It’s release day for The Channel Islands Seaside Murder, previously self-published as A Bottle of Wills. In this, the fourth book in The Gull Bay Mysteries, April is optimistic when she hears that a brand-new wine bar is about to open its doors — right next to The Bay Harbour Bar and Grill, her and Isa’s thriving seaside business. Customers will sip drinks by the seafront, then wander next door for dinner. Or so she hopes, so that everyone wins.
To help the launch party go smoothly, April even agrees to bake wine-flavoured cupcakes. But she soon comes to regret it. First, the bar’s demanding manager, Amanda Spiers, takes credit for April’s food, then tries to steal her staff.
Amanda isn’t interested in working together. She wants war.
April’s ready to fight back. But then she discovers Amanda lying dead behind the bar, her throat slashed with a broken wine bottle — and finds herself the prime suspect.
Can she catch the real killer before the police pin the crime on her?
This book features recipes for wine-flavoured cupcakes; I had a lot of fun experimenting with different ingredients to complement the wine. And of course because the cupcakes don’t include a lot of wine, once the botte is open it has to be finished. Or that’s the rule in our house anyway!