The Blend's Farewell: A Small Town Amateur Female Sleuth Wine Cozy Mystery

About The Blend's Farewell: A Small Town Amateur Female Sleuth Wine Cozy Mystery

In the coastal town of Lighthouse Bay, master blender Madelyn Hayes has been called out of retirement for one final project—creating a prestigious anniversary blend for Sunset Point Vineyards. When the reclusive owner is found dead among the fermentation tanks, what should have been a straightforward blending assignment transforms into a high-stakes investigation with Madelyn at its center. As the only outsider who knew about the deceased's discovery of a valuable heritage grape varietal, she finds herself caught in a web of family tensions, corporate machinations, and generations of vineyard secrets that someone is willing to kill to control.

Working alongside the methodical Detective Walter Chen, Madelyn must use her expert knowledge of wine blending—where understanding how distinct elements combine to create something greater than their parts—to sift through the complex dynamics surrounding the murder. With each sibling presenting a convincing facade, wine collectors circling like vultures, and evidence systematically disappearing, Madelyn realizes that like the best wine blends, the truth is layered and complex, with subtle notes that only reveal themselves to the most discerning palate. As the anniversary blend unveiling approaches, tensions rise among the vineyard's fractured family, ambitious competitors, and those who recognize the true value of what's been discovered.

Madelyn must determine who had the most compelling reason to silence the owner before he could announce his plans for the vineyard's future—and before she becomes the killer's next target.