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The Wine Trail Mysteries #7

From Port to Rigor Morte

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Norrie Ellington has to pour herself into the case to bottle up a crafty killer . . .

With her overlong stay at Two Witches Winery extended yet again, screenwriter Norrie Ellington wants nothing more than to lay low and avoid murder investigations at all costs. Then two neighborhood boys show up at the winery saying they’ve discovered what looks like a dead body in a nearby woods, and Norrie’s curiosity gets the better of her. When the body turns out to be a local labor manager and the sheriff suspects a neighboring winery of foul play, Norrie turns sleuth once again.

Following the few clues found at the scene, Norrie soon learns that the victim had been charging exorbitant amounts for the seasonal workers he supplied to the vineyards, meaning any of the owners could have wanted him out of the way. And when another dead body is found, Norrie’s dizzying list of suspects threatens to overwhelm her. But with the stakes higher than ever, her biggest fear may be that if the local sheriff doesn’t kill her for meddling, there’s a murderer on the loose who surely will . . .

236 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 20, 2021

6 people are currently reading
61 people want to read

About the author

J.C. Eaton

31 books344 followers
Ann I. Goldfarb
New York native Ann I. Goldfarb spent most of her life in education, first as a classroom teacher and later as a middle school principal and professional staff developer. Writing as J. C. Eaton, along with her husband, James Clapp, they have authored the Sophie Kimball Mysteries (Kensington), The Wine Trail Mysteries (Kensington Lyrical Underground), and coming in August 2018, The Marcie Rayner Mysteries (Camel). In addition, Ann has nine published YA time travel mysteries under her own name. Visit the websites at:
www.jceatonmysteries.com
www.facebook.com/JCEatonauthor/
www.timetravelmysteries.com

James E. Clapp
When James E. Clapp retired as the tasting room manager for a large upstate New York winery, he never imagined he’d be co-authoring cozy mysteries with his wife, Ann I. Goldfarb. Non-fiction in the form of informational brochures and workshop materials treating the winery industry were his forte along with an extensive background and experience in construction that started with his service in the U.S. Navy and included vocational school classroom teaching. Visit the website at www.jceatonauthor.com

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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Bridget.
2,789 reviews131 followers
May 15, 2021
From Port to Rigor Morte is the 7th book in the Wine Trail Mystery series and this was my 2nd dip into the series. Although it was book seven, I had no difficulties keeping up with characters and events and it worked for me as an individual story. It was a very entertaining read with stacks of humour and I readily found myself chuckling away.

Winery manager Norrie Ellington was a marvellous protagonist whom I find to be compassionate and smart. Set in Penn Yan in the Finger Lakes region of New York, Norrie is looking after the Two Witches Winery for a year while her sister, Francine and brother in law, Jason are in Costa Rica. Her time is almost up and she's counting down the days until she can go to the Hamptons with her friends, but her stay in Penn Yan has been extended as Francine and Jason are going to Madagascar, so Norrie's still in town, overseeing the preparations for the introduction of a new port wine. Two young lads that she knows come to her with a problem - they have discovered a murdered body.

The book was well-crafted, swift-paced and thoroughly entertaining. The mystery was very engaging and I was kept guessing until the end of this lively tale. I’m not sure why I waited so long to try this series, but I am delighted I have continued with it. There are quite a few instalments to catch up on and I can’t wait to revisit Penn Yan again. Very highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.
Profile Image for Cozy Reviews.
2,050 reviews5 followers
May 11, 2021
From Port to Rigor Morte is the seventh book in the The Wine Trail Mysteries series by J. C. Eaton. I love the title right away and am always pleased to return to this fun smart cozy series. The author is a favorite cozy author of mine and I never miss any of her books. I enjoyed the previous 6 books in the series. This is a series I highly recommend for your cozy mystery reading enjoyment.

I love the smart charcters in this series. The author has a talent for writing with humor and fun . The sleuth was very well crafted and kept me guessing. I love the settings of a family run winery . The supporting charcters all add to the fun. I recommend this next in series . This is a fun series that I hope continues .
Profile Image for Linda.
Author 14 books798 followers
May 15, 2021
What a joy it was to take another romp with Norrie Ellington through the vineyards of upstate New York. Once again, murder is on the wine list and a devious killer is on the loose. As always, Norrie finds herself in the thick of things…not to mention at odds with Grizzly Gary--the cranky local sheriff. With an eclectic cast of characters as cohorts, Norrie puts together the puzzling clues and not a moment too soon. Because killers don’t like their plans to be thwarted, and that’s exactly what Norrie has in mind...

