Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: The Lovely Pines 
SERIES: BJ Vinson Mystery #4
AUTHOR: Don Travis
PUBLISHER: DSP Publications
LENGTH: 254 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 28, 2018
BLURB:
When Ariel Gonda’s winery, the Lovely Pines, suffers a break-in, the police write the incident off as a prank since nothing was taken. But Ariel knows something is wrong—small clues are beginning to add up—and he turns to private investigator BJ Vinson for help.
BJ soon discovers the incident is anything but harmless. When a vineyard worker—who is also more than he seems—is killed, there are plenty of suspects to go around. But are the two crimes even related? As BJ and his significant other, Paul Barton, follow the trail from the central New Mexico wine country south to Las Cruces and Carlsbad, they discover a tangled web involving members of the US military, a mistaken identity, a family fortune in dispute, and even a secret baby. The body count is rising, and a child may be in danger. BJ will need all his skills to survive because, between a deadly sniper and sabotage, someone is determined to make sure this case goes unsolved.
REVIEW:
A French-style chateau in the middle of New Mexico, with a tank guarding the vineyard that lies within the grounds. Gonda, a man of Swiss descent, owns it. Unusual? Yes. But murder changes the unusual into the personal.
The Lovely Pines is the fourth instalment in the BJ Vinson Mystery series, and my first taste of BJ the investigator. By the end, I wanted to read more of his escapades, and for some reason, I had a hankering to visit a vineyard.
Getting hooked was not instantaneous – it crept up on me. In the early chapters, there is a lot of scene setting and picture painting. Many of the cast are also introduced providing a sizeable pool of unsubs with skeletons in closets. They include employees, friends, and suspects of differing nationalities. To begin with, the sheer number was daunting and challenging to remember. But, as the story progressed, I got to learn more about each of them and the spaghetti of who was who in my head was straightened out.
Told in the first person from BJ’s pov, I didn’t need to read any of the previous volumes to get to grips with BJ and his investigation. BJ is an ex-marine MP and gay investigator in a three-year relationship with Paul. Paul acts as BJ’s sounding board and adds the main M/M element to the story, albeit there are no graphical sex scenes. The novel is focused on the investigation, not the relationship between BJ and Paul.
I truly got vested in the story after the murder, which isn’t a spoiler as it’s in the blurb. From there, a case of finding an intruder became a whole lot more complicated. To see who is taken down for what, you’ll have to read for yourselves. However, the process of piecing together the puzzle, subsequent events and revelations made for a methodical, logical, exciting read. It was an intricate tale involving, family, the military, vengeance, theft, and a couple of other things added to the unfolding drama. I’m not going to reveal everything because I’m here to let you know whether this a good read, not let slip all the juicy details.
By the end, I felt satisfied that I’d not only been entertained but that I’d witnessed the process and not been left out of anything significant. Nothing was skimmed over or skimped. The investigation was thorough. There were no questions left unanswered, and by the end, I was hungry to read more of the BJ Vinson Mysteries.
RATING:
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