Friday, April 15, 2022

Ellen Crosby--Bitter Roots (and Happy Endings)

DEBORAH CROMBIE: It is spring, and gloriously, time for weddings. How perfect that Ellen Crosby's 12th Virginia Wine Country Mystery, BITTER ROOTS, which revolves around a spring wedding, is out just in time to get us in the mood.


This special fictional wedding echoes a treasured personal moment for Ellen, too, and I'm happy she's sharing it with us today!

ELLEN CROSBY: Forty years ago this October on the day before Halloween my husband and I were married on a gorgeous Indian summer evening in Washington, D.C. Our reception took place under a perfect harvest moon when it was so warm our hosts threw open the French doors to the ballroom of the historic mansion where we were celebrating so everyone could dance by candlelight and moonlight outside on the terrace. Afterward our guests helped gather what remained of the buffet dinner and our wedding cake to bring back to our apartment. The next day we threw an all-day party of leftovers for friends and family who had traveled from New York and New England to be with us. All these years later when I think back on our wedding weekend what I remember most is joy.

In Bitter Roots, the twelfth Virginia wine country mystery, Lucie Montgomery and Quinn Santori are finally getting married—an event that has been evolving over the last few books. First they got engaged. Then they moved in together. They were in no rush to set a date, so they didn’t. (Yes, I heard about that!). Then they did set a date. And finally, they began making wedding plans.

Lucie wants the perfect outdoor spring wedding: the happily-ever-after fairy tale with the dress, the flowers, the intimate ceremony in their garden, the reception with family and friends celebrating at the vineyard, the romantic first dance—all of it.

Unfortunately, she’s not going to get it. Any of it.

A huge swath of withered, dying grapevines is spoiling an otherwise perfect setting for the wedding. Lucie blames the nursery that sold them the diseased vines; so do other vineyard owners dealing with the same problem. The nursery owner pushes back: the dying vines are the result of climate change and the blame game heats up.

Then Eve Kerr, a stunning blonde who works at the nursery, turns up dead less than a week before the wedding and everyone wonders if someone’s anger over the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars pushed them too far. For Lucie Eve’s death is personal: Quinn had taken Eve’s side that the nursery wasn’t responsible for the vineyards’ losses and had secretly agreed to meet her the day she disappeared. Their meeting never took place and Quinn tells Lucie he doesn’t know why Eve, a fellow Californian, wanted to see him. Lucie, however, has a few suspicions of her own. With Quinn now a suspect in a murder investigation, Lucie wonders what else her soon-to-be-husband isn’t telling her about his relationship with Eve.

The search for Eve’s killer and the wedding plans come to an abrupt halt when a violent storm with hurricane-force winds—a derecho—blows through the vineyard one night. The storm, which no one was prepared for, leaves a massive trail of destruction from Atoka, Virginia to Washington, D.C. There is no electricity, no water, no phone or Internet service, no 911 to call for help, no nothing. The garden where the ceremony was to take place is destroyed, the reception site is unsalvageable, and the wedding dinner will almost certainly be thrown out because there is no refrigeration.

With their plans in ruins, Lucie and Quinn turn to each other and decide they’ll improvise, figure things out, make do with what they’ve got. They’ll have a wedding anyway.  But as they make new plans, the knowledge that Eve’s murderer is probably someone close to home—a friend or neighbor—perhaps even a wedding guest, hangs over the preparations. With the Sheriff’s Office closing in on finding the killer, everyone’s anxiety ratchets up: who killed Eve? But the resilience that gets this close-knit community through the devastation of the derecho is going to get them through this tragedy as well.

Despite the heartache and sadness of the last few days, Lucie realizes that while she isn’t going to get the wedding she wanted, or thought she wanted, she and Quinn are going to have the wedding they need. An unforgettable, spontaneous celebration surrounded by everyone they love most, a time to heal from losses, a new beginning.

And, mostly, there will be joy.

