Dying on the Vine

In Cooper’s disappointing follow-up to 2016’s Terror in Taffeta, wedding planner Kelsey McKenna finds herself in trouble after discovering the body of a colleague, Babs Norton, “the self-proclaimed Queen of Wine Country Weddings,” in Babs’s San Francisco office during a professional call. After the memorial service for Babs, Kelsey returns to Babs’s office to picks up some files only to be accused of murder by Babs’s shrewish assistant, Stefan Pierce. Kelsey feels compelled to investigate for her own self-preservation, enlisting the help of her resourceful assistant, Laurel, and photographer friend Brody Marx. Along the way, Stefan disappears, and Kelsey encounters a tipsy sister of Babs, a smooth CEO of a Napa winery and his rude winemaker brother, a good cop–bad cop duo, and a volatile father of the bride. Callous behavior by Kelsey, plotting problems, and loose ends contribute to a less-than-satisfying read. [em]Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Agency. (Apr.) [/em]