Profile Image for JoAnne McMaster (Any Good Book).
1,400 reviews27 followers
May 24, 2021
Norrie Ellington is a screenwriter who got roped into taking care of her family's winery when her sister Francine and her husband left the country temporarily for research. Since she's been there, she's discovered more bodies than she wanted, which was zero. But just when things are settling down, a boy from a neighboring winery comes to Norrie with a problem: he and his friend have discovered a dead body. Norrie's curiosity gets the better of her, and she enlists a friend to check it out...unfortunately, it is the body of a dead man, and he turns out to be a labor manager who supplies seasonal workers for some of the other wineries. Even more unfortunately, the boy's father was seen arguing with the man, and now he's the main suspect.

So Norrie and her friend Theo, (owner of Grey Egret Winery) are once again embroiled in a murder mystery. Hoping to stay under the radar of the local sheriff, who already has had his eye on Norrie many times (and not in a good way), are trying to find the real killer. But with little Eli and his best friend Stuart are tangled up in the web, Norrie has her hands full. She also might find that the web is more twisted than she knows, and a killer just might be more surprising than she thinks...

I do like J.C. Eaton's books quite a bit. They're very descriptive and also quite a twisted web; so much so that you might need a cheat sheet to keep things straight. In this series, Norrie just wants to go back home and forget the winery, but family obligations won't allow that. Also the fact that she keeps getting involved one way or another in murders. It's bad enough that she's found dead bodies, but now people are bringing dead bodies to her -- as in the case of Eli and Stuart, who do just that, telling her she needs to go look at one.

The entire situation becomes more strange and often funny with the boys being a bit more precocious than anyone could ever imagine. So much so that Theo wants to stay far away from them (as if that's going to happen). But it's also rather endearing and the story is fun and engaging, and worth reading in one sitting, as I did.

When we get closer to the end and everything begins to join tightly, Norrie's mind starts to put it all together quickly and it's a different climax with a humorous twist that had me chuckling. I really did enjoy this mystery and hope to see more of these characters in the next. Recommended.

I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
3,303 reviews39 followers
April 23, 2021
From Port to Rigor Morte by JC Eaton is an entertaining cozy mystery featuring Norrie Ellington who has been substituting for her sister and her etymologist husband who are off chasing rare insects. She is nearly at the end of her stint when it is extended. Then she has discovered visitors: earlier she had befriended two young boys when she had not reported them to their parents after a small tagging incident. Now they thought the three of them were bosom buddies. They were there to tell her they had discovered a body. In another attempt to avoid the wrath of their parents, they came to her as she had a certain expertise. She called her friend down the street to join her for scoping out what she believed would be a hairy branch, when in fact it turned out to be a body, a body covered in flies.

The sheriff was not happy to see her at the crime scene. She was not happy to see him as she was of the firm belief that the first clue he found would be the last one, and the wrong person would be arrested. There were lots of twists and turns in this book, not all crime-related. Norrie is a fun character and the setting could not be better: vineyards and wine tasting. These two boys were always getting into something and Norrie was their new best friend. They became another mystery as the book wore on. This was a book about friendship, too. Norrie had made some good ones while she had been in the area and they would be hard to leave. She even had a boyfriend, who happily joined her on her investigations. There is something for everyone in this happy cozy. I recommend it.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of From Port to Rigor Morte by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #fromporttorigormorte
Profile Image for Lori Alden Holuta.
Author 19 books68 followers
April 28, 2021
Screenplay writer Norrie Ellington is babysitting her sister and brother-in-law's business, the Two Witches Winery, while they travel the world looking for insects (yes really!) Norrie's also trying to keep up with her own job, writing romantic screenplays for television. But it seems yet another dead body has turned up in wine country and she just can't resist trying to solve the case.

