Hi, Ellen here! It’s always a treat to host my pal, the fabulous and prolific Edith/Maddie. Today she took on not one, not two, but three writing challenges. I get out of breath just thinking about trying to keep up with her! Read all about wine and mittens and local food here… (I’m particularly excited about the wine part, wink wink.) And Edith is giving away a signed copy of Christmas Mittens Murder to a US reader (eBook to outside US commenters)!
I Can Do That
Uncorked wine? Christmas Mittens? In California? In September AND October? Murder…with wine?
I can understand why you might be confused, but it’s really the tale of two stories linked by one mantra.
But first, thanks to Ellen for inviting me to pop by the Chicks today to celebrate the release of not one but two new books coming out before November.
So what’s the tale, anyway? The main story, the big, exciting story, is that my famous alter-ego Maddie Day has a new series about to be born, the Cece Barton Mysteries.
Cece Barton manages a wine bar in California. To be specific, in a fictional town called Colinas in the fertile wine region of Alexander Valley. I know several of the Chicks are Californians and might already love visiting the Alexander Valley to hoist a glad of a fine vintage. And yes, the research was tough, but somebody’s gotta do it.
Murder Uncorked is Cece’s first full-length adventure. She’s managing a wine bar in the town where her twin sister and twin nephews live. Cece has bought herself a cottage, established a garden, and made friends with gardener and wise old man Richard next door (who is closely modeled on my favorite and still-thriving uncle Dick Reinhardt, now age 97).
But then a guy Cece has had unpleasant dealings with turns up dead, apparently not from natural causes.
Wait, you rightly say. “You mentioned mittens. And Christmas. What gives?”
The thing is, my editor—let’s call him JS—at Kensington asked me to write a Christmas novella for a collection with Lee Hollis and Lynn Cahoon called Christmas Mittens Murder. JS wanted me to write it as part of the Cece Barton world. As I nearly always do with this editor, I say, “I can do that.” Then I asked which would come out first, the novella or the book. Oh. The novella. Hmm. Okay, I can do that.
So, in “Murderous Mittens,” which releases September 27, I take Cece north from her home in Pasadena to Colinas to spend Christmas with Allie and family. The current wine bar manager is murdered. Mittens are involved. Allie is a suspect. Cece solves her first crime.
Another twist is that JS also asked, “Do you want to bring Cam Flaherty into the novella?” By way of background, Massachusetts Cam is the organic farmer protagonist of my five-book Local Foods Mysteries. They were originally published as authored by Edith Maxwell, but Kensington has re-released them as Maddie Day ebooks.
Guess what I said to JS? Yup. I can do that. And it was fun to have Cam, in northern California researching innovative farming techniques, run into Cece at the wine bar and help her solve the crime.
A quiet Christmas in Colinas, California, at her twin sister’s charming B&B is exactly what Cece Barton needs during the holiday hustle of Los Angeles. But the morning after a lovely evening at the local wine bar, Cece learns that the bar’s proprietor, who sells mittens in her spare time, has been found dead. With her horrified twin one of the main suspects, can Cece unmask the merry murderer before this becomes a holiday from hell?
And then, well, the job of manager is open. Allie asks Cece, “Don’t you want to apply for the job and live in the same town as we do?” Cece adores her nephews and is close to Allie and her husband. It doesn’t take much to say Yes.
But then I had to write Murder Uncorked with a little sleuthing already under Cece’s belt. Ok. No problem. That book, releasing in hardcover, will be out on October 24. (But do read “Murderous Mittens” first if you can.)
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 while 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 uncork 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.
So that’s the tale of two linked stories, a new series, and a new fictional world. I’m delighted to announce that this month I started writing Deadly Crush, book #2 in the Cece Barton series, which will be out in 2025 sometime.
Readers: What’s your experience with wine bars? Northern California? Or with twins? I’d love to send one US reader a signed copy of Christmas Mittens Murder (ebook to outside US commenters).
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:
Chicks on the Case 
Maddie/Edith: I have enjoyed visiting wine bars and tasting rooms in Healdsburg, Sonoma and Santa Rosa during past visits to California.
I love that you were able to bring Mac in to meet/help Cece in the Christmas Mittens novella!
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Oops, I meant CAM not Mac! Obviously my brain did a backwards name thing.
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Thanks, Grace – funny, I never even notice they were back spellings of each other!
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I can’t drink much any more and San Diego was my one and only trip to California. But I went to high school with a set of fraternal twins.
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It’s so interesting to think about how their experience differs from that of other siblings.
