THE LAST HEIR

An intriguing new case lures attorney Jack MacTaggart from the sweltering smog of L.A. to the rarified air of California wine country. In his third book in the award-winning Jack MacTaggart series of legal mysteries, Chuck Greaves blends themes of greed and vanity, rivalry and revenge. He bottles them with an unexpected murder and pours forth a page-turning mystery: Jack and his law partner Marta “Mayday” Suarez navigate the intrigues of a privileged but deeply dysfunctional family of prestigious American wine makers.

Philippe Giroux, estimable patriarch of the Chateau Giroux wine empire, has tragically lost a son. Or has he? Once confirmed by the court, Alain Giroux’s death will pave the way for his brother Phil to inherit America’s most storied winery. Or will it? Andy Clarkson, Alain’s boyhood chum, covets the Chateau Giroux vineyard acreage for his neighboring golf resort. Or does he? Claudia Giroux, Philippe’s haughtily beautiful daughter, has proof that Alain’s death may not have been all that it seems. Or does she? As the scions of a privileged California wine dynasty grapple for control of their family’s legacy, attorney Jack MacTaggart is caught in a cross-fire of estrangement, betrayal, and murder. To make matters worse, Jack is being shadowed by film star Ethan Scott, who plans to spin the family’s private travails into box office gold. Amid the stately oaks and sylvan vineyards of California’s fabled Napa Valley, Jack and his colleagues Marta “Mayday” Suarez and Regan Fife learn the hard way that while blood may be thicker than water, money is a powerful anticoagulant. As the long-buried secrets of a troubled family are revealed one by one, only one question remains to be answered: Who will survive to become The Last Heir? Charles Joseph Greaves was born and raised in Levittown, New York. He is an honors graduate of both the University of Southern California and Boston College Law School who spent 25 years as a trial lawyer in Los Angeles before moving to Santa Fe in 2006 to pursue a writing career. He was, while still in practice, a frequent contributor of feature articles for Los Angeles Lawyer magazine, on whose editorial board he sat. He chaired his firm’s litigation department and served as President of the Pasadena Public Library Foundation