Wine thriller with Osoyoos setting
Plenty of mystery, intrigue as Victoria’s Jennifer Fraser pens 280-page novel, Crush: A Wine Thriller
The winemaker at Falcon Ridge Winery in Osoyoos is a smuggler and ladies’ man. Simone is the ruthless businesswoman who’s buying up small family-owned wineries and making them part of her multinational empire.
Paige Munroe is the writer caught in the middle as things get complicated and ugly.
This could all very well be happening behind the scenes in the Valley’s wine industry, but in Jennifer Fraser’s new novel, Crush: A Wine Thriller, it’s all fiction.
“Yes, it’s set in Osoyoos and Osoyoos is identified as such,” said Fraser, who lives in Victoria, but spent a lot of holiday time in the Okanagan as a kid and more researching the book.
“The characters fly in and out of Kelowna airport and they drive Highway 97. But, the names of the wineries are fictional and the premise is fictional.”
Paige is a war correspondent who sinks into a depression after her boyfriend is killed in Syria.
She herself was shot in the hip and still walks with a limp by the time she finds herself in the Okanagan.
In fact, the stint in the Okanagan is supposed to be Paige’s easy transition back into life and writing because she’s hired to pen a book about the up-and-coming wine region.
Instead, romance sparks between her and Falcon Ridge winemaker Nicholas Alder, who turns out to be the master of mysterious cross-border shipments at 2 a.m.
Further throwing a wrench into the works is Simone and her merciless dealings.
Along the way, there’s plenty of wine business, food and wine pairing and romps through Okanagan scenery.
“It’s a mystery, so you’ll have to read Crush to see what happens,” Fraser said with a laugh.
“But, I really tried to get into the minds of the characters to tell a thrilling story with romance and food and wine in a beautiful setting.”
In fact, Paige has so resonated with Fraser that the journalist has popped up again as the main character in the novel Fraser is currently writing called Celsius.
It too has mystery and wine, but this time at a food and wine event on the Big Island of Hawaii at Volcano Winery.
Crush initially came out as Fraser’s first novel in 2013 from Granville Island Publishing.
“It got fantastic reviews, but it really wasn’t the greatest novel,” said Fraser.
“I didn’t really market it and neither did Granville.”
As a result, it just seemed to fade away.
Fast forward to this year and Fraser is putting the finishing touches on her second novel, Royal Dispatch, another mystery about a fictional attempted kidnapping of a young Queen Elizabeth in Victoria.
Royal Dispatch will be released next month by Integrated Publishing.
Integrated urged her to resurrect Crush, re-write it, and release it again as an Integrated title.
It’s been out just a couple of weeks now and is already getting glowing reviews.
“Whether you’re an avid wine lover or a casual sipper, you’ll be enthralled by Paige’s adventures,” said Travel with Taste founder Kathy McAree.
Terence Young, the author of The End of the Ice Age, said: “It races, it hums, it heats the blood. Once you’ve pulled the cork on this heady adventure, you won’t put it down until the bottle’s empty.”
“Crush is an effervescent whodunnit. It is a frothy, giddy read,” said Bob Foulkes, author of Adventures with Knives: Surviving 1,000 Hours of Culinary School.
“Oh, and along the way, we learn a little about the Okanagan, much about fine dining and a whole lot about wine.”
As a PhD in comparative literature, Fraser isn’t a stranger to writing, having authored two literary studies.
However, the turn to Crush, Royal Dispatch and Celsius is a serious foray into popular literature.
Fraser is also working with a Victoria start-up company called CtoCareers, which helps university graduates launch their careers.
Currently, the 280-page Crush is only available at Amazon.ca as both a download for $4 or a paperback for $13.50.
Integrated is working with Kelowna-based Sandhill Book Marketing so Crush can be more widely distributed in bookstores.
Fraser is also planning a trip to the Okanagan in the new year to promote the book.