The Riesling Retribution

Wine Country Mysteries #4

by Ellen Crosby

Colorful characters, fascinating history, and winemaking detail blend with luminous prose in Ellen Crosby's new tale of suspense set in Virginia's lush wine country.

When a tornado rips through Montgomery Estate Vineyard and unearths a grave in an abandoned field, police inform Lucie Montgomery that the odds are good someone in her family is responsible - possibly for murder. But she has more to worry about than buried secrets.A clash between her charming new farm manager and her winemaker, Quinn Santori, tests her complicated romantic and professional feelings for Quinn, fueling the winery's combustible atmosphere. Meanwhile eerie ghost stories make her think twice about allowing Civil War reenactors to use a field near the grave site—until the spirits of her own family's past converge for a most unexpected outcome.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Wine, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller

272 pages, Hardcover

First published July 4, 2009

About the author

Ellen Crosby is the author of the Virginia wine country mysteries, the Sophie Medina mysteries, and MOSCOW NIGHTS, a standalone. DEEDS LEFT UNDONE, her 13th wine country mystery, will be out on August 5, 2025 in hardcover, as an ebook, and as an audio book from Tantor Media. Previously she was a freelance reporter for The Washington Post, Moscow correspondent for ABC Radio News, and an economist at the US Senate. She lives in the Washington, DC suburbs of northern Virginia after living overseas for many years and is currently busy writing the 14th wine country mystery which will be out in 2026. More at www.ellencrosby.com.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

What more can a guy ask for? Mystery, check. Wine, check. History lesson, check. I've come to really enjoy reading the 'Wine Country Mysteries' series by Ellen Crosby. The Rieseling Retribution is the fourth book I've read out of almost ten at this point. I'm determined to catch up in the first half of 2019 before the next one is published mid-year.

While I'd classify this as a cozy mystery series on some levels, it isn't a light and cute one. It's more heavy on the drama with a slow-build up. There are intimate scenes but nothing with huge amounts of detail. The murders are often a little more visually described, but never gory. It's usually an education series whether we're learning about the wine-making process or the Civil War. They take place in Virginia, and the setting is key to the story.

In this one, Lucie is caught up in a tornado that's sweeping through one of her vineyards. She barely survives the storm only to learn a huge percentage of her crop is destroyed. They will not be profitable this year, but what's even worse, a human skull turns up from the windstorm. It's almost 30 years old, just from before she was born, and on her father's property. Based on what the local police can put together, her father killed the man in order to have an affair with his wife.

A Civil War reenactment explains a major battle in Virginia. Lucie and Quinn have an unexpected connection. We learn about Eli, Lucie's brother, who's having marital issues. And someone is causing more trouble around the vineyard with unskilled workers. There is a lot going on, but it all moves the story forward and puts us in a strong place for the next book.

Unfortunately, even with all the wonderful backdrop and content, there was something off in the structure and transitions in the story. There were too many arcs that didn't gel well together. The murder started off strong but fizzled. Lucie's relationships were also wishy-washy. I feel like it needed one more content round of editing to tie some loose threads together and give us a couple of power punches to the gut. It would've been a solid 4, but I had to drop at least a half a star for several misses. It ends up at a 3.5; I'll be kind and round up given how much I like this series.

[Judy Iliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I've said with the previous books, I really enjoy this series. I found it interesting this time that I read this book right after I read Union Quilters. While the setting for Quilters was during the Civil War, Retribution centers around a reenactment of one of the battles of the Civil War.

Lucie Montgomery, owner of the Montgomery Estate Vineyard, barely escapes being killed by a tornado that rips through part of the vineyard. After crawling out from under a bridge, she discovers a skull that was obviously unearthed by the tornado. If the unidentified skeleton were her only problem, life would be OK; but, of course, it's not. There is a conflict between Quinn and Chance, the new farm manager; someone is apparently stealing credit cards; her brother and SIL are having money troubles; and someone in her family may be accused of murdering the person whose skeleton Lucie found.

This is definitely one of those series that you have to read in the order in which the books were written or you won't have a clue about the characters. I'm glad Jaci discovered this series.

[Sherron Wahrheit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like a gasping, gossipy, small town soap opera.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

A limp soap opera that includes a 30-years-past murder. Whodunnit? Who cares?

Good job on setting. Winery and Civil War re-enactment details done well.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standard mystery, in a sense, but I really enjoy these books. While I have no interest in starting a winery, there is enough information in these books about the trials, tribulations and "science" that goes into wine making, without going overboard, to interest me, along with the mystery. Enjoy the characters. They are not cookie cutter characters and complex enough to be interesting. Can't wait for the next edition. (Hope there is one - I haven't checked.)

