When northern California's idyllic Napa Valley is shattered by the vineyard shooting deaths of two men, investigative-reporter-turned-wine-editor Dante Rath seizes the chance to salvage his sagging career. One of the dead is the winery's top investor, a high-tech genius, who was shot and killed by the winery's owner, who in turn was gunned down by Napa County sheriff deputies. At the murder scene, Dante encounters Carmen Carelli, the lawyer for the deceased investor and whose case files he rifles after sharing wine and other pleasures. But when Carelli is shot and wounded jogging near her house in Sonoma, Dante knows something deeply sinister is fermenting in wine country. Doggedly pursuing the story, Dante uncovers fraud, deceit, and a toxic scandal certain to shake the wine world and topple an international wine producer. But he must stay alive to publish the story.