Kelly Young is the author of the popular Travel Writer Cozy Mystery series. She has released the first instalment of the Travel Writer Day Trips Cozy Mystery series, titled Wines and Whines, on February 28, 2023.

The new book contains the same mix of humour and mystery found in the original series. But there are some differences.

Instead of one longer storyline taking place over a week at one provincial location, this book features two shorter stories. Each story takes place over one day in two different Ontario locations.

The first of the two novellas in this latest book is called Wine and Crime which follows the main character Casey Robertson from the original series, and her friends, as they go on a wine tour of the Windsor-Essex area.

The story’s plot centres around a missing piece of jewellery belonging to a wine tour participant.

The second novella is a tale called Dognapped and Trapped which takes place at Rondeau Provincial Park, where Casey and her husband have gone for a day of cycling.

While in the park, they unexpectedly encounter a retired detective Ed Wolsey who is looking into a slew of dog thefts. The story is accompanied by information about the park and the surrounding area.

Young’s familiarity with the area shines through in both novellas. Her grandfather Alan Ross Keele came to town in 1906 while working to help build the railway and her father Donald Keele was born and raised in Kingsville.

And it’s not surprising to see local wineries finding their way into Young’s latest book. She and her husband have taken many wine tours in the area, including an e-bike self-tour of the region.

She loves the EPIC wine tour experience which she says rivals tours elsewhere in the world. She has visited the Niagara Region and even wineries in New Zealand. Young has no plans to stop anytime soon and will continue to support our local vineyards for her go-to wines.

Young also had high praise for the town of Kingsville. She loves the shops, the proximity to wineries, the breweries and the restaurants that our small town has to offer. She has stayed at The Grove Hotel on several occasions and has cycled the Chrysler Canada Greenway Trail a couple of times, as well.

Young said she is pleased with how this first book in the Day Trips series turned out. “This book took me a little longer to complete,” she admitted. “I wanted to get it just right, without losing the light-hearted dialogue that the first series became known for.”

She confirmed that challenges come with her writing style.

“Writing shorter tales is a different challenge than writing a full-length novel. You have to get all of the elements of the mystery, elements you would have more time to flesh out if you were writing a full-length novel, into the shorter format,” she said.