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book and this series. I had lived in the area of Virginia where the story takes place and can easily visualize many of the scenes. I love the characters and the way the story moves. It is light reading, but I look forward to reading her next book.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh I really didn't like how it ended. I knocked a star off it for the ending that was left hanging. I am glad to see her and Quinn finally start something. She needs someone on her side since her friends and family are useless.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this was a pleasant little mystery - not too demanding, not too fluffy. It has some interesting characters and some that are fairly two-dimensional. I enjoyed the detail about the wine business and the bits about the historical reenactment of a Civil War battle. I thought there was a bit too much exposition of backstory. If you've already read the previous books in the series, it's unnecessary; if you haven't, it's unnecessary.

[Elisabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an okay read, I haven't read this sort of mystery novel in a while, so it is a different reading experience. For me this was very anti-climatic, every time the author hinted something major was going to occur it was some little thing. Interesting wine and vineyard information, but that didn't save the story for me.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing the Wine Country series...I'm just gonna say it: Quinn and Lucie FINALLY got together. I have been waiting for this! I hope it sticks, it seems like it might actually work. Still loving this series!

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

rereading this series makes me like them even more.

[Lenore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ellen Crosby incorporates Virginia's Civil War history into this intriguing wine country mystery. Nice beach (or rainy day) read.

[Wellington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent read overall, but definitely kind of a middle book in this series. The mystery is so-so, but the author gives us new information on Lucie's family and the community.

[Anne, Unfinished Woman · Rating 3 out of 5]

SPOILER ALERT

Focused around a re-enactment of the Bull's Bluff Battle, this installment of the series has Lucie Montgomery facing the loss of her father's reputation. When a tornado tears through the vineyards, and Lucie barely escapes with her life, she finds a skull in the mud left behind in a remote part of the estate. It is revealed it is the thirty year old remains of Beau Kinkaide, an associate of her father Leland's and husband of Annabel Kinkaid Chastain, who is in Atoka to purchase a horse and for the re-enactment with her now husband Sumner. They are wealthy and entitled, distaining Lucie's acquaintance. Bobby brings in outside help to solve the crime.

Lucie also has to content with the contentious relationship between Quinn Santori, her winemaker and her newly hired field manager, Chance Miller. Quinn doesn't trust him. There are a number of problems with the Riesling that he is working with and other mistakes have been made. Wine is missing. There are thefts of credit cards. He blames Chance. Chance is making a play for Lucie.
He is a slimy character.

During the re-enactment Ray Vitale is shot with live ammunition, and Tyler Jordan, the son of a local couple is arrested. It turns out to be ammunition that could not have come from his gun. Vitale owns nursing homes, has had disputes with Chastain, and Chance had worked for him in the past.

Annabel had loved Leland, and still does, though Leland has been dead for a number of years. Chastain had killed Beau, who was abusive, beating Annabel frequently, to protect her. Though ii is not clearly proven and Leland still is under the shadow of Beau's death.

The long smoldering relationship of Quinn and Lucie is brought to a climax with them sleeping together. Chance goes after Lucie when she discovers evidence that he disguised himself and appeared on the battlefield. She also finds remnants of burned credit cards at his house. He takes her hostage, but she escapes him and swims down the river. He reveals that he has a girlfriend. He had hired untrained field workers, taken their wages, paying them less and taking some of the money. The workers had picked all of the grapes, ripe, unripe and rotten. It took days to fix the problem, and to overcome the sabotage of the Riesling fermentation issue. During this story the dire financial situation of Eli and Brandi is revealed. Eli is broke and Brandi has found a new man, proposing to leave with their daughter, Hope.

Enjoyable. Very detailed again in describing the battles.

[jammaster_mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice amateur detective mystery series!

This series is about Lucie who is the owner/operator of a winery in Virginia outside of Washington D.C. The stories in the series weave together what is happening in the present with the history and stories of characters who lived in the past. In the small town of Atoka no one really forgets and sometimes that can be helpful or harmful to those living today.

This book centers around the Riesling harvest with the new winery manager. Chance is very charming but doesn't get along with Quinn the vintner. A series of relatively harmless but frustrating mistakes have taken place since Chance arrived. Is it coincidence or something more deliberate? Luce finds herself trying to defend her dead father from acts committed before she was born. Can she prove he didn't do what he is accused of? This leads to a rift with her and her reporter best friend Kit.

