Nadine Nettmann Books in Order

If you want the wine mysteries from the beginning: Decanting a Murder → Uncorking a Lie → Pairing a Deception
If you want her California historical fiction: The Bootlegger's Daughter
If you want the quickest feel for her range: Decanting a Murder → The Bootlegger's Daughter

Nadine Nettmann was born and raised in Los Angeles, and California still runs through her work. She writes mysteries and historical fiction, works full-time in the wine industry, and has a knack for turning places, drinks, and local history into the engine of a story.

For her, wine is never just a beverage, it is a clue, a setting, and a social map all at once.

Her deeper dive into wine started in 2010 at a wine and food festival. She gave up her seat so a couple could sit together, and suddenly found herself led to the front and placed on a panel beside Master Sommeliers and winemakers. The moment startled her, but it also lit a fire. She began studying seriously, built nearly 2,000 flashcards, joined a blind-tasting group, and earned her Certified Sommelier credential through the Court of Master Sommeliers in August 2011.

The mystery side started much earlier. Nettmann has said she loved mysteries as a child, beginning with Enid Blyton's The Famous Five books, then moving on to Daphne du Maurier and later Sue Grafton. That reading life gave her a clear sense of what she wanted to write. When she started building her own fiction, she did not have to choose between wine and crime, she could pour them into the same glass.

That blend shows up in her Sommelier Mystery series, Decanting a Murder, Uncorking a Lie, and Pairing a Deception. The books follow Katie Stillwell, a young sommelier whose training keeps putting her near dead bodies and bad lies, from Napa Valley to Sonoma and Santa Barbara. Readers often come for the puzzle, then stay for the wine lore, the California atmosphere, and Katie's mix of determination and self-doubt.

She knows how to make technical detail feel like part of the fun instead of homework.

In 2024 she published The Bootlegger's Daughter, a historical mystery set in Prohibition-era Los Angeles. The novel follows Letty Hart, who is pulled into bootlegging, and officer Annabel Forman, who wants a real chance to investigate crime in a male-dominated police department. It is a different kind of book from the Sommelier mysteries, but it shows the same interests, women under pressure, California settings, hidden systems of power, and the stories people tell around alcohol.

Her books have also shown up on major mystery award ballots. Decanting a Murder was nominated for the Agatha and Anthony awards, Uncorking a Lie was a Mary Higgins Clark finalist and won a silver Independent Publisher Book Award, and The Bootlegger's Daughter earned Anthony and Macavity nominations.

Off the page, Nettmann has traveled widely through wine country, including Chile, South Africa, Spain, Germany, and every wine region in France. She has also written travel pieces for magazines, and that reporting instinct shows in how grounded her settings feel.

She lives in Southern California with her husband and still writes from deep familiarity with Los Angeles and the wine world. That mix of knowledge and curiosity is a big part of what gives her books their sense of place.