Deadly Offer: A Darby Farr Mystery

At the start of Doudera’s unconvincing third mystery featuring San Diego real estate agent Darby Farr (after 2011’s Killer Listing), winery owner Selena Thompson, the sister of Darby’s colleague, ET, drowns in her hot tub. Darby accompanies ET to Selena’s Carson Creek Estate & Winery outside San Francisco, where they learn that Selena was seriously ill, the bottle of wine she was drinking before her death was drugged, and fierce competition to acquire Selena’s winery may have pushed someone over the edge. Suspects range from a neighboring family that owns a competing winery and Selena’s abusive former boyfriend, to a bidder with a rich sister and a shady real estate agent who’s disgruntled over Darby’s appointment as the agent for the Carson Creek sale. Overly obvious planting of clues distracts, although readers may enjoy the wine country milieu and tense climax. Agent: Tristram Coburn, Tristram C. Coburn Literary Management. (Apr.)