Review of ‘Dying on the Vine’ by Ann Roberts
Ari is back! The way the last book ended, two years ago, I thought that might be the end of this series. I was happy that was not the case and excited to read this book 8 in the ‘Ari Adams Mystery’ series. What I love about this series is while the mysteries are fun, there is also a ton of angst and drama going on. I have actually used the words soap-opera-like to describe these books. However, where we are in the series now, Ari’s life is actually in a happy and healthy spot so the drama is with the cast of characters around her instead. Now normally I highly suggest reading these in order because of all the relationship drama, but because in this book it doesn’t happen to Ari, I think you could read this book without reading the others. It would give you a feel for the characters, and if you like the feel then you could go back to the beginning and read all the fun juiciness you missed.
Jane, Ari’s best friend, is finally settling down and tying the knot. Jane brings Ari to a vineyard that her best friend and wife run, for a weekend of fun and checking out the wedding venue. But before Ari and Jane can even arrive, a body is found in the vineyard. The owner is so scared of losing business so she begs Ari to look into the murder. Can Ari solve the case when the deputy sheriff wants Ari to stay away and mind her own business?
I really like this lesbian mystery book series. These are by far my favorite novels that Roberts writes so I enjoyed the familiar feeling of being with characters I enjoy. As I mentioned above, Ari is finally in a good place so I was wondering where Roberts could put in some drama-rama since she loves to torture her characters in this series. I had nothing to worry about since there was still plenty to go around with the large cast of characters and I had fun reading it. The mystery was well done with enough clues that you could try to solve it along with Ari. I really loved the setting of the vineyard. It’s clear that Roberts did a ton of research and it just made the book come alive for me. I was sad when it was over and wished I had even more to read.
The first book in this series starts a bit slow, but the other 7 books have really been a blast. I will keep reading Ari as long as Roberts writes her. If you are looking for a mystery series that is a step above cozy’s, with plenty of soap opera angst, this series is for you.
An ARC was given to me for an honest review.
