This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
I grew up in the wilds of Maine and moved to Boston to attend the New England School of Art & Design. My professional practice in landscape garden design, and my love of mysteries merged when I volunteered to work in a garden at the location of my story, 'The City of Steeples', New London, Connecticut.
One of the main characters, Roxanne, reflects my horticultural background as a gardening expert. She becomes an accidental sleuth. Her attention is piqued when a poisonous plant is suspiciously discovered by a dead man.
Her friend, Georgi is a wine aficionado. He is like many of the guys who were my buddies in design school, flamboyant and always entertaining.
Research is my favorite aspect of crafting a story. I discovered many vineyards in Connecticut and on Long Island, New York and incorporated quite a few into the story. Climbing obelisks, riding ferries, walking into cemeteries, and tracing the trail of my villain is my play.
I hope you enjoy reading in my playground of devious and endearing characters in the City of Steeples! Cheers!
Reviewed by Arya Fomonyuy for Readers' Favorite
I love books with characters that are real, flawed and relatable, and a setting that is, of course, colorful. Roses, Wine & Murder: In the City of Steeples by Rose Young didn’t disappoint me. I must say that I found more than what I bargained for — characters I can’t just brush aside, a plot I couldn’t stop following, and a conflict that grabbed my interest from the very first page. The story combines aspects from different genres — thriller, historical, mystery, and crime fiction — and pulls the reader into an intriguing world where a murder investigation takes place, with wine dinners and many other things in between.
Expert gardener Roxanne Samson has just become one of the primary suspects when a dead man is found in her city garden. Georgi Algarve, who manages the Vinho Verde wine bar, is her friend, and both of them know they are in trouble. Anxious to solve the murder, they undertake an investigation that could have more devastating results than they imagine. Readers are introduced to a no-nonsense man, a skilled New London detective, Dan Morrison, a man who is bent on finding the killer. But the more he digs, the more obscure the path he walks becomes. With an impending Presidential Speech scheduled for the Coast Guard Academy and multiple suspects on the list, can he solve a case that has escalated so quickly?
The precision and economy of prose are among the elements that stand out prominently in this narrative. From the very beginning, the reader is thrust into a world of conflict and wonders who wins at the end. I enjoyed the way Rose Young sustains the reader’s curiosity and how the characters take on a life of their own. Roses, Wine & Murder: In the City of Steeples has a beautiful setting, a gripping plot, and readers can’t resist the wonderful pacing. It’s one of the most entertaining books I have read in this genre this year.
