Bitter Vintage
A Commissario Alice Scuderi Mystery
On the shores of Sicily, a dead man is found at dawn on the beach beneath Isola Bella.
His name is Damiano Sortino, a successful wine importer who returned to Sicily after twenty years in Germany. Beside his body lies an empty bottle of Corona Riserva, one of the most exclusive wines produced by the powerful Adragna family.
Commissario Alice Scuderi soon discovers that Sortino's death is no accident. He was drugged, restrained, and drowned while unable to defend himself. But why would someone kill a man who had spent two decades building a new life abroad?
The answer leads Alice back into the past—to a young woman named Irene, a broken love affair, and the wealthy estate where Irene eventually became the wife of winemaker Ruggero Adragna.
But beneath the vineyards and the family's carefully protected reputation lies something far darker.
Old myths, hidden symbols, missing women, secret accounts, and a mysterious connection to the ancient story of Ariadne and Bacchus begin to reveal a disturbing pattern. The bottle left beside Sortino's body may not simply be a clue. It may be a message.
As Alice follows the trail from Taormina to the Adragna estate, she realizes that the murder is only the surface of a much older secret—one powerful people have spent decades protecting.
Some wines improve with age. Some secrets become more dangerous.
Set against the dramatic landscapes of Sicily, Bitter Vintage is a dark and atmospheric mystery of family secrets, obsession, betrayal, and revenge, featuring the determined and perceptive Commissario Alice Scuderi.