Bitter Finish [Hardcover]

Linda Barnes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1983

"A fine job -- expertly written, with an ingenious wine caper set in the Napa Valley." The New York Times Book Review.
A Michael Spraggue Mystery by the author of "Dead Heat."
Michael Spraggue, a wealthy private eye turned movie actor, is in the middle of making a trashy Hollywood movie about -- what else? -- a private eye, when he gets a phone call from his sometime lover and current business partner in a California winery, Kate Holloway.
Kate has troubling news. Not only has Lenny Brent, their volatile winemaker, vanished, but an unidentifiable corpse has appeared -- and Kate's the prime suspect!
Spraggue hurries over in time to discover a second dead body -- that of Lenny. Can Spraggue solve this vintage mystery before he finds himself corked ?

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"A fine job -- expertly written, with an ingenious wine caper set in the Napa Valley." The New York Times Book Review.
A Michael Spraggue Mystery by the author of "Dead Heat."
Michael Spraggue, a wealthy private eye turned movie actor, is in the middle of making a trashy Hollywood movie about -- what else? -- a private eye, when he gets a phone call from his sometime lover and current business partner in a California winery, Kate Holloway.
Kate has troubling news. Not only has Lenny Brent, their volatile winemaker, vanished, but an unidentifiable corpse has appeared -- and Kate's the prime suspect!
Spraggue hurries over in time to discover a second dead body -- that of Lenny. Can Spraggue solve this vintage mystery before he finds himself corked ? --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 183 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (January 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312082363
• ISBN-13: 978-0312082369
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,387,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Detroit; I always say that's where I learned about crime, but I mean no disrespect to a great city. It's also where I learned to love Motown music and do the Stroll. Came to Boston to go to college, and like so many, stayed, awed by the Atlantic Ocean and accessible public transportation. I still love walking Boston's cobbled streets, riding the T, breathing the history.
I started writing while teaching high school theater. Required by my principal to enter a one-act play festival sponsored by the Boston Globe, I cast the play before I actually found it. I had such great students that year, and 12 of them certainly deserved to be in the festival cast. When I couldn't find a one-act with 12 roles (duh), I had to write one myself. The festival was a competition, and darned if we didn't keep on winning, right up to the state finals, where a man came up to me and asked whether he might publish that play. I said yes, wrote more plays, and then segued into crime fiction.
My first Carlotta Carlyle short story was nominated for just about every mystery award going, and the first Carlyle novel, A TROUBLE OF FOOLS, was nominated for an Edgar and a Shamus, and won the American Mystery Award. I've got a new book, the eleventh in the Carlyle series, coming out in May. It's called HEART OF THE WORLD. Check my website for upcoming tour details. For the rest, I'm married, mother of a teenage son, and currently proud to be president of Private Eye Writers of America.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazon purchase., February 1, 2011

By 

Gregory S. Johnson "BOOKWORM" (GORHAM, ME) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bitter Finish (Hardcover)

I was happy with the condition of the book and for the time it took to receive it. I have had great luck with purchasing things from Amazon.com

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An inconsistent mystery with little suspense., July 28, 1999

By 

Tam Sesto - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bitter Finish (Mass Market Paperback)

Michael Spraggue, vineyard owner, rich, actor, and a use to be private eye is out to solve the mystery of a dead body found in the trunk of his ex-girlfriend 's car, and current co-owner of his vineyard. The story, at times, held my attention, and at other times, I couldn't wait for it to be over. Ms. Barnes wasn't consistent with the plot or suspense of the "who-dun-it" scenario. She's written better.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Writing is good, January 18, 2006

By 

J. Rosenberg "reggieroy" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bitter Finish (Mass Market Paperback)

The writing is good. Too bad Barnes didn't have a mystery to go with it. Spraggue and his pal Kate are stereotypes, and not ones I enjoy reading about. She's too everything -- too thin, too pretty, too smart, too sexy -- to be a sympathetic character. Plot had to be explained in the last chapter by the murderer because for the 200 or so pages before that, there were no clues or interesting events.

Booorrrinngg. I bought it for 25 cents at a thrift shop because I really enjoy Barnes' Carlotta mysteries.