I’m Cecelia Barton, known to most as Cece. I’ve lived in Colinas for, wow, nearly eight months now. It’s a lovely little historic town in the scenic wine-producing Alexander Valley about ninety minutes north of San Francisco.

Most days I walk or bike over to Vino y Vida, the wine bar I manage. We’re open from one to about nine, so I have time to myself in the morning. I might putter in my garden, sometimes chatting or sharing coffee with my ninety-year-old neighbor Richard, also a gardener.

Other times my morning includes breakfast at Edie’s Diner with my twin sister, Alicia – Allie. She’s a real estate agent and also runs a B&B in the big Victorian where she lives with her husband and adorable twin ten-year-old boys. She and I are in our early forties, and my girl Zoe is off at college, so, yeah, Allie and I had our children at different times in our lives. She’s been successful at everything she touches. Me, not so much.

But I like life in Colinas. The wine industry is fascinating, and the weather can be both cooler and hotter than in Pasadena where I’d lived for twenty years. It’s definitely quieter up here. I’ve been a widow for ten years, and with Zoe out of the house, I had no reason not to live close to the rest of my family.

Work is interesting, too. We get all types coming through the wine bar. Wine tourists, regular tourists, and locals. It’s not very interesting when somebody I’d publicly argued with gets murdered, though. Not at all. More like horrifying – and scary to be the focus of the investigation.

You should stop by Vino y Vida sometime. I’ll pour you the vintage of your choice!

Murder Uncorked, A Cece Barton Mystery Book #1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: October 2023
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

Raise a glass to Cece Barton, a widowed single mom and recent L.A.-to-California-wine-country transplant who suddenly finds herself at the center of a murder investigation in this sparkling new mystery series from Agatha Award-winning author Maddie Day.

As the manager of Vino y Vida Wine Bar in Colinas, Cecelia “Cece” Barton’s first Alexander Valley harvest is a whirlwind of activity. Her twin sister, Allie Halstead, who owns a nearby Victorian bed & breakfast, is accustomed to the hustle and bustle of peak tourist season. But Cece barely has a moment to enjoy her new home in between worrying about her estranged college-age daughter, juggling her responsibilities at the bar, and navigating the sticky politics of the local wine association. Just when it seems things can’t grow any more intense, Colinas is rocked by a murder within the wine community . . . and Cece is identified as a possible suspect!

With her reputation and her livelihood on the line—and the Sonoma County deputy sheriff breathing down her neck—Cece has no choice but to open up her own murder investigation. Tensions are already high in the valley, as a massive wildfire creeps toward Colinas, threatening homes, vineyards, and the vital tourist trade. And now, with a murderer on the loose, and Cece’s sleuthing exposing the valley’s bitterest old rivalries and secret new alliances, Colinas feels ready to pop! But with Allie’s help, Cece is determined to catch the killer and clear her name before everything she’s worked so hard for goes up in flames . . .

About the author
Maddie Day pens the Country Store Mysteries, the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries, and the new Cece Barton Mysteries. As Agatha Award-winning author Edith Maxwell, she writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries and short crime fiction. Day/Maxwell lives with her beau and cat Martin north of Boston, where she writes, gardens, cooks, and wastes time on Facebook. Find her at EdithMaxwell.com, wickedauthors.com, Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, and on social media: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.