Ellen Crosby delights with the ninth entry in her Virginia Wine Country Mysteries series. Lucie Montgomery is stunned when a human skull is unearthed at her Montgomery Estate Vineyard in Atoka, Virginia, nestled in the midst of horse and hunt country. When examined by a forensic anthropologist, Lucie is told the skull was likely from the mid-1800s, female, and apparently murdered. Since the skull was buried close to the family burial plot, Lucie figures it must have belonged to someone in her family. By studying the family Bible, in which her family tree has been recorded for generations, she determines it’s Suzanna Montgomery, who has no death date recorded in the book.

In the meantime, Lucie’s community is anxiously anticipating the devastation Hurricane Lolita is about to unleash. Lucie and her fiancé, winemaker Quinn Santori, decide to harvest some of the grapes early, and Lucie heads to a neighboring winery to see if they can borrow Miguel Otero, an experienced hand, for the day. When she arrives, she finds the winery’s winemaker, Jean-Claude de Merignac, dead in the wine cellar and Miguel missing. Miguel and Jean-Claude had argued recently and the police find bloody clippers with his initials on the handle at the murder scene, making Miguel the prime suspect. Lucie believes Miguel’s been framed, as do her own migrant workers, who tell her if Miguel’s innocence isn’t proven, they will go on strike. And as if investigating two murders and preparing for a hurricane weren’t enough, she discovers through DNA testing that she has a half-brother who has secrets of his own.

With a writing style that’s as crisp as some of Lucie’s wines, and just as enjoyable, author Ellen Crosby has skillfully combined story lines about the history of Virginia, wineries, DNA testing, immigration and ICE, the Underground Railroad, and race relations to make for a compelling tale of murders both old and new.