Killer Chardonnay | Kate Lansing | Cozy Mystery Review | Colorado Wine Mystery #1
I read Killer Chardonnay during that hazy time during the pandemic when I was just looking to escape. I actually looked back at my reading dates and it was in May of 2020, so right during the slog of lockdown from COVID-19. I never posted most of my reviews of books during that time, but since I have continued reading this series, I wanted to share my thoughts on the first book in the Colorado Wine Mysteries.
Mini Review | Killer Chardonnay
The series centers around Parker Valentine, a new business owner who has started a winery named Vino Valentine in Boulder, Colorado. In the first book, we are introduced to a central challenge in Parker’s life—her family isn’t exactly the most supportive of her business venture. Her parents really can’t be bothered to even commute across Boulder to in order to support her.
However, Parker’s brother Liam is the shining beacon of support within her family, and he just so happens to bring along his very attractive best friend, Reid Wallace, to celebrate the opening. Parker’s best friend Sage is also there to support, along with her boyfriend Jason Valleres.
One other unexpected guest shows up for opening day—food and wine critic Gaskel Brown. His reviews can make or break a new business so Parker is excited but stressed by his arrival. Parker has barely served Gaskel a glass of her Chautauqua Chardonnay and jotted down his less-than-favorable thoughts on her winemaking when he collapses and dies.
Parker soon finds Vino Valentine at the center of a social media firestorm, as early patrons post about the incident using #killerchardonnay to describe her business. Parker knows you can’t put the cork back in the bottle, as they say, and watches in horror as the story goes viral. To make matters worse, her old friend and current detective Eli Fuller is questioning Parker as the prime suspect.
If Parker has any hope of saving her reputation and her business, she will need to use her wits to get to the bottom of who was behind the murder of Gaskel Brown before she not only loses her business, but her freedom.
Killer Chardonnay is a great start to a cozy mystery series and introduced us to Parker and the supporting characters in her life. Parker is definitely early in her tenure as both a business owner and an amateur sleuth and it shows. She is still building her confidence and the lack of support from her parents certainly doesn’t help. She’s an instantly relatable character, and is still learning to trust her palate and knowledge when it comes to her wine making.
Book one also introduces a bit of a love triangle which seems to be a hallmark of the newer era of cozy mysteries. The whodunnit was fairly obvious, but since this is a first book that didn’t detract from the book since we are still learning about the characters and setting.
The writing was smooth, the audiobook narrator Brooke Hoover delivered a great performance. I checked and my library has the audiobook available on Hoopla so if you’re looking for a new mystery series and you’re an audiobook listener, check it out!
About the Series | Colorado Wine Mysteries
The Colorado Wine Series is a cozy mystery series written by author Kate Lansing. The first book in the series, Killer Chardonnay, published in 2020 and centers around winemaker Parker Valentine and her brand new winery, Vino Valentine in Boulder, Colorado. At opening day, a food critic dies after drinking a glass of Chardonnay, leading to a social media firestorm and the potential end of Vino Valentine.
The second book in the series is called A Pairing to Die For and was published in 2021. Lansing has gone on to publish two more books in the series as of 2023.
Kate lives in Broomfield, CO with her husband, daughter, and two mischievous kitties. Her love of mysteries began when she first read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and has grown from there.
Colorado Authors League Award Winner and Reader’s Choice Author for 5280 Magazine’s Top of the Town, Kate Lansing is the author of the Colorado Wine Mystery Series with Berkley. She’s represented by Lesley Sabga at The Seymour Agency.
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