I like this series. The book are relatively short and I enjoy diving into them. I find the final solution to be complex enough to hold my interest throughout and get me to look forward to the next installment. I am very happy with what happens in the relationship between Quinn and Lucie in this book. I am sad for Eli but also happy at the same time for the new direction he may be going in for future books. Overall this is a great cozy mystery series and well worth a read....maybe with a good glass of wine:)

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up

Maybe it’s because I worked in local grape vineyards when I was in school (even though they were grapes for juice and jelly/jam, not wine), but I’ve always been interested in the wine-making process. I loved Michelle Scott’s Wine Lovers series, but haven’t quite warmed up to this series.

I like that it’s set in Virginia, as it proves that grapes for wine can be grown outside of the stereotypical regions of California and France. I will admit that every time they talked about the Civil War, it made me cringe to hear the Union described in such unflattering terms, and the kid in me thought “Well YOU started it!” :D

I haven’t made up my mind about Lucie, the MC. Yes, she’s dealt with her share of issues, some of them major, but she can be very sharp and shrew-ish a lot of the time, which makes it hard to empathize with her. I like most of the other major characters, but some of them need to grow up.

Even though the murder in this book turned out to be a cold case, there were several possible suspects. As soon as one particular character was introduced, I that person jumped to the top of my list, which turned out to be right, although the motive wasn’t quite what I thought it would be.

Since the next book in the series is available through Audible+, I will probably read it soon-ish before deciding whether to abandon or continue the series.

[Gaby Meares · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty ordinary, I have to say. I found the characters one-dimensional and stereotyped. The author has done her research and there is a lot of detail about how to make a good bottle of riesling, which slowed down the pace of the narrative. In some ways there was too much happening: a tornado; a civil war re-enactment; the discovery of 30 year old human remains, and of course, the obligatory sexual frisson between two main characters. At over 300 pages, it’s way too long, but still manages to rush at the end, making for an unsatisfactory conclusion (in my opinion).

However, every now and then the author surprised me with something like this:

In the sweet, nostalgic memories of everyone who pines for the bygone days of small-town America, there is always a General Store. An old-fashioned place that doesn’t necessarily have what folks need, but it does have what they want - someone who remembers their brand of tobacco and the kind of motor oil they bought last time, and who asks to see pictures of the new baby or the wedding without being prompted. The inventory is never computerised because it’s erratic and, besides, no one computerises bloodworms or tomatoes fresh out of the garden of a local farmer. Our General Store had Thelma Johnson, who’d owned the place since God was a boy.

So, a two and a half star rating from me, rolled up to three because there were saving glimmers of writing that sparkled.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am annoyed because I wrote an extremely detailed and carefully thought out review and bloody internet ate it!!! (should have used word I suppose)

To recap more briefly. I hated the stereotypes and gendered interactions in this book. Especially the boof-head behaviour of the males (and the stereotypical ways the females were flawed)

I loved- the setting, the problematisation of "illegal" labour and the compassionate view of the human dignity (also economic necessity of small business owners) with the preoccupation with a "fair" wage. YES.

I liked- the disabled protagonist. The way she rescued herself at the final showdown and the palusible backstory which allowed this. Some of the banter between her and the generally unlikeable romantic lead.

I was not thrilled by- the fragmented plot, the lack of strength or holding together of one narrative strand (one mystery), the predictability of all the twists (bar one which I really did like a lot)

I think the people (who allegedly exist) who found 50 shades of grey "romantic" would really enjoy this book, for the rest of us it is far from the best but also far from the worst read available in its genre. It integrated its wine-making knowledge in a very readable way and avoids the clumsy info-dump. I wont be rushing out to read them all though.

[Jenny Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love the way Ellen Crosby introduces history into this wine series, and the Riesling Retribution is no exception. A sub plot about a Civil War re-enactment happening near to her vineyard - with the participants camping out on her land - adds an intriguing extra to this tale of long hidden family secrets.

The battle of Ball's Bluff happened three months after the Union Army lost the major fight at Bull Run, the first great land battle of the conflict.

As Crosby tells us in Notes, there is a 223 acre Ball's Bluff park near a shopping mall in Leesburg, Virginia, (with the third smallest military cemetery in the US), which you can visit and which some still swear is haunted. I just love the idea of going on a "history trail" following the thread of these stories - I guess some people probably already are doing that. Lucie is still battling to make her vineyard truly profitable, while having to deal with finding a body buried amongst the vines. The story is slickly plotted, and lots of interesting wine information is included. I'm definitely hooked on the series and want to know what happens both to Lucie and Montgomery Estate Vineyard next.