While the overall mystery held my interest, I felt that some of the clues Norrie coaxed out of the locals were obtained far too easily. For example, when she decided to talk about the floral, perfumy notes of a wine in order to coax a suspect into talking about a lingering perfume clue, the ploy was such an immediate success that it felt contrived. Finding a seat in a local bar right next to a person of interest was convenient, but while Norrie listened in to his conversation with the bartender, she gained more information in ten minutes than Nancy Drew could have rounded up in a week.

What did I love? The two incorrigible young boys who not only got the story rolling, but kept it energized all the way through. Nearly every character was well-written and interesting.  The case kept me guessing all the way, and I found myself grabbing my Kindle often, needing to see where we were going.

I have not read the previous six books, but this one stands on its own quite well, so if you're new to The Wine Trail Mysteries, don't worry about that. Love a cozy? I'll admit this one's got snuggle power.

My thanks to author J.C. Eaton, NetGalley, and Beyond the Page Publishing for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.
Profile Image for Tracy Condie.
745 reviews5 followers
April 28, 2021
Apparently when you stumble upon enough dead bodies, you become a bit of an expert at cadaver identification, at least in the eyes of an 11 year old. Instead of a trip to the cost Norrie is drawn into another murder mystery, this time it is to stop the impending arrival of Catherine's son Steven. It seems like a lot of work, maybe it would be easier to have Bradley spend the weekend or to just point blank tell Catherine that she is not available. It would be much much easier than dealing with Eli the kid who keeps finding dead bodies and getting into mischief. Not that Norrie needs any help or incentive to go sleuthing or in getting her friends like Theo and Don or her special friend Bradley to join in. Another wild adventure for Norrie that had me guessing about the way the pieces fit together. I like how she has tried multiple ways to keep her clues straight. Because there are way too many red herrings to not write that stuff down. How do these bodies/deaths link together and is it really about the Port or something else. It will keep you guessing so I suggest you grab something yummy from Wegmans and a glass of port or any other grape related libation and settle in for another Wine Trail Mystery. Of course the biggest mystery of all is when Norrie's sister and brother in law will be back from hunting rare bugs. I hope they stay away for at least 3 more books!
2,251 reviews31 followers
June 29, 2021
Princess Fuzzypants here: Norrie is anxiously awaiting the return of her sister and brother in law so she can return full time to her career of screen writing rather than babysitting the family vineyard and winery. The body count has gone up substantially since she arrived back home and she has two accomplices this time around. Two very young, very rascally assistants in Eli and Stuart. Eli, the son of a local winemaker who is about to debut a new port, not only has overheard conversation that might connect his father to some nefarious dealings, but he has the penchant for discovering bodies. Two of them. At different times and places. And rather than go to the police or his parents, he goes to Norrie who ends up encouraging the two miscreants.

She gets her usual cast of characters involved as she tries to solve the murder(s). While the local constabulary plods along focussed on the easiest leads, Norrie and company,including the two boys, dig deeper and find there is a hornet’s nest hidden in the vines and it is a race to figure out who is the head hornet. Someone is going to be stung and Norrie can only hope it is neither her nor her young friends.

As always, the story is fast paced with well developed and endearing characters. They are tales for both the wine lover and those who enjoy a sparkling read. Five purrs and two paws up.



Profile Image for Nikki.
1,193 reviews28 followers
April 28, 2021
From Port to Rigor Morte (The Wine Trail Mysteries #7) by J. C. Eaton
Publisher: Beyond the Page Publishing
Genre: Humor | Mystery & Thrillers
Publication Date: April 20, 2021

From Port to Rigor Morte is the seventh book in the The Wine Trail Mysteries series by J. C. Eaton. I had not read the previous books, but was easily able to read this as a standalone mystery.

This was such an enjoyable book! It was very funny and cleverly written! I thought the story was great and I couldn't get enough of it! I loved the settings and the characters! I found the mystery to be so good and I enjoyed trying to figure it out!

I look forward to reading the other books in the series!

