Mysteries Ahoy!

Last year I picked up Death On Tap on a whim as a quick lunchtime read and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Certainly there were some aspects of the novel that were more successful than others but it had a charming protagonist, a nice mix of supporting characters and lots of small town charm.

The Pint of No Return picks up a short while after the events of that novel as the town of Leavenworth gets ready to host its annual Oktoberfest celebrations. A film crew is in town, hoping to capture the festivities to use as part of a film about beer and Sloan is initially excited by the opportunity for some publicity for the microbrewery she works at when the crew ask to come by to film her at work.

Her excitement is soon dashed when she meets Mitchell, a former child star who has been hired to host the production but who seems rude, obnoxious and demanding. The bickering between Mitchell and the film’s producer, director and cameraman creates an uncomfortable tension in the bar while his loud complaints about the town and the accommodation that has been provided for him wins him few friends. It will not come as a shock to the reader when he is found dead several hours later with one of his fans accusing the owner of the rental company of killing him.

Being the second title in the series, Alexander does not need to devote quite so much space to establishing the cast of characters or the setting and instead uses it to creating a wide mix of suspects, each with distinctive motives for murder. Some of these are perhaps dismissed as suspects a little too readily with plausible cases still to be made against them but I think this is typically in service of the lively pace the book establishes.

In any case, as with the first novel the reader will not be able to prove their case against the actual murderer based on the evidence given but they may well suspect them. The reader will likely work out the killer based on intuition based on aspects of their characterization rather than any firm evidence. The explanation given at the end seems to hang together pretty well and the case is tied up quite neatly.

Unlike the first novel, here Sloan does not have much in the way of a personal stake in the investigation once she is reassured that Mitchell did not die of alcohol poisoning. Sometimes this can create problems with the cozy format but I think Alexander pitches it well here, having Sloan show interest in part because she wants to know whether she should trust someone. Her investigative style is quite conversational and laid back and the reader is not called on to accept anything too outlandish in the way she handles the case. For the most part it works.

A supporting plot that builds out of a cliffhanger at the end of the previous book feels like something of an afterthought. The tone of this subplot struck me as a little too dramatic and some may feel frustrated that there weren’t clearer answers given yet but I think it probably sets things up nicely for the next installment. I suspect it is probably for the best that it not be rushed in any case.

The supporting cast of characters Alexander creates are, once again, a strength of the novel and I think one of the new additions is fun, even if some of her motivations are left a little unexplored. With the exception of her boss, the other characters are not given much to do and some of the threads are left unresolved, presumably to be picked up in a future volume. This in part reflects that the world of the investigation and the brewing community are kept quite separate in this story and so time spent with the staff at Das Keller or Nitro is time away from the murder mystery.

One of my complaints about the first novel was the way that the author’s research sometimes sat awkwardly with the story itself as Sloan would suddenly break away from the narrative to explain about a particular method of brewing beer. Alexander still has a lot of information to share with the reader but rather than putting it into the narration, she is able to use either the need to explain something for the documentary or a conversation with other brewers as a way of incorporating it in a much more natural way.

Epicureans will likely respond favorably to the descriptions of beers and German cooking and though I am not a beer connoisseur, I did find the description of a sausage, pepper and potato scramble to be quite delightful. Sadly nothing I could whip up in my kitchen could quite live up to that concept. As with the research, I felt that these aspects of the book were better integrated to the story and hung together very well making for a very solid, enjoyable read.

While not perfect, The Pint of No Return is a fun whodunit set against the colorful backdrop of a beer festival. Alexander’s characters are fun and the story unfolds at a good pace making for a frothy but engaging adventure for those who enjoyed the first volume.

Review copy provided through NetGalley. The Pint of No Return will be released in October 2018.