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You are a marvel, Edith! Congratulations in advance on the new releases!
My wife and I enjoy visiting wine bars. While we haven’t made it to one in California, we’ve visited a bunch here in Indiana, along with ones in Virginia, Georgia, Missouri, and Tennessee. Cheers!
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Thank you, JC. I clearly have missed out on the Hoosier wine bars!
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I have never been to California or a wine bar. I guess I’ll be doing both thanks to your new book. I’ve had the extreme pleasure to watch a good friend’s twins grow up; they are now in college. I love the premise of the books, I’ve read all the novellas and “Mittens” is just in time for Christmas. Thanks for the chance!
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Thank you, Lucy! It’s always fun to write a Christmas story.
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Wow, Edith! Thanks for being on the Chicks! I’m amazed at you taking on all these challenges. I could barely get them straight while just reading them.
I’ve been to Northern California many times but only to wine country for weddings. Also, I’m a proud auntie of young twins!
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Lucky you! And thank you. Great to see you in San Diego!
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Even though I grew up in Sonoma County, I’m not a wine drinker.
Congrats on the new series and the two releases. (No need to enter me in the giveaway.)
And I’d missed that Maddie had taken over the Local Food Mysteries. It’s a good think you get along with her so well. 🙂
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LOL, it’s a very good thing we’re so close!
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Practically twins!
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I LOVE wine bars. Especially in the Central Coast. I miss our trips to Cambria. We’d stop at wineries on Highway 46, one of the most beautiful roads in the country. Thanks for bringing back some great memories, Edith!
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You’re the one who planted the seed of the wine bar idea in my brain, Ellen!
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I have no experience with wine bars and never been to Northern California. However, I do have an identical twin sister so I can definitely say I have experience with that. Twins occur on both sides of my family,
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Ooh, I might have to hit you up with research questions, Cherie.
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It will come as no surprise to most of you who know me that I am a fan of–and frequent visitor to–wine bars. My wife and I still remember fondly the days back in the ’70s and ’80s when you could taste fine wines in the Napa Valley, and they’d waive the tasting fee if you bought at least one bottle. Now it’ll cost you an arm and a leg. (Though Sonoma, of course, where your new series is set, Edith, still is a bargain!)
And all I can say to your responses of “I can do that,” it brings to mind the marvelous Broadway show, “A Chorus Line”….
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Thanks, Leslie – you should come up to Sonoma with me and we’ll taste our way through the Alexander Valley !
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Edith, we Chicks are thrilled to have you visit today. Both your fun new series and holiday novella sound absolutely wonderful–top of the TBR! I haven’t been to a wine bar in CA yet, but I hope to remedy that soon. In the meantime, I’ll count on Cece and Allie for the vicarious experience. I adore any books with twins–I started way back with the Bobbseys and never quit. I grew up with twin friends who had twin siblings. As an almost-only, I was always jealous of the built-in companionship.
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Thanks, Lisa. That twin relationship is special, for sure.
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As a CA native I been to wineries in Napa, Sonoma and Alexander Valley. We have two different friends whose children work at wineries in the area. It’s a fun idea to have Cam visiting CA. Can’t wait to see if I recognize the real places that these new places are based on.
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I wonder if you will!
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No real experience with any of those unfortunately. A wine bar does sound interesting to try, and I did have a great uncle that lived in Southern California for many years, though I never got to visit there myself. When I was in school we did seem to have a higher percentage of sets of twins, considering how small we were. I am very much looking forward to Murder Uncorked, and I really enjoy those holiday novellas. Very neat that you could combine series, I love Easter eggs and crossovers like that.
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Thanks so much, Alicia.
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Hi Edith! I’m a big fan of wine bars. I’ve been to many all over the world, and several in CA. My mom worked at a winery in Paso Robles and my sister lived in Livermore, in the heart of wine country. Always fun to visit there … and here with you at Chicks! I’m always in awe of you!
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No need for awe, but I hope you and I can hit a wine bar together sometime soon!
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Edith! Welcome back and congrats on the new releases! Way to yes-and your editor!
That definitely sounds like my kind of research. (And since my own daughter is a Cecilia–often called Cece–I love the name.) I’ve been to a couple of wine bars and enjoyed every sip. I don’t have a refined palate, but I know what I like!
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Thanks, Kathleen – good to know it’s a valid nickname. I thought I invented it! I definitely don’t have a refined palate (can you say BotaBox?), but it’s fun to pretend I do.
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Ha! Same. I often joke that I want to go box-wine tasting.
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I live in Lodi, CA (Northern CA) which is wine country!! We have wineries with taste testing everywhere!
