Book Review: Full Bodied Murder by Christine M. Blum (Rose Avenue Wine Club Mysteries #1)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Halsey; setting

Cons: Too much keeps the book unfocused

The Bottom Line:

Wine series debuts

Too much packed into this book

Makes book uneven

Uneven Debut

Since I don’t drink wine, I had initially passed on the Rose Avenue Wine Club mysteries, but after meeting the author, I decided to give Full Bodied Murder, the first in the series, a try.  I had really hoped to like it, but the flaws made it uneven.

Annie “Halsey” Hall has moved from New York City to Southern California, buying a house on Rose Avenue just a couple miles south of Santa Monica and a couple of miles from the coast.  She’s excited about her new neighborhood, except for her snooping next-door neighbor, and pleased to have been invited to join the Rose Avenue Wine Club.  Not only does she love wine, but she figures this is a great way to make new friends.

On her way to her first meeting, Halsey and her puppy, Bardot, stumble into the wrong house and find a dead body in the backyard.  Even though Halsey has never met the victim, the police consider her their prime suspect.  With the help of her new friends, Halsey begins to investigate.  But with everything happening in the neighborhood, will they be able to figure out what really happened in time to clear Halsey?

The problem with this book is that it doesn’t seem focused.  At times, the author will reference Halsey having done something we had never seen before.  I originally thought this was a fractured time line issue, a huge pet peeve, but as I entered the second half of the book, I realized that this book was taking place over the course of several months.  Might that account for what I thought were time line issues?  I really couldn’t tell because it just wasn’t focused enough for me to know.

Part of this is because the book tries to do too much.  There is a sub-plot with Halsey’s dog that is fun and interesting, but it could have been a plot thread that carried over into multiple books in the series instead of taking up so much time here.  Likewise, the romantic sub-plot has enough storyline here to fuel several books, although I must say I thought Halsey was rather stupid in the romance department for the first half of the book.

Then there’s the mystery.  Halsey soon learns that her new picture perfect neighborhood isn’t quite as perfect as it looks at first, which is what you’d expect in a mystery.  It does seem like the book has a bit too much plot, although it is hard to argue that since these all provide great red herrings for the mystery.  I was stymied on who the killer was and what was really happening until Halsey figured it out, which is always a good thing.  Even then, I thought a vital clue was a bit questionable because of the time frame involved in the book.  If it had taken place over the course of a week, it would make more sense.

The characters are a bit soft as well.  Halsey and Bardot are certainly well developed, but it was hard to keep all the women of the wine club straight, especially since we also have suspects to remember.  I’m not necessarily worried about this since they can become better developed as the series progresses, but it is still a weakness.

Really, this book feels like an early draft of the story.  There is definitely promise here, but it needed some serious work to focus on and polish up those gems.

I was a bit surprised to find a fair amount of foul language here.  While it doesn’t rise to the level of the foul language in a harder mystery or thriller, it is more than any other cozy I’ve read, even those that are pushing this boundary.

One thing that did draw me to the book was the Southern California setting.  While I’m not familiar with the particular neighborhood featured, or the real neighborhood that inspired it, I still get a kick out of seeing place names I’m familiar with pop up in the book.

Those who do enjoy wine will appreciate the wine list included at the end that features all the wine enjoyed over the course of this book.  (And there is plenty of it.)  Non-wine drinkers like me will appreciate the glossary of wine terms at the end.

I already have the second book in the series, and I am tempted to give it a try at some point.  There is potential in Full Bodied Murder, and I’d like to see how the series progresses as it ages.