Review: Blood on the Vine

Blood on the Vine by J.T. Falco
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Abigail Reno
Presented by Spotify Audiobooks

Clearly written by a man, this one.

Aside from the gratuitous sex scenes, though, not too bad a crime novel.

Two bodies turn up so our protagonist is sent back to her hometown in Napa Valley to investigate. Along the way she's got to deal with the local rich family, a cult, and the sheriff that put her father in prison many years ago for the murder of her best friend.

I was quite intrigued at first but once the cult was introduced my mind started to drift a little bit. It all seemed a bit too far-fetched and I just found it hard to follow how everything was tying in.

The pace wasn't too bad - there always seemed to be something happening and there are plenty of different threads to follow. Lana is not too bad for a protagonist, but nothing particularly new, either.

Some of the occurrences did seem a bit unnecessary for me, and the male author was very evident. I don't think it needed as much detail as it included.

I liked the setting, with some interesting tidbits on wine-making and the like.

The narrator was decent, and gave a good performance. It was fairly easy to distinguish most voices, and there was enough emotion to convey urgency when needed. I'd happily listen to this narrator again.

Nothing particularly memorable, but a neat crime novel that ties everything together nicely.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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