy, greed, and danger.

Book 3 in the Darby Farr Mystery series

Praise:

"[Darby Farr] goes West, and it's wild all the way."—Portland Press Herald

"Darby's third appearance is just the property for those who want a fast, entertaining read with a diverse cast and appealing setting."—Library Journal

"Darby's third enlarges on her love life and real-estate skills while providing a complex mystery."—Kirkus Reviews

"Sexy, savvy, and entertaining."—Julia Spencer-Fleming, author of One Was a Soldier

"Real estate brings real trouble to this smart and savvy heroine."—Hank Phillippi Ryan, Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity Award-winning author

"Doudera masterfully uses the backdrop of high-stakes realty as a great setting for a murder mystery."—Bangor Daily News

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738719801
Publisher:	Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Publication date:	04/08/2012
Series:	Darby Farr Series , #3
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Vicki Doudera's debut mystery A House to Die For, was selected to the Best of 2010 list in Suspense Magazine. She is the author three nonfiction books on real estate and the Darby Farr Mystery Series, starring a crime-solving real estate agent. Doudera's articles have appeared in Parenting, People, Reader’s Digest, Yankee and Down East magazines.

Doudera has been profiled on WCSH-TV’s “207,” and her writing has been favorably reviewed in prominent mystery and book industry magazines, as well as in the Bangor Daily News, Times Record, Kennebec Journal, Lincoln County News and Midcoast Beacon. She belongs to Mystery Writers of America (MWA), is on the board of Sisters in Crime, New England, and blogs regularly for Maine Crime Writers (mainecrimewriters.com).

Doudera lives with her family in Camden, Maine, where she enjoys spending time with her friends, kids and funny pets; hiking, cycling and knitting; and living in a beautiful, old house. Like her protagonist, Darby Farr, Doudera also sells real estate with a busy coastal firm. She is president of her local Habitat for Humanity chapter and is a member of the National Association of Realtors.
 

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Editorial Reviews

At the start of Doudera’s unconvincing third mystery featuring San Diego real estate agent Darby Farr (after 2011’s Killer Listing), winery owner Selena Thompson, the sister of Darby’s colleague, ET, drowns in her hot tub. Darby accompanies ET to Selena’s Carson Creek Estate & Winery outside San Francisco, where they learn that Selena was seriously ill, the bottle of wine she was drinking before her death was drugged, and fierce competition to acquire Selena’s winery may have pushed someone over the edge. Suspects range from a neighboring family that owns a competing winery and Selena’s abusive former boyfriend, to a bidder with a rich sister and a shady real estate agent who’s disgruntled over Darby’s appointment as the agent for the Carson Creek sale. Overly obvious planting of clues distracts, although readers may enjoy the wine country milieu and tense climax. Agent: Tristram Coburn, Tristram C. Coburn Literary Management. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"[Darby Farr] goes West, and it's wild all the way."—Portland Press Herald

"Darby's third appearance is just the property for those who want a fast, entertaining read with a diverse cast and appealing setting."—Library Journal

"Darby's third enlarges on her love life and real-estate skills while providing a complex mystery."—Kirkus Reviews

"Sexy, savvy, and entertaining."—Julia Spencer-Fleming, author of One Was a Soldier

"Real estate brings real trouble to this smart and savvy heroine."—Hank Phillippi Ryan, Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity Award-winning author

"Doudera masterfully uses the backdrop of high-stakes realty as a great setting for a murder mystery."—Bangor Daily News

From the Publisher

Realtor Darby Farr heads to Northern California wine country with her assistant, E.T., when his sister, Selena, dies under mysterious circumstances at the up-and-coming vineyard she owns. Much to their surprise, they learn that Selena was desperately ill and had planned to sell the property in a high-stakes bidding war among three buyers. This is no suicide, however; someone is stalking the vineyards and wants to clinch this deal. E.T. and his brother beg Darby to bring her realtor expertise to the negotiating table, but she just can't help but investigate Selena's death, too. The case grows increasingly sinister as dangerous incidents around the property threaten her safety. When another vintner dies, Darby realizes her instincts are spot-on. VERDICT Darby's third appearance (after Killer Listing) is just the property for those who want a fast, entertaining read with a diverse cast and appealing setting. A winning teen sleuth adds YA appeal.

Library Journal

A favor for a friend involves realtor Darby Farr in yet another murder case. Darby's returned to her real-estate agency in Southern California after helping to solve a murder in Florida (Killer Listing, 2011, etc.). When her assistant ET Gomez learns his sister Selena is dead, he asks Darby to drive him up to Selena's winery, Carson Creek Estate, where he'll meet with his brother Carlos. Selena, who wasn't well and was thinking of selling her beloved winery, was found dead in her hot tub. It looks like a heart attack, but when Darby, who has an amazing sense of taste, detects something off in the wine Selena was drinking, her new evidence says murder. Asked by Selena's brothers to handle the sale, Darby stays on, only to learn that each of the prospective buyers insists that Selena had decided to sell to him or her. Selena's winemaker Dan Stewart soldiers on, the crop is almost ready to harvest, but suddenly there are numerous acts of sabotage intended to ruin the crop. Certainly the people who want to buy are all suspects: the driven sister of a wealthy pop artist; Selena's former abusive lover who claims he wanted to make amends; and the Contento family next door, owners of one of California's largest wineries. Although Darby is dealing with a friend's sudden disappearance in Hawaii and the return of her love interest reporter Miles Porter from Afghanistan, she refuses to leave crime solving to the police. Darby's third enlarges on her love life and real-estate skills while providing a complex mystery.

Kirkus Reviews