DEBS: I know from my experience with Duncan and Gemma that pulling off a fictional wedding is almost as hard as planning one in real life! Quite a few of us REDs have written fictional weddings, interestingly enough, so they will know that a lot of thought goes into getting it just right.

REDS and readers, do you have a great wedding story? Or a favorite fictional wedding? 


Ellen Crosby is the author of the Virginia wine country mysteries, two mysteries featuring international photojournalist Sophie Medina, and MOSCOW NIGHTS, a standalone. Before writing fiction, Crosby worked as a freelance reporter for The Washington Post, an economist at the US Senate, and Moscow reporter for ABC Radio News. She lives with her husband in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. after spending many years living abroad in England, France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and the former Soviet Union. Visit her website at www.ellencrosby.com and follow her (very) occasionally on Facebook at EllenCrosbyBooks, sometimes on Twitter at @ellencrosby, but mostly on Instagram at ellencrosbyauthor.


 

60 comments:

  1. Your wedding story is so perfect, Ellen . . . what special, precious memories.
    Congratulations on your newest book . . . now I’m wondering who could have killed Eve and I’m looking forward to reading Lucie’s story.

    Wedding stories? Ours went pretty much according to plan except for the flower girl taking a tumble as she walked down the aisle. But she was picked up, stood up, and sent on her way by one of my college friends and everything went on, just as it was planned . . . .

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    1. June, thanks for this! Our wedding was absolutely perfect--however we arranged for our out-of-town guests to stay at a nearby hotel in Georgetown, completely forgetting that Halloween was celebrated that same night--Saturday, October 30--that year. Everyone in Georgetown and half of DC showed up for a big, noisy, raucous Halloween costume party in the streets, as we learned from our bleary-eyed guests when they showed up for the leftovers party the next day!

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    2. And, er, I meant Joan! Blogger was giving me trouble signing in, so apologies.

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  2. I love reading wedding in books. Of course, they rarely go off as easily as they should. After all, there's a mystery to solve as well.

    Your own wedding sounds wonderful. Congrats on almost 40 years.

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    1. Thanks for this, Mark! Believe it or not, the 40 years--which have been an adventure--have flown by!

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  3. Way to up the stakes! The story sounds fantastic, Ellen.

    I've married off three protagonists and found ways to throw various-sized wrenches in the works. My favorite real-life wedding has to be my son's three years ago in Pototmac. It went off pretty much like yours - perfect weather, simple and beautiful, a meaningful creative ceremony, and so much joy.

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    1. Edith, my oldest son and daughter-in-law got married at Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna, now 9 years ago, also in October (Columbus Day weekend). It poured Biblical rain and we almost needed a boat to get the wedding guests to the wedding and reception. My daughter-in-law went out and bought brilliantly-colored umbrellas for Peter and his groomsmen and bright rain boots for herself and her bridesmaids to wear under their dresses. The wedding pictures are hilarious and we'll never forget that wedding!

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  4. ELLEN: Congratulations on the release of BITTER ROOTS! I have enjoyed reading this series from the beginning and have been waiting for Lucie & Quinn to finally tie the knot. But of course, a glitch (or bigger problem) derails the happy event in many mysteries. And once again, the impacts of climate change has affected their vineyard.

    And congratulations on your upcoming 40th wedding anniversary!

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    1. Thanks for your nice comments, Grace! So glad you enjoy the series and thanks, also, for the anniversary wishes.

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  5. Congratulations on the release of Bitter Roots. No wedding story but I do enjoy the book weddings that are planned but are changed due to mischief and mayhem of others.

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  6. Congrats on 40 years Ellen! And the new book! WE are looking forward to 30 years in May--so unbelievable to me as it seems like yesterday in some ways. The party was in our back yard and we have so many good memories!

    I love doing weddings in my Key West series--no one ever gets what they planned but it's all good in the end. I did have one memorable marriage ceremony during a hurricane in a big closet:).

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    1. I loved the wedding in the closet, Lucy!

