36. Dead Letters by Caite Dolan-Leach

read on my iPhone and Kindle
2017 Random House
352 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished  4/15/18
Goodreads rating:  3.59 - 4848 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting:  Contemporary upstate New York

First line/s:  "A born creator of myths, my sister always liked to tell the story of how we were misnamed."

My comments:  The story was pretty decent. A good mystery, no surprises but interesting to watch them play out. The characters were, for the most part, pretty unlikable. Major alcoholics, narcissists, self/centered idiots. I know you don’t have to like the characters to have a good book, but in this case it would make the book that much more enjoyable.!

Goodreads synopsis: A missing woman leads her twin sister on a twisted scavenger hunt in this clever debut novel of suspense for readers of Luckiest Girl Alive and Reconstructing Amelia.
          Ahoy, Ava! Welcome home, my sweet jet-setting twin! So glad you were able to wrest yourself away from your dazzling life in the City of Light; I hope my death hasn't interrupted anything too crucial.
          Ava Antipova has her reasons for running away: a failing family vineyard, a romantic betrayal, a mercurial sister, an absent father, a mother slipping into dementia. In Paris, Ava renounces her terribly practical undergraduate degree, acquires a French boyfriend and a taste for much better wine, and erases her past. Two years later, she must return to upstate New York. Her twin sister, Zelda, is dead.
          Even in a family of alcoholics, Zelda Antipova was the wild one, notorious for her mind games and destructive behavior. Stuck tending the vineyard and the girls increasingly unstable mother, Zelda was allegedly burned alive when she passed out in the barn with a lit cigarette. But Ava finds the official explanation a little too neat. A little too Zelda. Then she receives a cryptic message from her sister.
          Just as Ava suspected, Zelda's playing one of her games. In fact, she's outdone herself, leaving a series of clues about her disappearance. With the police stuck on a red herring, Ava follows the trail laid just for her, thinking like her sister, keeping her secrets, immersing herself in Zelda's drama and her outlandish circle of friends and lovers. Along the way, Zelda forces her twin to confront their twisted history and the boy who broke Ava's heart. But why? Is Zelda trying to punish Ava for leaving, or to teach her a lesson? Or is she simply trying to write her own ending?
          Featuring a colorful, raucous cast of characters, Caite Dolan-Leach's debut thriller takes readers on a literary scavenger hunt for clues concealed throughout the seemingly idyllic wine country, hidden in plain sight on social media, and buried at the heart of one tremendously dysfunctional, utterly unforgettable family.

Charron Vineyards

This is probably the closest vineyard to my home - it can't be more than 30 minutes away, on the way to Sonoita, but actually in Vail.  And what a wonderful way to spend a gorgeous winter afternoon in southern Arizona!

Setting:  A long, wide deck, dotted with low tables and comfy chairs sports a wood-burning chimenia in the corner.  Lovely.  But the view?  GORGEOUS.  Sitting low on a mountain, the view of closely distant (can you picture that or is it a lousy description?) mountains is absolutely wonderful.  It was perfect for this 65-degree sunny day.  And in the summer when it's really hot hot hot in Tucson, it never goes much above 90 here (higher altitude than Tucson proper) and  they have misters completely surrounding the seating area.

The Deal:  Taste up to 6 wines for $7 including souvenir glass.  My friend Sheila had a "Living Social" coupon, which included a 6-oz. glass of wine after the tasting for $2.00.  They sell munchies (we had lentil chips and hummus) which was nice to clear the palate between tastings.  We were told to bring a picnic or any food (cheese & crackers, anyone) the next time we came.

Wines:  There were 14 offered, twelve of which were described on an easy-to-understand handout.  Dry wines on the left, sweet wines on the right.  Very helpful, and you can take notes on the handout and take it with you...and the handout includes pricing (which seemed very reasonable).

Personel & Service:  There were two women serving everyone - and there were probably five or six groups of people being served throughout our visit.  We never had to wait and we never felt rushed.  Both women were extremely nice, helpful, and knowledgeable enough for me!

The Company:  I went with two friends from Maine - all three of us teachers, one of us from Bar Harbor, one from Southwest Harbor, and one (me) from Northeast Harbor.  A lot of history.  Our kids went to MDIHS together.  It was as close to a perfect afternoon as I've had in a long, long while.

This was a GREAT way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  My sister is coming in May, and I can't wait to take her here, with a picnic basket of special snacks and a camera.....

Charron Vineyards website.

My choices:
from the "DRY" side:
Blanc De Noir - lite and dry, faintly sweet, but not enough for me
from the "SWEET" side:
Santa Rita Rose
*Tortolita Blanca (this was my full-glass choice, and the bottle I purchased) yup, sweet.  yup, yummy
Golden White Merlot - had a bit of a different taste (they said it had a "nuance of sweet sherry or cognac)
Tempranillo Rose - a sweet blush
Rincon Red - the only red wine I had, and very sweet

58. The Language of Flowers - Vanessa Diffenbaugh

2011, Ballantine Books
324 pages
for adults
HC $25.00 TPPL
Goodreads: 4.04
my rating: 5 (I loved it, didn't want it to end)
Setting:  Contemporary San Francisco and a vineyard and flower farm somewhere an hour and a half north of the Golden Gate Bridge.
1st sentence/s:  "For eight years I dreamed of fire.  Trees ignited as I passed the; oceans burned.  The sugary smoke settled in my hair as I slept, the scent like a cloud left on my pillow as I rose.  Even so, the moment my mattress started to burn, I bolted awake."

I read this book for a book group and became immediately enthralled. It was a delicious read. It was about a flawed foster child trying to figure out who and what and why she was, learning to trust...and love....and be part of a family. It takes place in contemporary San Francisco when Victoria turns 18, but occasionally goes back 8-10 years to the time she lived with Elizabeth, a single, vineyard owner, who planned to adopt Victoria. You know right from the start that something went terribly wrong during that time, but we don't discover exactly what it was until nearer the end of the book. There was a lot of information about flowers and the Victorian meanings of flowers, but it was all presented in a fascinating, interesting way so that even without a particular enjoyment of flowers it held my total attention.  Victoria's plight includes self-chosen homelessness, growing plants in public parks in San Francisco, stealing (food and flowers and anything she needed), discovering her business savvy, and learning to trust herself and not always running away.

One word for Victoria:  Bravo!  Thanks goodness I have never had to feel any of the abandonement or anguish that she did.