The Wine Trail Mysteries Books in Order

The Wine Trail Mysteries move J.C. Eaton's crime solving into New York wine country, with a lead who never expected vineyard life to become her full-time problem. Norrie Ellington is a successful screenwriter living in Manhattan when family circumstances pull her back to the Finger Lakes. Her sister and entomologist brother-in-law head off to Costa Rica, and Norrie winds up overseeing Two Witches Winery near Penn Yan. In A Riesling to Die, she expects quiet time, a little writing, and maybe some distance from city life. Instead, she finds a body on winery property.

That mix of beauty and disruption defines the series. The Finger Lakes setting is not just scenic wallpaper. The lakes, tasting rooms, vineyard rows, harvest pressures, local festivals, and tourist traffic all shape the crimes. Penn Yan and the surrounding wine trail feel like a real working community where business rivals, longtime locals, seasonal staff, and visiting guests keep crossing paths. The result is a series where murder often grows out of land deals, distribution problems, winery politics, local history, or events that were supposed to bring everyone together.

Norrie is a strong fit for that world because she is both insider and outsider. She knows the family winery, but she is not a seasoned vintner. She can talk her way through a room and spot when people are performing for effect, which makes sense for a screenwriter, but she is also impulsive and quick to chase a theory before it is fully baked. That gets her into trouble with local law enforcement, especially the deputy sheriff, and gives the books a nice tension between Norrie's energy and the slower pace of official procedure.

Each mystery uses the setting a little differently. Chardonnayed to Rest turns a local wine celebration into a murder case tied to property and vineyard survival. Pinot Red or Dead? and Sauvigone for Good show how easily festivals and publicity can sour when business rivalries are already simmering. Divide and Concord brings a film crew into the winery and lets Norrie's old world collide with her new one. Later books lean into labor issues, local legends, and holiday atmosphere, but the core remains the same: Two Witches Winery sits at the center of a community where everyone depends on everyone else, and that makes every crime personal.

Wine country looks peaceful until it isn't.

The tone here is cozy, but not sleepy. There is plenty of humor, good food and drink, and regional color, yet the stakes stay real. If you like mysteries where the setting feels lived in and the sleuth has to navigate both friendships and business trouble, this series is easy to recommend. Start with A Riesling to Die, because it lays out Norrie's voice, the Ellington family winery, and the Finger Lakes world the later books keep expanding.