The Angels' Share (Wine Country Mystery #10)

by Ellen Crosby

Overview

Ellen Crosby pours up another corking mystery with The Angels' Share, an intriguing blend of secret societies, Prohibition bootleg wine, and potentially scandalous documents hidden by the Founding Fathers, all of which yield a vintage murder.

When Lucie Montgomery attends a Thanksgiving weekend party for friends and neighbors at Hawthorne Castle, an honest-to-goodness castle owned by the Avery family, the last great newspaper dynasty in America and owner of the Washington Tribune, she doesn’t expect the festive occasion to end in death.

During the party, Prescott Avery, the 95-year old family patriarch, invites Lucie to his fabulous wine cellar where he offers to pay any price for a cache of 200-year-old Madeira that her great-great-uncle, a Prohibition bootlegger, discovered hidden in the US Capitol in the 1920s. Lucie knows nothing about the valuable wine, believing her late father, a notorious gambler and spendthrift, probably sold or drank it. By the end of the party Lucie and her fiancé, winemaker Quinn Santori, discover Prescott’s body lying in his wine cellar. Is one of the guests a murderer?

As Lucie searches for the lost Madeira, which she believes links Prescott’s death to a cryptic letter her father owned, she learns about Prescott’s affiliation with the Freemasons. More investigating hints at a mysterious vault supposedly containing documents hidden by the Founding Fathers and a possible tie to William Shakespeare. If Lucie finds the long-lost documents, the explosive revelations could change history. But will she uncover a three hundred-year-old secret before a determined killer finds her?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250164865
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/05/2019
Series:	Wine Country Mystery Series , #10
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	196,133
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

ELLEN CROSBY is the author of the Virginia-set Wine Country Mystery series, which began with The Merlot Murders. She has also written a mystery series featuring international photojournalist Sophie Medina. Previously she worked as a freelance reporter for The Washington Post, as the Moscow correspondent for ABC News Radio, and as an economist at the United States Senate.

ELLEN CROSBY is the author of the Virginia-set Wine Country Mysteries series, which began with The Merlot Murders. She has also written a mystery series featuring international photojournalist Sophie Medina, and Moscow Nights, a standalone.

Previously she was a freelance reporter for The Washington Post, Moscow correspondent for ABC News Radio, and an economist at the U.S. Senate.

Editorial Reviews

09/23/2019

Crosby’s crisp and elegant 10th Wine Country mystery (after 2018’s Harvest of Secrets) finds Virginia vintner Lucie Montgomery attending a party over Thanksgiving weekend at Hawthorne Castle, the home of 95-year-old newspaper tycoon Prescott Avery. When Prescott invites Lucie to see his wine cellar, reputed to be one of the most beautiful wine cellars in the world, she jumps at the chance, but she soon discovers that he wants to know the location of a case of 200-year-old Madeira that he assumes is in Lucie’s possession. She has never seen or heard of it. After Prescott turns up dead later that same evening, Lucie places herself at the center of the subsequent investigation. As usual, Crosby supplies plenty of Virginia history, this time focusing on the founders and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, without slowing the main story. She also includes some tantalizing history about wine, particularly Madeira. A family tree linking the Montgomery and Avery families serves as a useful guide, especially during early scenes. The disparate plot threads come together in an exciting and satisfying conclusion. Crosby knows how to keep the reader guessing. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

11/01/2019

Lucie Montgomery, owner of Montgomery Estate Vineyard, is looking forward to leaving a party when she is approached by her host Prescott Avery. He invites her to join him for a glass of Madeira in his renowned wine cellar and she is too tempted to say no. Surrounded by Prescott's priceless works of art and his astounding collection of documents and artifacts from the founding of the nation, he tells her he thinks that she and her family know the whereabouts of a trove of vintage Madeira from 1809, and that he's willing to pay top dollar for it. Lucie knows nothing of this and tells him so. Within minutes of her leaving him, Prescott is dead and Lucie gets embroiled in the aftermath. Soon she is on the hunt for the missing Madeira, investigating secret safe-deposit boxes, the Jamestown settlement, and the origins and practices of the Freemasons. VERDICT This well-plotted addition to these award-winning mysteries (after Harvest of Secrets) will appeal to fans of the series and historical puzzles, as seen in the film National Treasure.—Amy Nolan, St. Joseph, MI

Library Journal

One of Due South's "Most Anticipated Cozy Mysteries of Fall 2019"!

"This well-plotted addition to these award-winning mysteries will appeal to fans of the series and historical puzzles, as seen in the film National Treasure." - Library Journal

"Crisp and elegant. The disparate plot threads come together in an exciting and satisfying conclusion. Crosby knows how to keep the reader guessing." - Publishers Weekly

"Wine lore and mystery, both historical and modern, combine in an enthralling read." - Kirkus

"Entwined with fascinating facts about wine and winemaking, this satisfying addition to the series will please oenophiles." - Booklist

"[O]ne of the most successful mystery series on the market today." - Washington Independent Review of Books

"The Angels' Share blends past secrets with present sins as Crosby combines well-researched plotlines with cherished characters and vibrant local color. [An] engaging holiday tale." - Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, "December Mysteries Roundup"

"Ellen Crosby pours up another corking mystery with The Angels' Share." - Fresh Fiction

From the Publisher

Using a soft voice and a light Southern accent, narrator Christine Marshall adds charm to this cozy mystery set in Virginia’s wine country. In the tenth installment of the Wine Country series, winemaker Lucie Montgomery helps solve the murder of her wealthy neighbor as well as a puzzle involving a case of Madeira, an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Freemasons, and the Jamestown settlement. Marshall changes up the volume and tone of her delivery to distinguish the characters and to set off Lucie’s internal musings from her conversations. The plot takes Lucie to Washington, DC, and historic archaeological sites as well as into secret rooms of local wine cellars. The audiobook includes enough background details to orient new listeners to this fun mystery series. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2020 - AudioFile