Michele Scott. Corked by Cabernet: A Wine Lover’s Mystery (2009) 260 pp. [pbo]
Nikki Sands just wants to get moved in with her boyfriend Derek Malveaux, when his brother Simon and boyfriend Marco insist that she help out with the latest group of guests at their spa. Led by the Guru Sansibaba, otherwise known as Alan, this high priced club includes Simon and Marco, Japanese businessman Iwao Yaminoto and his wife, New Yorkers Rube and Rose Pearlman, aspiring horror writer Kurt Kensington, martial arts expert Juan Gonzales as well as the Guru’s family, wife Lulu, son Eli, daughters Hayden and Sierra and Hayden’s fiance, book publisher Rich Higgins. A promised week of enlightenment and relaxation becomes a nightmare when one of the Guru’s followers turns up dead on the Napa Valley Wine train with a cork stuffed in his mouth.
Setting: Napa Valley