[Nd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucie Montgomery is not a sympathetic character. The way she's written you tend to pull for her as she doggedly pursued a different outcome in the case about a skeleton that was uncovered as a tornado went through her vineyard. She's a wishy-washy, accident prone character who tended to think the worst when she shouldn't and couldn't see problems right in front of her. In addition to the unearthing of a 30-year-old murder, the tornado damaged a lot of grapevines, affecting the vineyard's bottom line. While she and Quinn Santori, her winemaker, were trying to develop plans to minimize the damage, small accidents and unexplained events kept happening at the winery, starting with the fact that her vehicle inexplicably stopped way out in the vineyard the day she was stuck in a tornado and found the remains. The fairly new farm manager who took over after the death of the beloved Hector constantly clashed with Quinn. Lucie had feelings for Quinn and Chance was a charmer.

[Becky Tatar · Rating 4 out of 5]

More drama in this entry in the series. Lucie's brother and sister-in-law are having problems, and the new farm manager is not getting along with Quinn. Plus there has been a lot of mishaps and problems going on. But a tornado in a storm rushes through, and while Lucie is hiding under a culvert of Goose Creek on the farm, the storm brings up a skull. And the medical examiner thinks it's been buried about 30 or so years. And the suspicion quickly turns to Lucie's late father, Leland, who was known for his shady business deals, and myriad affairs. But Lucie is positive that Leland, however poor his character, was not a killer. But between the gossip, and the problems with the farm manager, Lucie has her hands full.

[Lorelei · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writer tells a good story and I enjoy the research on such places as the Balls Bluff battle. It does make we want to go visit the area. However, her character Lucie, who owns a winery seems more interested in family matters and murder than the problems going on in the winery. I highly doubt if a vineyard had this many problems going on the owner would act so nonchalant about it. But of course, it is a work of fiction and I do so enjoy anything that has to do with wine :)
If you enjoy an easy to read murder mystery then this series is for you. It's a go to series when I'm not looking for anything to complex.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I am figuring out some of these things.......what amazes me is how someone can come up with all the twists and turns in the storyline......

I kind of picked out what would happen in this storyline as I finished the last book....remember this is a series of 12 book......I am currently on book 5.

They are fast reads and I love the history in the background. It goes back to the Civil War and growing up I didn't learn a lot of regional history for the Virginia area. I was born and raised in New York and we learned that state's part in the war.

[Hui · Rating 1 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book version, and stopped after Chapter 6 because I just could not bear the narrator's voice anymore. It's not often that I abandon a book halfway, and while I might have stuck with it longer if I had read it in print, I am not sure it would have been worth it. Through the first six chapters things were slow, and the characters uninteresting. For a "mystery dipped wine" genre, I would MUCH rather go with a Peter Mayle one.

[Emily Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tornado tore through Lucie Montgomery's vineyard destroying valuable vines and unearthing a skeleton in an unused part of her property. The police suspect that a member of her family committed the murder 20 to 30 years ago. Misplaced equipment and other unusual incidents are happening around the vineyard. Lucie is determined to solve both mysteries.

[Kathleen M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story set in Northern Virginia, in wine country, though to be fair currently wine country is pretty much everywhere in Virginia.
One place and another mystery, a body uncovered after a tornado where it shouldn't have been. Also, it happened 30 years ago.
Plus a little romance and some creepy encounters, makes for a few twists.

[Kylie Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS (thanksgiving back home in leesburg) 🥸

Something about the holidays had me craving time with my girl Lucie Montgomery BAD the minute i touched down on VA soil. Picked this one up at the Rust Library which was extra meaningful :)

I’ve read these allll out of order; I enjoyed this one, but the ending felt underdeveloped compared to others with some ends raveling loose

[Amy Drongowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fourth book in the series. Getting to solving the crime took a little too long for me. As were similar to books 2 and three, lots of detail about Lucy's life that I didn't seem relevant. It's turning more into a love story than a mystery. I think this will beThe last book for me.

[Diann Cassens · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fourth win this series and the fourth I have read. A rushed ending and not as satisfying, but I will read the next one. Likable, flawed characters and interesting background about the area and winemaking.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is number 4 in the audiobook series. Lucy finds a dead body unearthed on the vinyard during a hurricane and tries to prove her father was not responsible while mediating between Chase, the new manager and Quinn.