Title: Wine Red Wrath
Author: Emily Oberton
Series: Hadley Home Design Cozy Mystery #5
Main Characters: Hadley, Detective Dennis Appley
Other Characters: Madame Balleroy, Zelia Belleroy, Seth, Jarod, Camille, Mitzy, Hal, Natasha, Erin, Chloe, Kraig, Eileen. Aunt Deb, Roy, Michael
Location: Darlington HIlls
Pets: Hadley’s Cat Razzy
Stars: 5
This was another great book in the Hadley Home Design series. Hadley is the story’s main character. She is a wonderful friend and very likeable. She is not, however, a cook. She has everyone over for Thanksgiving dinner but, Salmonella is something she didn’t anticipate serving for the Thanksgiving feast. Yep, you guessed it, everyone got sick after Thanksgiving dinner.
Because of Hadley’s lack of culinary skills, Aunt Deb enrolls in cooking school. Even though Hadley isn’t excited about cooking school, she still agrees to go. However, she wasn’t prepared for the curriculum to include a dead corpse. The investigation of this mystery involves a number of suspects with many twists. The plot gets more complicated when someone else ends up dead.
The detective in charge of this case has a mystery of his own. Due to another case he is working on, he has received threatening letters. Since his young niece will be staying with him for a bit, he decides he needs to move out of his house temporarily. Hadley extends an invitation to him and his niece to stay at Ladyvale Manor, which she inherited following the murder of its owner.
There are some side stories in addition to two murders. Who wrote the threatening letter to Detective Appley? Is the former owner still haunting Ladyvale Manor? Could there be a romance in Hadley’s future? This book has several components, including a stalker, a haunted mansion, two murders, and a developing relationship.
This series is a lot of fun. Every character is compelling and well-developed. I’m eager to see more of the series to witness Hadley’s romantic developments and the other crimes she will be solving.
If you enjoy fantastic cozy mysteries with unexpected twists, slow-burning romances, and endearing characters, you will love this series. Even though you can read this book as a standalone, I recommend reading them in order so you can really get to know the characters.
I received this book as part of the ARC team and this review is my honest opinion.
Happy Reading!
CozyRom Books & Coffee 