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I love the name LODI! Check my web site Appearances tab for an event near you in early November. https://edithmaxwell.com/appearances/
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I live in Lodi, CA (Northern CA) which is wine country! We have wineries with taste testing everywhere! We also have the Lodi Grape Festival to celebrate every September.
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I have identical twin granddaughters who life in San Francisco with their parents, and when my husband and I visit them we also visit wine country and wine bars (Healdsburg and more). Because cold fogs can take over SF, there are twin mittens. How’s that?
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I love it! My fictional town is near Healdsburg.
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Twins run in my family. My brothers are twins, my mother and her sister are twins, and my grandmother had twin siblings. Northern California is my home and wine country is just up the road from me! Looking forward to reading this new series and its backstory!
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Lucky you!
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Twins run in my family. My brothers are twins, my mother and her sister are twins, and my grandmother had twin siblings. Northern California is my home and wine country is just up the road from me! Looking forward to reading this new series and its backstory!
âFran Vella
>
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My Sister had twin boys and my Grandmother had twins my father was one of them deborahortega229@yahoo.com
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So cool!
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So looking forward to your new series. I have read all the books in each series, I think. And I love Sonoma, the town, the county and all the history of the wineries in the valley. Downtown Sonoma has a wonderful wine bar.
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I’ll have to check out Sonoma this trip!
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I would live to visit wine country, I have never been. You sure juggled a lot with these stories! Thanks!
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I hope you get a chance soon.
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My experience with California is more in the middle – Monterey/Fort Ord area. However, hubby’s sister had twins just 9 days before our wedding. 🙂
Super excited about the new releases because I LOVE your books!
2clowns at arkansas dot net
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My experience with California is more in the middle – Monterey/Fort Ord area. However, hubby’s sister had twins just 9 days before our wedding. 🙂
Super excited about the new releases because I LOVE your books!
2clowns at arkansas dot net
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Monterey is so beautiful.
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In the late 1970s we were into wine though we lived in Texas. We aren’t anymore as we like Seagram’s VO blended Canadian Bourbon now. We used to drink 7 and 7 but went up a notch. But I digress. We love Northern California. We used to go to San Fran every year for an Art Deco Show and Sale in early December. We did this for 6 or more years. In our off time, we would travel all the way down to Monterrey and Carmel and all the way up to the end of the Russian River. The towns in Northern California are absolutely the best. They are just like “American Graffiti!” Back in the day, I would have loved to live there. My sister’s husband in the Air Force was stationed in Rancho Cordova and their kids were born in Carmichael and Petaluma. That was absolute Heaven in those days.
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I am not Anonymous. I do not k now what I am doing wrong and then my comments vanish. I am Madeleine Spangler and left the above comment on northern California, wine and Art Deco shows in San Fran. madspangelr@comcast.net
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No worries, Madeline! Thanks for persisting.
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I am not Anonymous and have tried to fix this. But it does not work. Though now you may get several comments from me. I am Madeleine Spangler and my email is madspangler@comcast.net.
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Sorry, I am not anonymous, but it was Madeleine Spangler for the above article on the northern California. I do not know what I am doing wrong here on listing who I am. I am not Anonymous. madspangler@comcast.net
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Thanks to random.org, we have a winner and it’s Fran Vella! Fran, you can get in touch with Edith via edith@edithmaxwell.com. Congrats! And thanks to everyone who commented. And of course, thanks to Edith for visiting Chicks and hosting a giveaway.
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Daughter of a fraternal twin here, several more sets in the extended family. I have never been wine tasting in California, but have in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado and Mexico. Always open to new adventures in wine! Congrats on both releases. I look forward to reading them both.
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My experience with twins is with my niece and nephew, now aged 7. My brother and sister-in-law met while in the Navy. He’s still serving, and they’ve moved from HI, where the twins were born, to San Diego, to RI, and now back to HI. I’ve been fortunate to visit and spend time with them while traveling for work. They have both been absolute champions as my nephew battled a Leukemia diagnosis….recently ringing the bell entering remission. Excited to continue to watch them grow!
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Whoops! Neglected to log in before writing that!
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Very interesting plots
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Congrats on your upcoming releases. I’ve never been to California. Or a wine bar. I have 16 year fraternal twin cousins. She’s artsy with drawing and writing, while he likes computer games.
Thanks for the chance to win.
Happy Cozy Mystery Day!
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I have never been to a wine bar, but I would love to go to one. I had twins in my class that would switch, so each would do better in a certain subject in school.
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