Aged for Death (A Tuscan Vineyard Cozy Mystery #2) by Fiona Grace

Aged for Death (A Tuscan Vineyard Cozy Mystery #2) Reviews

• 
  Sara Lawson

  I liked Olivia and Charlotte and the goat. And the three of them continue their adventures in this book. There's another murder tied to Olivia's workplace and she solves it smartly with a little help from her friends, but that is, of course, expected. I do wonder how the series will continue to play out after Charlotte heads back to the States since the friendship is one of the best (and more unique) parts of the story. The goat is here to stay. And I dearly hope that Olivia learns a few more things about planting a vineyard. One cannot simply till the soil and plant a patch of grapes after a half-hour of hard labor on a long-abandoned farmstead. She was also never sore the next day, but I suppose since she was able to work with such miraculous speed, it couldn't have caused too much pain. Overall, I liked the mystery. I liked the small community that Olivia has planted herself in. I am, however, skeptical of both her gardening skills and the way these skills are described in the book. I think anyone who has ever grown anything will be shaking their heads along with me.
  
  I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
• 
  Doreen Petersen

  A rather delightful cozy mystery. Can’t wait to read more in this series.
• 
  Aparna J

  Awesome
  
  The author, Ms. Fiona Grace, has produced a brilliant cozy mystery. The story was slow in the beginning but gained super momentum and kept me excited and guessing until the climax. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the readers thoroughly engrossed. I loved
  both the books in this series.
  Olivia Glass has recently purchased a new farmhouse in Italy for growing her own vineyard as wine making business has been her long cherished dream. She and her best friend, Charlotte visit her farmhouse to get acquainted with the surrounding areas and learn about the history of the place. Meanwhile, there is a funny moment when Olivia gets scared of a spider and climbs the scaffolding only to be rescued by Charlotte who gets rid of the insect. Later, they visit the local hardware stores for buying the necessary items for wine farming.
  A stranger irks her with his unsolicited advice.
  They return to their farmhouse and get down outright to start planting the grape seeds. The same irritating stranger tells Olivia that she and Charlotte have not done the planting properly. She is so angry that she asks him to leave immediately.
  Her boss, Marcello, asks her to join him for a trip to Pisa when she returns to work. She is delighted to accompany him on this business cum pleasure trip. Marcello surprises her with his purchase of Franco's winery that produces high quality wine. They enjoy some moments together having lunch and visiting The Leaning Tower of Pisa. Marcello tells Olivia that a celebrity, Alexander Schwarz, a famous author cum award winning wine maker is going to pay a visit. Olivia is thrilled with the news because she is looking forward to learn the nuances of quality wine making.
  Things start going downhill after Nadia complains about their stock of Sangiovese wine getting TCA taint, creating a shortfall in their wine supply. Marcello takes a decision to hold an auction of their historic wine bottle by Brunello di Montalcino. Olivia is shocked to see Vernon Carrington, her former client, who was responsible for Valley Wines disaster, present for the auction. She had created the ad campaign for them without realizing that their wines were of low quality. He recognizes her and speaks about her involvement in their marketing campaign. Gabriella, her nemesis, is delighted to get dirt on her after she hears him ramble about Olivia's past career.
  She is upset about Vernon winning the bid on the vintage wine. She offers to visit Vernon's place with the auction related papers.
  However, she is shocked to find his dead body.
  She calls Marcello and apprises him of the situation. He calls the police and the medics.
  Detective Caputi arrives at the crime scene. She grills Olivia in every possible way. She suspects Marcello, Antonio, Olivia, Nadia and Alexander Schwarz because he had a tussle with the deceased. Detective Caputi informs Marcello, Nadia, Antonio and Olivia that Vernon died after drinking a poisoned wine. The auction was the last place he was seen and didn't stop anywhere. She takes Nadia into custody and wants to arrest Olivia because she was acquainted with him in the past. The Wine Tasting room at La Legganda is closed until further notice. Olivia is desperate to solve the case to clear her name as well as others in order to resume business.
  She decides to interview the neighbors to see if they noticed anything out of ordinary or a stranger in their neighborhood. She is stunned to find the British couple who have no idea about the murder. She approaches another neighbor Sven who claims to have seen a visitor at Vernon's house. Olivia is numb with shock after she gets the physical description of the visitor from Sven.
  Who is the visitor? Did he poison Vernon? How will Olivia save herself and others from the clutches of Detective Caputi? There is a major element of surprise awaiting the readers. Highly recommended for reading for all the cozy mystery lovers.
  
