No Murder Before Its Time — Russ Hall

Ruthless, domineering Win Castle is drunk on power. A wealthy Texas rancher, his vast spread also boasts a hugely profitable winery. After a near fatal heart attack, he decides to find a suitable successor by pitting his two grown sons against each other in a terrifying contest of fear-defying machismo. Chaz, the younger and more cold-blooded, wins -- but is found dead in the fermentation room before he can claim his prize.

Tragically, Chaz's murder goes straight to his mother's head -- literally when her severed cranium rolls out of the winery's auger hopper. Texas Ranger Tillis Macrory turns his keen eye to the winery's employees, who openly hated their employers. Luckily, Esbeth Walters, a plucky septuagenarian and part-time winery tour guide, understands that greed and ambition are intoxicating, that family secrets ferment like sour grapes, and that with luck, a killer might just develop a very permanent hangover.