Wednesday 12 August 2020

Book ~ "The Pint of No Return" (2018) Ellie Alexander

From Goodreads ~ No other festival compares to Oktoberfest in Leavenworth, Washington. The whole town is buzzing with excitement over this year’s activities and eagerly awaiting Nitro’s latest offering Cherry Weizen, made with locally sourced cherries. But local brewmaster Sloan Krause is tapped out. Between trying to manage the pub, her pending divorce with Mac, and her mounting feelings for Garrett, she’s fermenting in internal turmoil.

To complicate matters, dreamy movie star Mitchell Morgan and his production crew have arrived in the village to film during the authentic Bavarian brewfest. Mitchell has his eye on Sloan and a taste for Nitro’s Cherrywizen. Sloan escapes his advances for good when she finds Mitchell dead by a gazebo. Is this a case of one pint too many, or has Mitchell been murdered by microbrew? 

I like beer and I like mysteries so that's why this book caught my eye.

Sloan recently discovered her husband, Mac, cheating.  She was working for his family's brewery and got another job working with Garrett in his microbrewery/pub, Nitro.  She's still close to her in-laws ... in fact, her mother-in-law and father-in-law have given her a third ownership of their brewery (along with Mac and his brother, Hans).  Sloan is enjoying working with Garrett in his smaller business as it gives her a more hands-on opportunity to create interesting craft beers.

It's Oktoberfest in the mountain town of Leavenworth, WA (population of about 2,000).  Leavenworth's claim to fame is that it is very similar to a Bavarian town in Germany.  During the month of Oktoberfest, about 200,000 people descend upon the town partaking in the events.  There is also a film crew in town making a documentary about the beer industry.  The "host" of the documentary is a former child star who is arrogant and demanding.  No one is really sorry to hear he's been murdered and there are a handful of people who could have wanted him gone.

This is the second in the Sloan Krause Series by this author and I liked it.  It worked as a stand alone ... I haven't read the first one but there was enough information so I knew what was going on.  It's written in first person perspective in Sloane's voice.  There is a lot of talk about beer (which I found interesting) and there are also explanations about what was being talked about (for example, what is a wheat beer).  It was a quick light read and is a "cozy mystery" so there is no swearing, violence or adult activity.  I look forward to reading the others.

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