#Review ~ Beyond a Reasonable Stout (Sloan Krause #3) by Ellie Alexander ~ #CozyMystery ~ @ellielovesbooks @MinotaurBooks

Amateur sleuth Sloan Krause delves into the murderous political world in another delightful mystery from popular cozy writer Ellie Alexander.

About the Book:

It's the dead season in Leavenworth, Washington. The throngs of Oktoberfest crowds have headed home, and the charming Bavarian streets are quiet and calm--momentarily. Villagers use the reprieve to drink in the crisp fall mountain air and prepare for the upcoming winter light festival. Soon the German-inspired shops and restaurants will be aglow with thousands of twinkling lights. Visitors will return to the northern Cascades to drink warm mulled cider and peruse the holiday markets. Brewer, Sloan Krause and her partner in crime Garrett Strong are using the slowdown to stock up on a new line of their signature craft beers at Nitro. They're experimenting with a hoppy holiday pine and a chocolate hazelnut stout. The small brewery is alive with delicious scents and bubbling batches of brew.

Sloan is in her element. She loves the creativity and lowkey atmosphere at Nitro. Only that is soon threatened by the incumbent city councilmember Kristopher Cooper. Kristopher is running for re-election on a platform of making Leavenworth dry. Everyone in beertopia is fuming. Leavenworth's economy relies on keeping the kegs flowing. Kristopher wants to banish beer, a policy that might just bankrupt the entire village. However, Kristopher turns up dead days before election night. Sloan quickly realizes that his murder isn't the work of a stranger. Friends, family, and every other business owner had a motive to kill him, including none other than April Ablin, Leavenworth's self-described ambassador of all things German. Sloan finds herself defending April and trying to sleuth out a killer amongst a group of familiar faces.

My Review:

Beyond a Reasonable Stout is the exciting third book in Ellie Alexander's Sloan Krause series. I really enjoy the small, hometown feel that Ms. Alexander pens in this series. The setting for Beyond a Reasonable Stout is Leavenworth, Washington after Leavenworth’s Oktoberfest. Everyone is gearing up for holiday season and eagerly awaiting new holiday-inspired local brews offered by Nitro. While the town prepares for the holidays and the winter light festival, trouble begins brewing around the upcoming councilmember election. Kristopher Cooper, the incumbent councilmember, is running on a  platform that includes prohibition, making Leavenworth, a town full of breweries, dry. To say business owners and citizens are upset is an understatement. 

To make matters worse, Kristopher is found dead the day after a particularly nasty dust-up between him and various residents. Sloan knows this murder wasn't committed by a stranger. There are several citizens who have means, motive, and opportunity. As Sloan continues to slyly investigate, the number of suspects grows, and she has to figure out who among her friends and acquaintances committed this heinous crime.

I really enjoyed the multiple threads woven into this story. It's not just a murder mystery. We get to see the author develop the main characters and do a lot of world building in order to make all the events tie in together properly. I love Sloan's character. She's strong and doesn't put up with anything. She gets along with almost everyone in the book. I love how the author wrote a genuine emotional connection between Sloan and her in-laws and we continue to see what happens when a divorce is imminent and other issues crop up. I was very engaged in this story. The death/murder mystery kept me guessing. I found the entire book to be well thought out with wonderful pacing.

I was provided a review copy of this book.

My Rating:

 

Book Details:

ASIN: ‎ B07P7BXXHZ
Publisher: ‎ Minotaur Books
Publication Date: ‎ October 1, 2019
Print Length: ‎ 288 pages

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3VAwK2z
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43263495-beyond-a-reasonable-stout

#Review ~ Rum and Choke (A Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon Mystery Book 4) by Sherry Harris ~ #CozyMystery @SHarrisAuthor @KensingtonBooks

About the Book:

LAST CALL

The Florida Panhandle Barback Games are coming up and Chloe’s been drafted to represent the Sea Glass Saloon—competing in various obstacle-course events that conclude with rolling an empty keg up a hill. The rivalries are so fierce that some of the participating bars even stoop to bringing in ringers.

Meanwhile, Chloe’s friend Ann—a descendant of the famed pirate Jean Lafitte—asks her to come along for a boat ride as Ann dives into the Gulf of Mexico. She’s found some old papers that may identify the location of sunken treasure. Instead, she finds a sunken body—of one of the ringers hired for the Barback Games. Now that murder is in the mix, Chloe has to figure out whether one of the competitors went overboard . . .

