No Murder Before Its Time

When you ask your sons to compete for everything you own, is it too much to expect murder? Eight generations of Castles build to this moment of conflict: Win Castle doesn't think either of his sons is ruthless enough to be the next owner of their 21,000-acre Texas Hill Country cattle ranch spread, with its 100-acre vineyard like a jewel in its center.

After having a heart attack he has kept secret from his children, Win, considered something of a squire out on his estate, is now obsessed enough to pit his two sons against each other in contests of hunting and fishing. Chas, the younger son, is more aggressive and competitive, but he enjoys triumph for only a month before he is found dead in the fermentation room. Win has his suspicions and does what he can to throw suspicion at anyone other than members of his family. But, his wife, Margo, screams for the head of the killer.

A few days into the case, it's her head that rolls across the concrete from the winery's auger hopper where her body is found.

Esbeth Walters, 72, a retired high school math teacher saddled with the reputation of being an amateur detective much against her will, is involved in the chaos - she has a part-time job giving tours at the Castles' vineyard, Camelot Hills. When the bodies begin to clutter the winery, the local sheriff, Eldon Watkins, and Texas Ranger Tillis Macrory are as reluctant for her help as she is to give it. But in the end they come to realize that Esbeth has a world of experience to offer.