After twenty years making a billionaire’s chaotic life run like clockwork, Penelope Bridges is finally doing something for herself – house-sitting her way around the world, one property at a time.

Her first assignment? A stunning smart-home winery in California’s Sonoma Valley, complete with a forty-seven-page household manual (she read it twice) and one very dramatic dog named Bacchus who is always the first to sense danger and the last to calm down.

It should have been straightforward. It really should have.

But when the winery’s celebrated (and deeply unpopular) head winemaker turns up dead in the cellar during a storm, Penny finds herself doing what she’s always done best: noticing things, documenting everything, and refusing to let a problem go unsolved.

The local deputy is skeptical. The sheriff is obstructive. And the list of people who wanted Julian Croft dead is growing faster than Penny can color-code it.

Good thing she’s very good at her job.

Titles in the House Sitter Mysteries series include:  A Case of Sour Grapes** ~ A Case of Bad Blood ~ A Case of Treachery in the Trees ~ 

This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.

Title:  A Case of Sour Grapes
Series:  House Sitter Mysteries #1
Author:  Mara Webb
Published:  April 21, 2026
My Rating:  4.5 stars

I am familiar with this author’s Paranormal Cozy Mysteries, and was delighted to see this Contemporary Cozy Mystery available.  A Case of Sour Grapes begins the House Sitter Mysteries series with an intense cozy mystery to solve.  The premise is fascinating, with Penny being a very well-organized person, a woman who has run a billionaire’s life with ease, who now wants to do something different… on her own terms.  She’s decided to travel the world by house-sitting in intriguing locations around the globe.  Who could have known that her very first adventure would end with a dead head winemaker in the wine cellar during a violent storm? Or that Penny’s talent for noticing every tiny detail would come in so handy in sleuthing (cozy mystery style) a case that the local sheriff doesn’t seem very interested in solving.

Before anything else, let me say that I absolutely adored Bacchus. I wish he were a recurring character (although I know that can’t be, but I do wish).

A Case of Sour Grapes is well-written, easily captured my attention, and is full of clues, red herrings, and twists that I didn’t see coming.  Having this location be a “smart house” opened the door to the technology side, which, for me, was a fascinating part of this mystery.  I don’t intend to give away any spoilers, but I was on edge in some parts of this book, laughing at Bacchus’ antics in others, and thoroughly enjoying trying to solve the mystery before the reveal.  Did I?  I’ll never tell.  If you love a good, solid Cozy Mystery, world travel, or simply a fun mystery to dive into, then you’d love this one.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

This title is available at Amazon