I'm so grateful to J. C. Eaton, Beyond the Page Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.
Profile Image for Ann.
6,045 reviews85 followers
September 10, 2021
This is book 7 in the Wine Trail Mysteries series. Norrie has extended her stay at Two Witches Winery While her sister and her husband search for bugs in the wilds of Madagascar. Norrie hopes to be finishing her screen lay but dead bodies are piling up at the neighboring wineries. When two young neighborhood boys show up and report seeing a dead body Norrie goes for a look see. When the boys find a second body and tell Norrie about it the police are getting a little upset with the situation.This book can be read as a stand alone with some re-0ccuring characters and some great new ones. I love these kids and hope they appear again in future books. I also enjoyed learning a little more about wine and wine tastings. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Profile Image for Jan.
6,531 reviews100 followers
April 6, 2021
This is just too much fun and sleuthing! Easily stands alone but I'm reading the others for the fun! Norrie is a script writer and co owner of brother's grapes and wine business and is minding the preparation for the introduction of a new port wine when everything goes sideways. A pair of boys she knows come to her with a problem. The first murdered body. Norrie heads into things without thinking and is joined in the lunacy by friends and other wineries despite the head shaking attitude of the local law. Tons of situational and verbal humor! Fun characters and interesting observations. Loved it!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Beyond the Page Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!
2,292 reviews40 followers
April 20, 2021
Norrie Ellington was supposed to be running the family winery for a year, while her sister and brother in law were tracking an elusive bug in the Amazon. Just when Norrie was ready to head back to NYC, she learns they’ve been offered another research project, meaning she won’t be going back quite yet.

During this year she has managed to stumble across bodies left and right and has also managed to solve those murders. Luckily for the Finger Lakes, Norrie is still in town when another body turns up on another winery’s property. One last case and Norrie can return home...or not.

This is a fabulous series and I enjoy the combined writing of this husband and wife team. Between this and the Sophie Kimball series, I’ve got their new releases on my radar. You can’t go wrong with a book from them.
Profile Image for Kathleen.
1,853 reviews9 followers
April 24, 2021
This is the seventh in the series and unfortunately it was not my favorite. That is not a bad thing. I find that Norrie goes out of way to put herself in danger and rarely listen to the cautious advice of others. I really have a hard time believing she can oversee a winery, produce screen plays for the Hallmark Channel, and have time to investigate all the deaths around Penn Yan. But nonetheless she does.

I liked the involvement of the two hellion boys from a neighboring winery. They added a lot of pizazz to the story.

This can be read as a standalone. There are plenty of suspects and twists and turns.

I was given an ARC e-book copy from Netgalley. I am not required to leave a positive review.
1,930 reviews6 followers
May 16, 2021
A big thank you to NetGalley and Beyond the Page Publishing for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I believe this is my first time reading this author. This is the 7th book in a series of cozy mysteries. I know that I have not read any of the previous books. This reads pretty well as a stand alone. I did have some confusion, but overall easy to catch up. This was just ok to me-maybe because I lacked background? I know I just said it was easy to catch up... I did love the 2 young rascal boys! I guess I wasn't invested in the story. Why did she stay involved in the murder? 3.5 stars
Profile Image for Sue Ellen.
1,011 reviews
January 28, 2026
Norrie wasn't quite as irritating in this one. The mystery got a bit convoluted, but I think I finally pieced it all together. I was glad to see Norrie treat Glenda with more patience and kindness. She still mocked her a bit behind her back, but is she starting to see maybe Glenda's friend might actually getting messages from the universe?
Profile Image for Barbara Tobey.
3,023 reviews86 followers
April 12, 2021
This is a terrific series. No need to have read the others to enjoy this one. The two young boys add so much fun to the murder mystery. Wine enjoyment and conflicts. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley.
Profile Image for Annarella.
14.2k reviews167 followers
April 20, 2021
Another good cozy mystery in this series.
Had a lot of fun, I was happy to catch up with the characters and the solid mystery kept me guessing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Profile Image for Arlene Arredondo.
566 reviews11 followers
May 4, 2021
Nice cozy mystery!
The story flows easily and is fun to follow.
It has likeable characters and an interesting plot.
Can’t wait for a next instalment.

Note: I received an arc for review purposes and an honest and unbiased opinion.
169 reviews30 followers
December 7, 2022
Winery Mysteries.

So many red herrings made the book intriguing. Love the setting and the corroboration of the winery owners supporting each other. I recommend this book to all readers.
Profile Image for Chris gerst.
280 reviews3 followers
April 8, 2021
I really enjoyed reading this book. If you haven't read the series. I highly recommend it
Profile Image for Marsha.
1,792 reviews
June 28, 2023
Another good one. I'm wondering if her sister and brother in law will ever get home???
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

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