THE WINE JELLY MURDER
A Luscious Delights Mystery
by
Meg Benjamin
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Cozy Mystery
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Publication Date: September 1, 2025
Page count: 280 pages
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SYNOPSIS:
Roxy Constantine and
Nate Robicheaux are into weddings, both for work and family. But when the
obnoxious father of the bride is murdered at the engagement party, they find
out more about his business than they bargained for.
Now someone wants to stop Roxy from investigating even as she pulls out all the
stops on a super New Year’s Eve wedding celebration for her uncle.
She’ll need more than wine jelly favors and wedding cake to stop the killer.
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ENJOY AN EXCERPT:
As I stepped onto the landing, I heard something that
sounded like a sob. “Did you hear that?”
“What?”
“That sound. It was over…” As I started across the landing
toward the stairs, I heard another sob, much louder this time, coming from the
stairs leading down to the lower floor. “Is anybody there?” I called.
“Roxy?” It sounded like Thalia, but a very different Thalia
from the normal, terrifyingly efficient woman we’d been working with. I stepped
quickly to the landing and peered toward the lower floor.
And saw Thalia Rosenberg leaning over Emerson Pollack, who
lay spread-eagled on the concrete floor.
From where I stood, he looked very dead.
I ran down the steps. The stairwell was very dark although
the light from above streamed down on Pollack’s body where it lay. Nate was at
my heels.
Thalia knelt beside Pollack, her face the color of the snow
still falling outside. “We need to call an ambulance,” she said. “He’s…hurt.”
Judging by the way Pollack was splayed on the floor, I
didn’t think an ambulance would do much good. I put my hand on her shoulder.
“Come on, Thalia. Step away from him now.”
Nate had climbed up the stairs and was now speaking urgently
into his phone. I heard the words “accident” and “serious injuries,” which
might well be true, as far as the “serious injuries” went. I was less certain
about the “accident” part.
Thalia looked like she might faint or have hysterics,
neither of which I wanted to deal with right then.
She leaned toward me, her brown eyes huge in her pale face.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “My God. He’s dead, isn’t he?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Meg Benjamin is
an award-winning author of romance and cozy mysteries. Meg’s cozy mystery
series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth
based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Her Konigsburg series is
set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are
set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing and
from Meg’s indie line). Along with romance and cozies, Meg is also the author
of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk
trilogy from Meg’s indie line.
Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including
an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion
from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, the Carly Crown Jewel of
Books from the Mid-America Romance Authors, and the Award of Excellence from
Colorado Romance Writers.
REVIEW:
5 stars!
A hurry-up wedding rushes Roxy and Nate into the midst of
another murder.
The Wine Jelly Murder is the fifth book in author Meg
Benjamin’s clever, cozy, and culinary-themed Luscious Delights Mystery series,
and this time, a hurry-up wedding catering job puts Roxy and Nate at the scene
of a murder once again. When the obnoxious father of the bride is found
murdered after an engagement party and Madge Robicheaux’s friend, wedding
planner extraordinaire Thalia Rosenberg, becomes the prime suspect in his
death, Madge begs Roxy to work her investigative magic to find out who all had it
in for Emerson Pollack and get her friend off the hook.
Roxy and Nate are a fun couple, slowly moving closer to a real
commitment, and both are working their tails off to build their respective
businesses. The upcoming holidays are critical to their success as catering
opportunities abound and the demand for Roxy’s gourmet jams and jellies for
gifting booms. I enjoyed how they consciously tried to spend additional time
together, even if it meant working evening events or completing unplanned tasks
to move the arrangements for Uncle Mike’s and Madge’s wedding to each other
along to do so.
As is usual for this series, there is a lot of discussion of
delicious food and Roxy’s processes for inventing jams and jellies, all worked
into the story between wedding preparations, catering events, community
dinners, and amateur sleuthing. Roxy’s involvement garners results, though,
with twists and turns along the way to keep readers guessing. I enjoyed the appearances
of recurring characters and the variety of new ones, especially the awful
father of the bride and his daughter, Jennifer. Although this is the fifth book
in the series, each one can be read and enjoyed as a standalone novel.
I recommend THE WINE JELLY MURDER to cozy mystery readers,
especially those who are fans of culinary-themed stories.
GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY
Meg Benjamin will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift
card to a randomly drawn winner.
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This looks like an awesome read. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a interesting book.
ReplyDeleteWine Jelly Murder sounds like a book that I will enjoy reading.
ReplyDeleteNancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com
What is your scene scene in this book?
ReplyDelete