GRAPE NOIR by Kit Sloane

GRAPE NOIR by Kit Sloane
Deadly Alibi Press - 2001
ISBN: 1886199132 -
Amateur Sleuth

Reviewed by Robyn Glazer, MyShelf.com
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It's the first vacation that Margot O'Bannion and Max Skull have ever managed to take together. With all the possibilities in the world open to them, they decide to go to wine country. Wine, sun and privacy. What could be better than that and what could possibly go wrong? According to Margot's luck, everything. On the very first day of wine tours, a woman is fatally poisoned by a glass of the finest wine. When the woman turns out to be Max's number one fan, Max is afraid the police will look at him as a suspect. To soothe his nervousness, Max and Margot go out for a fancy dinner and run into the brother of the man who owned the poisoned wine. One thing leads to another and Margot and Max end up staying with Paolo and Diana. Once at their place, things spin even more out of control. It is up to Margot to try and salvage the rest of her vacation and maybe her life.

Grape Noir is the second installment in the Margot and Max series. I really enjoyed this book because there was just so much going on to keep me interested. Between learning about wine, murder and feuding brothers, my eyes never strayed off the paper. While in the first book of the series the characters were well explained, they were totally fleshed out in this novel. The relationships are original and have potential to stay fresh for quite a while. I have no doubt Kit Sloane will live up to this potential and go even further. She truly hit her stride with this book and I highly recommend it.