Harvest of Secrets

by Ellen Crosby

  Frankie bought enough white roses for everyone to place a flower on the pine box we had chosen for Susanna. Eli read Psalm 23. I read a poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye, which seemed to me to sum up everything that had happened.

  Do not stand at my grave and weep

  I am not there; I do not sleep.

  I am a thousand winds that blow,

  I am the diamond glints on snow,

  I am the sun on ripened grain,

  I am the gentle autumn rain.

  When you awaken in the morning’s hush

  I am the swift uplifting rush

  Of quiet birds in circled flight.

  I am the soft stars that shine at night.

  Do not stand at my grave and cry,

  I am not there; I did not die.

  Acknowledgments

  As usual, many people were generous with their time and knowledge in sharing information and helping me get my facts straight for Harvest of Secrets. The usual caveat applies: if I got something wrong, it’s on me, not them.

  Rick Tagg, assistant winemaker at Delaplane Cellars in Delaplane, Virginia, has been answering questions, strategizing, and researching arcane wine facts on my behalf, either on the phone or in a vineyard (usually after offering me a glass of wine), for the last ten years. “Thank you” doesn’t begin to do justice to my debt to him. Detective Jim Smith of the Fairfax County (Virginia) Police Department has fit in time to see me around the demands and crazy hours of his job ever since he showed up on my doorstep at dawn years ago to help with an animal-control issue. One thing led to another—he’s an avid reader—and eventually to lunches at local restaurants where I continue to ply him with crime scene and law enforcement questions. Over the years I’m sure we’ve alarmed more than a few folks sitting near us, especially the time I wanted to know how to stab someone so there would be a lot of blood, or what a body abandoned in a car in a hot parking garage would look and smell like after a week. (The head would fall off.)

  Marc Leepson, author, historian, and good friend, introduced me to Lee Lawrence, a resident of Lincoln, Virginia, who is an expert on Quakerism and the fascinating history of Lincoln, especially during the Civil War. Lee and I sat in the Goose Creek Meetinghouse one sultry summer morning not long after the riots of August 12, 2017, had occurred in Charlottesville, talking about Confederate memorials and the uncomfortable dialogue that was going on about their place in our society. In Virginia, the epicenter of the Civil War, that discussion includes monuments, schools, and highways in probably every town and village in the Old Dominion. It wasn’t lost on either of us that we were having this conversation in a Quaker house of worship, a faith that advocates pacifism and tolerance.

  Lee, in turn, referred me to Mary Robare, a dance teacher and instructor at Shenandoah University, who is also an expert on Quaker quilts and the author of Quilts and Quaker Heritage: Selections from an Exhibition, Virginia Quilt Museum, May 3–September 22, 2008. Thanks to Mary for suggesting I invent a rare and unusual quilt for the purposes of my plot, and to my son, Peter de Nesnera, who travels extensively in Africa, for his suggestion to use kente cloth. Sharon Stout, my cousin-in-law, a practicing Quaker, discussed her faith and its history with me over lunch.

  I’m especially indebted to Dr. Tal Simmons, forensic anthropologist, chair of the Department of Forensic Science at Virginia Commonwealth University, and an expert in postmortem interval estimation (time since death) for describing in basic layman’s terms how to go about excavating human remains. She also explained what would—or could—realistically be learned or discovered from a grave site after nearly a century and a half. Alexandra Gressitt, director of the Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg, Virginia, gave me a tour of the library’s wonderful historical archives and offered valuable advice on how Lucie might turn up information on the fictitious Wells family.

  Donna Andrews, John Gilstrap, Alan Orloff, and Art Taylor are my monthly partners-in-crime who help make my writing better with their comments and suggestions. Our critique group, affectionately known as the Rumpus Writers, has met every month without fail for the last eight years. Enormous thanks to Rosemarie Forsythe for art and inspiration. Peter de Nesnera designed the gorgeous new map of Montgomery Estate Vineyard, a true labor of love for his mom, and I love it.

  At Minotaur Books, thanks and gratitude to Hannah Braaten, my charming and amazing editor, for the deft use of her blue pencil and wise advice, and to Nettie Finn, her assistant. Thanks, also, to the many people at Minotaur who do so much to make this book the best it can be: Kelley Ragland, Keith Kahla, Sarah Schoof, Allison Ziegler, Joe Brosnan, and Megan Kiddoo, among others. And special thanks and love to Dominick Abel, my agent, who makes it all happen.

  Last but most important, it is said that writing is by nature a solitary occupation. In part that’s true, but no author writes in a vacuum—at least this one doesn’t. So much thanks and love to André de Nesnera, my husband of thirty-five years, for cheerleading and encouragement when I’ve been sure the words are all rubbish or I can’t remember how to begin a new book, for being a sounding board and my first reader, for dinners cooked and glasses of wine or cups of tea brought to my desk, and, mostly, for being the love of my life and the man who still makes my heart skip a beat. You, my love, make it all worthwhile.

  ALSO BY ELLEN CROSBY

  THE WINE COUNTRY MYSTERIES

  The Merlot Murders

  The Chardonnay Charade

  The Bordeaux Betrayal

  The Riesling Retribution

  The Viognier Vendetta

  The Sauvignon Secret

  The Champagne Conspiracy

  The Vineyard Victims

  THE SOPHIE MEDINA MYSTERIES

  Multiple Exposure

  Ghost Image

  Moscow Nights

  About the Author

  ELLEN CROSBY is the author of eight previous books in the Virginia Wine Country Mystery series, which began with The Merlot Murders. She has also written a mystery series featuring international photojournalist Sophie Medina and Moscow Nights, a standalone. Previously, she was a freelance reporter for The Washington Post, Moscow correspondent for ABC News Radio, and an economist at the U.S. Senate. Learn more about her at www.ellencrosby.com, on Facebook at EllenCrosbyBooks, and on Twitter at @ellencrosby. Or sign up for email updates here.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Map

  Epigraphs

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Ellen Crosby

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  HARVEST OF SECRETS. Copyright © 2018 by Ellen Crosby. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.minotaurbooks.com


  Map © 2018 by Peter de Nesnera

  Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein

  Cover illustration by Hiro Kimura

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Names: Crosby, Ellen, 1953– author.

  Title: Harvest of secrets / by Ellen Crosby.

  Description: First edition. | New York: Minotaur Books, 2018.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018025708 | ISBN 978-1-250-16483-4 (hardcover) | ISBN 978-1-250-16484-1 (ebook)

  Subjects: LCSH: Montgomery, Lucie (Fictitious character)—Fiction. | Vinters—Fiction. | Vineyards—Virginia—Fiction. | Murder—Investigation—Fiction. | GSAFD: Mystery fiction.

  Classification: LCC PS3603.R668 H37 2018 | DDC 813/.6—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018025708

  eISBN 9781250164841

  Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.

  First Edition: November 2018