  
  
• 
  Michele

  
  
  Olivia left her life behind, bought a ramshakle house in Tuscany--and has decided that she wants to have a vineyard. Her friend is visiting for a while and is helping her get the house ready to live in. One major problem-Olivia is petrified of spiders-luckily her friend isn't. You will laugh when you read what she did to avoid one. She has a pet goat who follows her everywhere and at times can be a bit of a troublemaker. A cat has also semi adopted her--for food anyway. There is this real handsome and helpful neighbor who she originally kicks out when he offered to help her with the vineyard--She eventually had to eat crow for she did desperately need help!
  
  Meanwhile she was working at a prestigious vineyard in the wine tasting room. Disaster struck--multiple times and Olivia had to figure out who murdered the obnoxious man before she or her employers were put in jail!
  
  This is a non stop roller coaster ride filled will twists and turns--murder and mayhem-and lots of laughter in there as well
• 
  Joan

  As with all cozy mysteries, there are things are are highly unlikely to happen in real life, but I really enjoy this series for the Italian atmosphere. I can't wait to find what other discoveries Olivia makes on her new property.
  
  One "unlikely" was the fact that Olivia allowed Gabriella to terrorize her over the secret that she was the one who came up with the advertising campaign for the horrible, chemical loaded (and rat infested) Valley Wines. Olivia was a highly success PR person who would understand the necessity of getting in first and doing damage control. Especially with the right spin, they would obviously sympathize with her. She did, after all, quit her job because she could no longer stomach promoting the company or others like them.
  
  Erba the goat is a star. I am not surprised that she is digging up clues but I hope that one day she will deliver a head butt at just the right time and place!
• 
  Jessica

  Excellent slice of life story with a little bit of murder.
  
  I jumped into this series with this book. But I found it worked just fine as a standalone. Olivia recently settled into a small village in Tuscany. She purchased a house that needs renovating while staying with her friend for the rest of the summer. The winery she works at auctions off a rare bottle of wine which is what sets the murder-mystery part of the book into motion. Olivia needs to rush to solve the crime while under suspicion of the murder herself.
  
  The setting is so perfectly described and makes me want to visit Italy. I love how the author intertwined local foods and wines into the story. I found it fairly a fast-paced read and the characters were fully described.
• 
  Genevieve Bomes

  I do like this series but I find them to be a bit slow paced. I love the scenery and details about wine making and learning more about grapes and wine tasting than I knew.
  
  I love the characters and really like Olivia as a main character. She is willing to take a risk but she also can say when she is wrong. She is loyal and stubborn and just a great character. I wish some of the side characters were more developed. I don't feel like I really know anything about the side characters including Charlotte, Olivia's best friend and her love interest Marcello.
  
  A good read and a nice easy going cozy mystery.
• 
  Leslie

  Olivia now lives in Italy and owns a small farm where she wants to start her own small vineyard. She continues to work at a winery and learn all she can about growing grapes and producing wine. One thing she learns is that things can go wrong and almost wipe out even the most successful of wineries. When items are auctioned off to save the winery some very suspicious people are involved and Olivia's new life is threatened. The second book in the series is just as entertaining as the first with Olivia's inept sleuthing and lots of wine.
• 
  Avalon

  Tuscany murder mystery
  
  Olivia and best friend Charlotte have rented a villa in Tuscany for the summer and after visiting a local winery, she offered to help out and was then employed by the handsome owner, Marcello who runs the winery with his 2 siblings and his ex girlfriend. The winery is undergoing some hardship so they are forced to sell a rare bottle of wine that's been in the family for generations so hold an auction. An old rival, a murder, a friendly goat, friendships and romance. Full of intrigue this novel is a winner.
• 
  Jacqueline

  Me encantó
  
  Este segundo libro sobre los misterios en la Toscana, me encantó. Un viaje imaginario a la Toscana con su belleza y sabores. Otro misterio que resolver. Interesante de principio a fin. Tendré que esperar que salga el tercer libro en español para terminar esta serie de libros.
• 
  Karen Cino

  This is the second book in the series. I'm enjoying watching Olivia get comfortable in her new surroundings. This is a light read. The only thing was the silliness at the end with the goat. I know it's unbelievable, but hey it's a cozy and fiction in a world that's full of stress.
• 
  Jeanne Chepko

  Murder mystery in Tuscany
  
  Such a great murder mystery series! Love the characters, such fun interactions. Wonderful descriptions of Tuscany and wine making. Makes me want to open a bottle.
  
  I received a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions in this review are my own.
• 
  Karen

  The vineyard setting and the mystery are good. The American characters don't speak like Americans and they seem like adolescents. The dialog is tedious. This doesn't feel like it was written by the same author as the first book in the series.
• 
  Suzan

  This is book 2 in the series A Tuscan Vineyard Cozy Mystery. I am enjoying this cozy mystery series, it's an easy read. The plot is not overwhelming and the characters are fun to learn about. I will be looking into more in this series.