The Merlot Murders by Ellen Crosby

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Lucie Montgomery fled to France after a crippling automobile accident, leaving behind her father, her sister and brother, and the family vineyard.  When the call comes that her father has died, Lucie returns to Virginia for the funeral.  She is shocked by the changes in two years:  not only is the family home and business in trouble, but her siblings Eli and Mia seem to have turned into people she doesn’t know any more. Even more shocking, they both seem to want to sell the land that has been in the Montgomery family for generations.  Upset, Lucie refuses to agree to the sale, angering her brother.

There’s more to come. Fitz, Lucie’s godfather, tells her of his suspicions that her father’s death was no accident and promises to support her in her decision not to sell the vineyard. This isn’t an idle gesture:  along with Lucie, Eli, and Mia, Fitz has a vote in what happens to the property.  But when Fitz turns up dead at the winery, Lucie starts asking questions that someone doesn’t want answered.

I picked this up as a Book Bingo category book; I’d heard good things about Crosby’s mysteries but just had not taken the time to read one.  I was very pleasantly surprised by the amount of history and discussion of winemaking that I found in its pages, not to mention a dandy mystery with interesting, well-developed characters.  Lucie herself is a prickly protagonist, stubborn and reluctant to trust anyone—often with good reason.  Her former boyfriend and the cause of her accident is now having an affair with her sister; her brother seems in thrall to his wife, desperately trying to win her approval at every turn. Quinn, the new vintner hired by her father, appears arrogant and dismissive of Lucie, and he has a shady past.

I thoroughly enjoyed the history. Crosby has done her research, and it shows. Thomas Jefferson is often invoked because of his determination to make splendid American wines, but I hadn’t realized how long settlers had tried for good wine in Virginia. There’s also some interesting information about making wine itself, and I found myself thinking about all the local wineries that dot the Southwest Virginia landscape these days.

The only thing I could have wished for was a bit more time spent after the dénouement. I wanted to see the reactions of some of the characters to the revelations but that’s a small quibble.  Besides, it makes me want to go to the next book!

Books in the series are:

1. The Merlot Murders

 2. The Chardonnay Charade

3. The Bordeaux Betrayal

4. The Riesling Retribution

5. The Viognier Vendetta

6. The Sauvignon Secret

7. The Champagne Conspiracy

8. The Vineyard Victims

9. Harvest of Secrets

10. The Angels' Share

11. The French Paradox

12. Bitter Roots

13. Deeds Left Undone (2025)

Clinchco: History of a Coal Camp by Dennis Reedy and Jeff Reedy

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Many people enjoy reading books on the history of our area.  Our shelvers will testify to the number of times they have re-shelved books by Bud Phillips or Robert Loving’s Double Destiny.  Other books about local communities are also popular, such as Kathy Shearer’s books on Wilder and Cleveland.  Recently we added a title on Clinchco, in Dickenson County, Virginia.

Clinchco was named for the Clinchfield company—either the railroad or the coal corporations. It was a rather diverse town for the area, with a number of immigrants who came to work in the mines alongside the Appalachian natives.  The mines opened around 1916, according the entry in the book, and the town became a thriving concern with many activities.

The book is engagingly written, bringing together family stories along with the history of an area, including good times and bad.  As one of the authors says in the preface, he went back to Clinchco time and again to do interviews because “we are fast getting to the point where ‘there is no one left to ask’ when it comes to the history of Clinchco.” Sadly, that is true for more than one area now.

I was really impressed by the number and quality of the photos included in the book.  I like looking at old photos, so I enjoyed these thoroughly.  For example, there are photos and drawings of a “bake oven” used by Hungarian and Italian immigrants in the 20s and 1930s, river baptisms in the 1940s, mining and railroad photos, street scenes, and more. Some of the more dramatic ones were of flooding in the 1970s and the bridge that collapsed under the weight of a tractor trailer that attempted to cross.  Infamous court cases, train and mine accidents are included, as well as carnivals and baseball games.

And I was delighted to see an index!

This book is a treasure trove for genealogists and historians, but also for anyone who wants a feel for what life was like “way back when” without it being seen through rose colored glasses. I gave this book to someone who was somewhat familiar with the area, thinking he might like to glance through it.  I learned later he had sat up with it until the wee small hours of the morning, having been captivated by some of the stories.  I think that says a lot.

We have one copy to check out and one copy to stay in the library in our Genealogy/ Local History collection.

Blue John Remembers by Clarence Baker Kearfott

Reviewed by Kristin

 

Blue John Remembers is a collection of local remembrances by architect Clarence Baker Kearfott found in the Bristol Herald Courier in the 1950s, likely in 1958. Published in book format by the Bristol Historical Association in 1995, the articles are an eyewitness account of life in the Bristol area from the first half of the 20^th century.

 

I knew we had this book in the genealogy and local history section, but I had never picked it up. When I came across a copy and saw the name Kearfott, I thought “AHA!” While working on the city directory digitization project, I saw hundreds of banner ads showcasing Clarence Kearfott as a prominent local architect. The biography in the front of this collection says that he designed churches, colleges, industrial plants, hospitals, schools, and many residences throughout the area, as well as much of Hungry Mother State Park. His daughter Ruth Kearfott Harris provided a list of buildings and residences that he built, and it goes on for several pages.

