"Engaging mystery"
Fifty two years old Lynne Montgomery uses the insurance
money from her husband's death to buy the Booked for Travel
agency. She leaves Florida for Sonoma County, California
wine country where she meets her first group of travelers. Instead of a quiet trek, the idyllic tour turns
vinegary when Lynne finds the corpse of Lance Belladuce,
whose family once owned Villa Belladuce. Detective Lauren
Shaw investigates the homicide, which enables Lynne and her
fifteen "guests" to be ahead of schedule. Next someone
ruins much of the villa's wine. This is followed by
another murder that finally sends the itinerary over the
edge and a desperate Lynne into making inquiries into what
happened to her tour. Though the look into California wine country is
charming and the amateur sleuth investigation side by side
with the police procedural is entertaining, the key that
makes MURDER WILL TRAVEL fun is the ensemble cast. Lynne
serves as more than just the lead protagonist of the plot,
as she is the nucleus that keeps the tale on the main
path. The support characters have distinct personalities
so that the reader knows whose who, which is quite an
accomplishment when dealing with a crew of eighteen
secondary people making many appearances mostly together.
Fans of amateur sleuth stories will enjoy Emily
Toll's "guided tour" book. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted April 7, 2002
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