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    2. Lucy, the closet wedding sounds very memorable! And congratulations on your 30th. The time does seem to fly, doesn't it? For many years we joked that every anniversary seemed as if 100 years had passed since the last one because the year had been so memorable and full, so we celebrated our 270th, 280th, etc. (Coming up on 400th!). :)

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    3. I loved the wedding in the closet, too. But Haley and Nathan's wedding, that almost wasn't but then was, OMG, I was a wreck for that one.

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  7. Congratulations on your latest release. I love a good wedding story. My fav of all time: Donna Andrews, Murder with Peacocks.

    Every wedding has glitches, inconvenient (the a/c died, the sprinkler system at an outdoor wedding turned on just as the ceremony started) to trivial (the ring bearer dropped the rings in the sand at beach wedding and there was a mad scramble to find them).

    I used my son's New Orleans wedding as the setting for a short story, "The Bride Wore Gold" and I'm still thinking about a story set at my daughter's Cape Cod beach wedding. So much potential...

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    1. Margaret, I loved Murder With Peacocks as well--and met Donna not long after I read that book. Now she's my up-the-street neighbor, plus we have been in 2 critique groups together for probably a combined total of 20 years! So I get to hear what Meg's up to when Donna is writing her latest book. We joke in the critique group that she is so prolific that she probably writes another book during our meetings. :)

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  8. Congratulations on your 40th wedding anniversary, coming up in October, and congratulations on your new book. I have your books on my TBR list and hope to get into them soon.

    I do love a good wedding story. Two of my favorites are Gemma and Duncan's wedding, which is a surprise for Gemma, and Georgie and Darcy's wedding in Four Funerals and a Wedding Maybe. In fiction, they rarely go smoothly. In real life, there are glitches, too. Anything you plan that involves lots of moving parts (and weddings surely do) or depends upon the weather, well, life happens.

    I married my husband in the middle of winter in Connecticut. We didn't spend a lot of time planning it. When we went to see the rabbi about choosing the day, he said he had February 1 and February 8 available. I told him that I wanted the one without the snowstorm. He laughed and said, "Judy, I don't have that kind of influence!" We got sleet.

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    1. Judy, where in Connecticut? I grew up in Stamford. I love a good wedding story as well. You are lucky for a winter wedding in CT to have "only" ended up with sleet. (Though snow would have been pretty!)

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  9. Yesterday we had a conversation about national and regional mores and manners, the qualities that help give an authentic identity to a character. Replying to adkmilkmaid, I mentioned a book I'd read recently but couldn't remember the title or author. American Nations: A History of the Eleven Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard. It's a really look at how the different people who settled in The Colonies, created cultures that survive until today.

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    1. Judy, have you read "A Voyage Long and Strange" by (the late) Tony Horwitz? You might enjoy it--he is/was a wonderful writer. It is the account of all the people who came to America long before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. Great book

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    2. Ellen, thanks for the suggestion. I like "origin" stories;-)

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  10. I read BITTER ROOTS a few weeks ago; I particularly enjoy the setting with its proximity to the Leesburg area where my youngest son is the head of Emergency Management for the city of Leesburg. I always find it a bit thrilling to have actually traveled in the area where a book is set so even though I’m not a wine enthusiast I very much enjoy your books! I am registered for your visit to the Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop next month and look forward to that day’s discussion.

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    1. Ellen's books have made me want to visit the area. It sounds as if it looks very English!

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    2. Debs, there is a very historically British vibe to that area. When I had all three sons living in the northern Virginia area I visited a lovely little tea room just south of Leesburg which carried many British products and this was before it was so easy to find PG Tips, McVitie's Digestives, etc. online.

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    3. Emily, is that the place on Mosby's Highway in Aldie?

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    4. Emily, thanks, also, for your comments--my youngest son, who is autistic, works for ECHO of Leesburg which your son will surely know. It's a wonderful nonprofit that provides jobs for individuals with disabilities. Looking forward to seeing you at Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop!

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    5. And Debs, since it's horse and hunt country as well, it's definitely very horsey and tweedy! You would love it--come visit and I'll show you around. The spring steeplechase races take place very soon and the Gold Cup is, I believe, at the end of the month or else in May.