My Review:

Rum and Choke is book four in the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon Mystery series. I enjoy this series and love all the time I get to spend with Chloe in Emerald Cove. This book has Chloe signed up to partake in the Barback Games, unbeknown to her until 10 days before the competition. The competition is so fierce, many of the local bars hire ringers to participate. This leaves Chloe to check out the competitors to see who she'll be up against.

Chloe also finds herself helping out her friend Ann, who wants to go diving in the Gulf of Mexico. Ann is a descendant of the pirate Jean Lafitte and Ann discovered some documents that may lead her to a sunken ship and treasure. On the day Chloe and Ann travel out to one of the locations Ann has mapped out, Ann surfaces with a body in tow - that of one of the ringers entered in the Barback Games. Now Chloe and Ann are suspects in the murder and Chloe finds herself immersed in another murder investigation.

Rum and Choke is another fantastic book in this series. The story is fast-paced and engaging. The author is such a wonderful writer and I love her ability to instill true emotional reactions in her readers. This book also has other themes threaded through it, making the story realistic. 

I love the continued character development and introduction of an assortment of secondary characters. Chloe considers several of the characters to be suspects, giving the reader several viable murderers. Her process of elimination leads to a twist I didn't see coming. The story is original, and I was able to visualize each scene as they played out. A fantastic story with a capable and competent main character make this 5 stars for me. 

I was provided a copy of this book.

My Rating:




Book Details:

ASIN: ‎ B09YL4V5R9
Publisher: ‎ Kensington Cozies 
Publication Date: ‎ December 27, 2022
Print Length: ‎ 272 pages

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3CcbF7H

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60795392-rum-and-choke

#Review ~ Gifts, Glamping, & Glocks (Camper & Criminals, #29) by Tonya Kappes

About the Book:

Welcome to Normal, Kentucky, a small town in the Daniel Boone National Forest and Happy Trails Campground, where the annual Christmas activities are in full swing. But behind the twinkling lights and festive cheer lies a sinister secret.

When a local delivery driver is found murdered in Seymore’s Candy Cane Factory, suspicion quickly falls on the eccentric cast of characters who call Normal home. From the grumpy old man who own’s the candy cane factory, to the bubbly town fiddle player, Otis Gullett, who is secretly in a rendezvous with the factory owner’s wife. No one is above suspicion.

As the investigation heats up, the town's residents begin to turn on each other, and the killer's true identity becomes more and more elusive. As the body count rises, Mae West and the Laundry Club Ladies must race against the clock to uncover the truth before the killer strikes again.

With a southern twist and plenty of red herrings, Gifts, Glamping, & Glocks is a holiday thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

My Review:

Gifts, Glamping, and Glocks is the 29th book in the Camper & Criminals series but it's as fresh and exciting at the first book. Reading Gifts, Glamping, and Glocks is just like coming back home to Normal, Kentucky. I love the familiarity of the characters, the hominess of the setting, and the comfort knowing Mae the the Laundry Club ladies are keeping everyone safe.

It's Christmastime in Normal. Happy Trails Campground's decorating crew is in full swing. The town's Christmas activities are ramping up. And a dead body is found in the local candy cane making factory. A slew of suspects has Mae, Dottie, and the rest of the crew, running around trying to solve the case before anyone else becomes a target. Only, the number suspicious deaths increase. Attempts at identifying the killer fall short when new theories come into play, alibis are revealed for suspects on the whiteboard, and clues becoming stagnant.

The author kept me guessing about the person responsible, and the scheme was shocking. There are several characters who have obvious reasons to be on the suspect list. The book was full of twists, turns, red herrings, and shifts in direction. The mystery would start out going one direction, then completely shift a new way. The suspense build-up was written well and intensified until the very end.

As with the rest of the books in the series, the mystery isn't the only thing going on in the book. Tonya Kappes did a terrific job weaving the main storyline and several smaller ones together. The characters are wonderfully crafted, realistically written, and I feel like I'm coming home to Normal, or wherever the Laundry Club may be, with every book in the series.

I was provided a copy of this book to read.

My Rating:

Book Details:

ASIN: ‎ B0B4PTPC3R

Publisher: ‎ Tonya Kappes Books

Publication date: ‎ December 15, 2022

File size: ‎ 3707 KB

Print length: ‎ 197 pages

Amazon

Goodreads