This intriguing 2022 novel by Nikki Erlick focuses on the age-old question of how much time one has to live. The tale begins when everyone in the world over 22 years of age receives a small wooden box with the message: The measure of your life lives within. Every person found a piece of string in the box correlating to how long they will live. We follow the lives of eight New Yorkers and the repercussions of the choices they make based on their string length. Following the theme of the wooden box, we try a boxed white wine from La Petite Frog Picpoul out of Southern France. It proved to be a crisp, tasty wine that we enjoy while learning about the aspects of boxed wine.

This hilarious novel by Richard Osman was made into a Netflix series with an all-star cast. Elizabeth, Ron, Joyce, and Ibrahim are 80-year olds living at Cooper’s Chase, a retirement village in Kent, who solve cold cases as a hobby. But now, they have a live investigation when Ian and Tony, who are involved in expanding the village, die under suspicious circumstances. As the mystery progresses, the murder victims’ past lives reveal shady activities, along with former associates Jason, Bobby, and Turkish. Extra skeletons in the cemetery and confessions by multiple residents add some clever twists to the plot. We enjoy a chilled Fino sherry from El Maestro Sierra that is bready and floral with a pale, lemon color.

In this novel by Nina Simon, we explore a fun whodunit featuring a trio of female amateur sleuths, three generations worth! The storyline has grandmother Lana, mother Beth and daughter Jack Rubicon trying to prove Jack’s innocence when she is suspected in a murder. Enter Hal Rhoads, his children Martin and Diana, Ricardo Cruz and Victor Morales and a land trust. When both Rhoads and Cruz die in the same timeframe, the Rubicon women start detecting and discover who the murderer really is. Like Lana, we enjoyed a local (Central Coast) Sauvignon Blanc - a 2023 from Outward in Santa Maria Valley, California, while doing a deep dive into the sauvignon blanc grape.

Gareth Brown’s 2024 novel brings us a little sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, action, and time travel along with crazy characters and lots of drama. Cassie Andrews, a book seller in New York City, receives a magical book from her favorite customer who happened to die in the bookshop.The doors in this wonderful book take her and her best friend Izzy to wherever they wish. They encounter numerous people who also possess “special” books and people who use their books’ powers for evil. The Clos des Fous Pinot Noir we enjoyed tied in the sweet friendship of Cassie and Izzy and this wine that was grown by four friends in Chile.

Alex Michaelides has again written a complex novel with numerous twists and turns and a crazy ending. Ex-movie star Lana Farrar takes her husband Jason and teen son Leo to her private Greek island for Easter. Also included were friends Elliot and Kate, and housekeeper Agathi. The story is told by an unreliable narrator and unfolds across five acts - like a Greek tragedy. Just wait until the end! We enjoyed a 2022 Semeli Moschofilero and Sauvignon Blanc white blend that was vibrant and floral while discussing the colorful history of Greece, the mythology, and its wines.

Taking us back into 1942 France during the German occupation, this historical novel by Kristin Harmel was published in 2020. Eva Traube and her mother were escaping Poland through France to Switzerland after her father was sent to Auschwitz. Eva assisted a French underground forgery operation by creating new names and papers for children smuggled into Switzerland. Within encoded text, she and fellow forgery expert Remy documented the “lost names” of the children in a book. In 2005 an 86-year-old Eva returns to Berlin to find the book and encounters an old friend. With a nod to the French/Switzerland border where most of the novel took place, we enjoyed a white alpine wine from Famille Richel, made from the unique Jacquère grape.

In this 2021 novel by Allison Larkin we follow the story of April Sawicki, a young songwriter and waitress born in a small town in New York. Abandoned by her mother and mistreated by her father, she left her cafe job at age 16 to look for a better life. From New York to Florida to North Carolina, April assembles her own family that she always wanted. We enjoyed a Dr. Konstantin Frank semi-dry Riesling. In 1958, Dr. Frank planted the first vinifera vines in New York and was instrumental in New York planting and selling wine grapes.

Chris Pavone’s 2022 novel is an international thriller set in Portugal. Newlyweds Ariel Price and John Wright are combining a honeymoon with his consulting appointments in Lisbon. The storyline centers around Ariel’s desperate search for her husband and the bureaucratic red tape she goes through to be able to provide the ransom. As Ariel uses her past encounters to finance the ransom, some surprising secrets are revealed. The book is intriguing and hard to put down as we discover more information and have more questions. The wine we are enjoying is a 2021 Quinta de São Francisco Branco, a Lisboa white blend from the Óbidos DO. It has mineral notes and a fresh cool taste… the type of wine you could enjoy at the beach or by the pool.