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    6. Ellen, yes, you are spot on! It’s that place in Aldie. I’ll ask my son about ECHO now that you’ve piqued my curiousity.

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    7. Emily, ECHO is a great organization; I'm sure your son will have heard of it.

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  11. If you're going to have a picturesque wedding, rural Virginia is as good a place as any. Love all the rolling hills and verdant vistas in that area. So many beautiful vineyards to choose from.

    My youngest daughter has been married twice, and both were memorable. The first, right before her first husband shipped to Afghanistan, was the white gown and deejay bit at Jungle Island in Miami. They were supposed to say their vows outside overlooking a lush waterfall area, but it rained buckets, so the amazing wedding coordinator sprang into action. She put together an impromptu "chapel" in the reception area. Our photo booth photos are so dang funny, too. Too bad the marriage was doomed.

    Her second wedding--third for her husband--was in their backyard, at sunset. Just them, us, my step grandkids, one girlfriend of the kids, and the friend who was marrying them. And my oldest daughter was "with" us on Facetime, and the middle one via Skype. If the Facetimer hadn't been sobbing so loudly the ceremony would have taken less than five minutes. We then walked back down the hill to the house and my new son-in-law cooked the best steaks ever. The girlfriend of the oldest kid handed over her gift: a "wedding avocado". Now that's a family joke and guaranteed a good chuckle. (She was 17 at the time. And it was a good avocado.)

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    1. How lovely, Karen. Sometimes those thrown together weddings are the best.

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    2. Wow, Karen. Those weddings sound so memorable! I have been to one wedding on Zoom--it was very sweet but made me sad since we couldn't be there in person--like watching through a window. The ceremony took place in Virginia (outdoors because of Covid and it was chilly!) and a few hours later I "attended" a baby shower my daughter-in-law threw for her sister in California. It was a very weird, surreal day.

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  12. Ellen is having trouble getting Blogger, but she will be here!

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  13. I look forward to this book wedding! We attended a wedding years ago where the bride kept leaning and listing and swaying. It turned out her terrified groom was standing on her veil and was frozen in place. As for book weddings, I think one of my favorites was Margaret Maron's Deborah and Dwight.

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    1. That is hilarious, Pat! There are so many wonderful, memorable wedding stories--everyone seems to have something. When my oldest son and daughter-in-law got married (her brother performed the ceremony) Claudia was so nervous he would accidentally marry them at the rehearsal so they had him recite the marriage ceremony from "The Princess Bride"--which is where I got the idea for Lucie and Quinn's rehearsal.

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  14. Ellen, this sounds delightful. I am looking forward to reading it, and to the long-awaited wedding!

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  15. I love a good wedding, especially in a book (so I don't have to get dressed up!). Happiness, no matter how fleeting, is a wonderful thing.

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    1. Amanda, I really enjoyed writing this book. And the storm, by the way, is based on the real derecho that came through northern Virginia in 2012. It was unforgettable--everything that happened to Lucie and Quinn happened to us!

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    2. I was going to ask if that was a real storm you were describing. It certainly felt real!

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  16. This is so great! Congratulations. What wonderful success you are having, fantastic! And weddings are terrific , fictionally, because they are so full of stress and conflict and relationships and possibilities. There is a wedding at the end of my book FACE TIME — and I remember when my editor read it, she said it is the first time she’s ever read a mystery where the ending made her cry.
    Also, thinking about it, they are very nicely the end of something and the beginning of something, you know?
    Xx

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    1. Oh, Hank, what a lovely story! Thanks for this, sweetie. xoxo

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  17. Writing a fictional wedding is HARD because the actual ceremony and reception usually happen after the mystery, so even though readers want the fairytale scene... it's not really doing anything to move the plot forward. I solved it with Russ and Clare's wedding by having another character's point of view - and her experiences during the event definitely DID move her plot forward.

