When Sloan Krause walks in on her husband, Mac, screwing the barmaid, she gives him the boot. Sloan has spent her life in Leavenworth, Washington becoming an expert in brewing craft beer, and she doesn’t have time to be held back by her soon-to-be ex-husband. She decides to strike out on her own, breaking away from the Krause family brewery, and goes to work for Nitro, the hip new nano-brewery in the Bavarian-themed town. Nitro’s owner, brewmaster Garrett Strong, has the brew-world abuzz with his newest recipe, “Pucker-Up IPA.” This place is the new cool place in town, and Mac can’t help but be green with envy at their success.
But just as Sloan is settling in to her new gig, she finds one of Nitro’s competitors dead in the fermenting tub, clutching the secret recipe for the IPA. When Mac, is arrested, Sloan knows that her ex might be a cheater, but a murderer? No way. Danger is brewing in Beervaria and suddenly Sloan is on the case.
A great start to a new series by Ellie Alexander, we have quirky (and in the case of one, seriously annoying!) characters, a protagonist who is trying to find herself (and has at least found a family), there are some heavy topics that are touched on lightly (and by that I don't mean dismissed but used so as to not upset readers).
The book opens with Sloan Krause realising that in order to finish the beer she is brewing for Der Keller she needs an extra ingredient, having run out to get it (leaving the Brewery owner, also her father in law, keeping an eye on the brew) she goes to leave something in her office, only to discover her husband (Mac) doing a lot more than chatting with a barmaid! With all the upset she ends up leaving Der Keller and getting a job at a new local mini/nano-brewery, where she discovers that whilst her new boss Garrett is a brilliant brewer he has no idea on marketing, providing food or indeed making the bar area look welcoming (and whilst the outside might have to look like a transplant from Bavaria both Sloan and Garrett are determined to keep clean, fresh lines inside!)
Everything seems to be going smoothly on the opening night, until Mac and the Beer Wench arrive, at which point another customer starts yelling at the Beer Wench and having to be held back, everyone assumes that it was just a little bit too much beer until the next morning when Sloan finds the yeller (Eddie) well and truly dead in the fermenter. Now she needs to prove that her estranged husband isn't a killer, if only for their son's sake.
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