BLOOD VINES by Erica Spindler (St. Martin's Press)

Spindler takes us to the famous wineries of Sonoma Valley, California. The mummified, skeletal remains of an infant have turned up on the property of Harlan Sommer. The discovery is about to open a 25-year-old unsolved kidnapping. Daniel Reed, the chief homicide detective assigned to the case was only 13 years old when the abduction occurred. He actually lived nearby and his family were friends of the Sommers.

Alexandra Owens Clarkson lives in San Francisco,where she works and is studying for a graduate degree. She also has an on-again, off-again relationship with her ex-husband, Tim. She remembers little about her childhood and her only known relative is her mother, Patsy Owens, a manic-depressive who often skips her meds and spends her days painting multiples of drawings that she never seems to finish. Alex remembers little of her childhood, but on occasion experiences weird dreams that suggest some dark secrets or memories. Alex’s world is about to come crashing down after receiving a frantic phone call from her mother. On arriving at her mother’s house, she finds that her mother has committed suicide. A newspaper article is circled on the kitchen table. The article is about the remains found on the winery grounds. The wine growers' community is tightl knit and many people know much about their neighbors, but some long-buried secrets are about to surface. Spindler has given readers another fascinating murder mystery.

—Steve Bank

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