    Ellen, I remember the real derecho that hit Virginia! My sister lives in Alexandria; they were out of power for a week and she and the boys (and the dogs) drove north to stay with me while her husband held down the fort. It was extremely hot then, and I do have to wonder if we're going to see more anomalous weather events with the rapidly warming planet.

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    1. Julia, I absolutely love your books! And, yes, that derecho (2012) was unforgettable. It was brutally hot, a Friday night. We were in bed watching television when the emergency alert showed up on the screen--before it ended the wind started howling and it sounded like the world was coming to an end. Our 911 system (and backup) went down, exactly like what happened to Lucie and Quinn and there was no Internet service anywhere except for random pockets here and there. Gas stations ran out of gas and grocery stores had to throw out their food. It was crazy!

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  18. Congratulations on the new book, Ellen.

    I served at a hot Fall afternoon wedding, in a filled to capacity church, where a guest collapsed but did not want to leave the church only to collapse a second time and needing a second ambulance response.

    I loved the surprised wedding that Duncan gave Gemma, Nathan's determination to get married on the day the ceremony was planned for despite almost dying the day before, the king and queen attending Georgie's wedding, Lindsey's shock when she discovers that the whole town, or so it seems, are expecting to be invited to her small intimate wedding. I guess I just like a good wedding.

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  19. Thanks, Deana--it sounds as if you definitely like a good wedding! I enjoyed writing about Lucie and Quinn's!

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  20. What a dream wedding you had, Ellen. Happy Upcoming 40th Anniversary! My husband and I will be celebrating our 46th in October, and I can't believe that many years have gone by, almost 50. We had the traditional small town church wedding in my hometown, surrounded by my friends and my parents' friends and, of course, family. The reception was in the church basement. We did have a brunch that day at the Country Club, but the church was the traditional wedding site in my hometown in 1976. The big mistake I made was hiring my brother-in-law, my older sister's husband, to take the pictures. He was a wonderful photographer, strictly amateur, and so we thought it would be nice to have him do the photos. Luckily, we also hired the local photography studio to take the official photo of Philip and me, because my brother-in-law's camera quit working. We have very few photos as a result. I did enjoy the gathering at my parents' house of close friends and family for country ham and beaten biscuits and some more Southern fare. I didn't enjoy discovering that my new husband didn't make reservations for the first night of our honeymoon, the night of our wedding. There were home football games for Kentucky and Tennesse and no vacancies along the way to the Smoky Mountains, so we had to wait until the next afternoon to get in our room there. We rode up and down the mountains and had breakfast at least twice that night/morning. He's never handled hotel reservations again.

    Congratulations on your new book, Deana. I'll take my small problems at my wedding over poor Lucie's and Quinn's.

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    1. Kathy, your wedding sounds so memorable as well! And congratulations on 46 years. The wedding night story is hilarious with your multiple breakfasts, though I suspect it was less funny at the time!

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  21. Your wedding sounds perfect Ellen! Glad to hear that Lucie and Quinn are going to make the best of their circumstances and create their own perfect wedding. This sounds like a must read!

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    1. I really loved this book. It was a walk-around-the-house-reading book!

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    2. Debs, thanks so much for this! I love "walk-around-the-house-reading book." xoxo

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  22. Congratulations, Ellen! What a wonderful addition to a terrific series. Fictional weddings are my favorite - no need to buy a gift or dress up! LOL.

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  23. Sorry I am a day late!

    Congratulations, Ellen and happy anniversary! Your books are on my TBR list. There are many wonderful books that I want to read...

    Favorite fictional wedding: the wedding of Lady Georgie and Darcy O'Mara in the Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen. I also loved the title.

    Diana

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    1. Diana, thanks for this. I hope you enjoy the books--I know what you mean about having a TBR pile (or even a TBR bookcase)!

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  24. No wedding memories to post, but I loved your descriptions - real and fictional. Love the cover and the storyline is intriguing.

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  25. Thanks, Mary. Virginia is such a gorgeous state. Next week is the annual garden tour in our area--we have one of the oldest (and largest) garden tours in the country. It's a pretty big deal and Virginians love their gardens.

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