Story Time Amid the Vines

Grapes take time to become good wine. Sometimes a writer takes time, too, as Lenny Kleinfeld found out. After years of trying to make it at the Hollywood game, Kleinfeld turned to fiction and murder and might be on his way to a killing with the publication of Shooters & Chasers, about “a world-class assassin hell-bent on making a world-class syrah.” So it’s fitting Kleinfeld will be giving a reading from his novel at Buttonwood Farm Winery (1500 Alamo Pintado Rd., Solvang; 688-3032; buttonwoodwinery.com) on Saturday, May 30, at 2 p.m. Since it’s a book event, Buttonwood will break out library wines to celebrate, making it a win-win, as long as you’re not a character in Kleinfeld’s cleverly plotted novel. Joe Mantegna, no stranger to the crime world himself (he’s even been a boss on The Simpsons), says, “I like Robert Parker, I like Elmore Leonard, I like Lawrence Sanders, and now I like Lenny Kleinfeld.” That’s good liking to trot out, and Kleinfeld will have celeb help at the reading from Ina Jaffe from NPR (who is also his wife), and actors Lisa Kaminir and Terry Bozeman.