Deadly Vintage: A Jack Donne Mystery

Fantasy writer Relling steps firmly into the mystery genre with an engaging sleuth, Jack Donne, a former Treasury agent who runs a California vineyard with his father, a retired architect. Neighboring vintner Ozzie Cole shows Jack two apparently identical bottles of wine-one his award-winning 1990 Pinot Noir Special Reserve, the other a fake-and asks him to find the counterfeiter. Jack declines. He changes his mind, however, after learning that Ozzie's father, Perry, a premier wine-maker now suffering from Alzheimer's and estranged from Ozzie's two older brothers, hopes the former T-man will help his youngest son. Using his connections in the Treasury Department and canvassing upscale wine shops, Jack begins his search for the counterfeiter only to be called home when Perry is murdered and Ozzie is arrested for the crime. Unconvinced that Ozzie killed Perry, Jack finds himself tracking a murderer and a counterfeiter. Wine-manufacturing lore, a deftly handled plot and touchingly rendered family relationships will have Relling's readers looking forward to his next Jack Donne mystery. (Aug.)