 

Each column is just a page or two in the book, many with accompanying illustrations that give a nice flavor to the memories contained within. Reading about the first automobile in Bristol in 1907, you can envision the snorting horses and the rutted roads as the newfangled contraption came putt-putting along. A more fanciful story is told in the era of the Space Race as Kearfott recalls his imagined trip to the moon way back in 1901, courtesy of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

 

Examining the writing with a backdrop of its time, I found a few hints that made it obvious these columns were written by a white man of privilege in the 1950s South. His memories of people of other races or nationalities seemed a bit condescending, although not overtly crass or cruel. Kearfott’s 1916 memory of a German music teacher named Kratochwill was distinctly marked by anti-German feelings, and he noted that public sentiment caused the man to leave Bristol. I did a little genealogical searching and found that Rudolph Arbrecht Kratochwill did indeed teach music at Sullins Academy and Virginia Intermont College, and moved to Greeneville, Tennessee a few years later where he obtained his United States citizenship in 1924.

 

Likewise, I was intrigued by some other characters mentioned in the columns, and was able to find “Old Taylor,” a black fishmonger in the 1910 census. He was George Taylor, age 63, a retail merchant of fish and oysters. “Aunt Liz Watson” had a unique house across from East Hill Cemetery, hung with bright metal product signs, and a herd of goats. I didn’t find mention of her goat keeping in the census, but she did live at 332 East State Street, and when she died on July 18, 1950, she was recorded as being approximately 115 years old.

 

Kearfott talks about the Marrying Parson Burroughs, the State Line Dispute, the Harmeling Opera House, Halley’s Comet in 1910, the Aurora Borealis in 1918, indoor plumbing, and so much more. This first-hand account of local happenings is well worth reading.

Martin Clunes Islands of America DVD

Reviewed by Jeanne

I enjoy a number of British TV series including Doc Martin, about an irascible physician with an aversion to blood and a dreadful bedside manner. (And yes, the library owns the series on DVD!) I was intrigued to see that the actor who plays the titular doctor has done some travelogues so I put in a request for “Martin Clunes:  Islands of America.”  

There are four episodes in the series, starting with Hawaii’s islands and then moving on to Alaska, just to get in the extremes.  Clunes is an exuberant guide, determined to enjoy himself if at all possible.  He gets a bit more than he bargained for in Hawaii, as Kilauea was still erupting about that time. He also visits the islands off the coast of Washington state, California, New Jersey and the island of Puerto Rico, among others.

I confess I skipped ahead and started with the episode where he meets some Gullah people who live on the lowlands and islands of Georgia and South Carolina. Then it’s on to North Carolina to Roanoke Island and the long-running outdoor drama about the Lost Colony.  He talks with cast members and gives the audience some background about the mystery (the primary audience is British, after all).  Next he and the crew go to Virginia and to the annual pony swim at Chincoteague.  It’s obvious Clunes is a real animal lover, especially of horses.  His excitement and enthusiasm is palpable.

I had thought I might just watch the one episode, do a quick review, and call it quits.  But Clunes was having such a good time I ended up watching all four.  Other stops include the island of Manhattan where Clunes goes up in the Empire State Building despite his fear of heights.  I could identify.  But he gamely made his way around, white-knuckling the guard rail and trying to be pleased that he was outside in an area not usually open to tourists. He was perhaps most excited on a visit to Avery Island, Louisiana where the McIllhenny family has made their world famous tabasco sauce for over five generations.  Clunes is a fan of the sauce, and he was interested in every aspect of the production.

In short, I was happily entertained and even learned a few things.  One is not to taste the tabasco mash, but another is to look for other travelogues with Martin Clunes.

Shelved Under Murder by Victoria Gilbert

Reviewed by Jeanne

Moving back to Taylorsville, Virginia after a broken relationship, Amy Webber is (mostly) enjoying her job as director of the local public library.  The upcoming yard sale to benefit the library is stressful, and made more so by the demands of a board member, but the promised donation of a painting or two by a well-known local artist gives Amy hope that the sale will be a success.  Plans are derailed when the artist is found murdered, stabbed with her own palette knife.  Things get more complicated when some forged paintings are discovered at the artist’s studio, and Amy is once again drawn into a murder investigation that may have personal implications:  her late uncle may also have been involved in the forgeries.

The second entry in the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series reunites readers with the close knit characters introduced in A Murder for the Books.  As with the first, this is a charming, cozy read with food, friends, and sleuthing.  Amy’s background in Art History is put to good use and fans are treated to the growing romance between Amy and her neighbor.  I particularly enjoyed the art aspect of the story:  I like for my cozies to impart a little information along with the entertainment.  Unlike many cozies, Gilbert’s two books have featured action packed endings and this one did particularly well in that department for me. I also liked the way dubious characters from the first book are explored more fully this time.  Character development is one thing I look for in a successful series, and Gilbert seems to be prepared to plumb the depths. She isn’t afraid to shake things up a bit, either.

However, if you plan to read the first book in the series, you’ll find the author has pretty much spoiled that mystery for you in this book.  Names are named and motives are described.  However, if you read just for the fun of the characters, you’ll have a good time even knowing whodunit.

I’ll be interested in seeing what she does in the next book, and am especially curious to see what becomes of a couple of the supporting characters.