Book Review: Tangled Up in Brew by Joyce Tremel (Brewing Trouble Mysteries #2)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Fantastic characters in a good mystery

Cons: All cons brewed away

The Bottom Line:

Festival murder

Lets us visit Max again

Grab a beer; enjoy

Get Tangled Up in a Great Mystery

Last year, I took a chance on a debut author, and I immediately fell in love with the characters introduced in the Brewing Trouble Mysteries.  I could hardly wait until the sequel came out.  I’m pleased to say that Tangled Up in Brew was worth the wait.

Maxine “Max” O’Hara is participating in the first annual Brew Festival in her native Pittsburg.  She’s entered three of her beers in the competition, and her chef and boyfriend Jake Lambert is participating in the burger competition.  The festival is being held over two weekends, and she is looking forward to a great time.

Things change when Max learns there has been a last minute change to the festival’s judging panel.  Reginald Mobley has earned a reputation as a nasty food critic for one of the local papers.  His “reviews” have driven more than one restaurant out of business.  Sure enough, Reginald is up to his usual nasty tricks, ruining the festival for everyone.  Still, it’s a shock when he keels over in the middle of the burger competition, right after tasting Jake’s offering.  Max’s father is a homicide detective, but his new partner is certain that Jake killed Reginald and Max is trying to cover it up.  Can Max figure out what is happening and find the real killer?

As I said, I fell in love with the characters in the first book.  While this book does take place at a festival, Max lives in Pittsburg, so everyone we met last time was still around, and I loved getting to see them again.  Of course, the book is filled with more characters in the form of potential suspects, and I loved them, too.  As we were nearing the end, it was hard for me since I didn’t want any of them to be the killer.

Of course, there is a killer, and the plot as Max tries to figure out who it is and why the murder happened is very good.  There are secrets, twists, and red herrings to keep us guessing until the end, yet the clues are all there when the killer is revealed.  The climax was wonderful, and everything was wrapped up beautifully.

And I can’t leave out the recipes at the end.  No, we don’t get any recipes or tips for brewing beers, but we do get four recipes that are mentioned over the course of the book, including Jake’s burgers from the competition.

Now comes the impatient waiting until the next book in the series comes out.  Tangled Up in Brew is a fantastic way to celebrate happy hour without any worry about a hangover.  No matter your beverage of choice, I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Giveaway!

Thanks to the publisher, I have one copy of this book to give away.  Because it is a physical book, the contest is limited to residence of the US.

Just leave me a comment with your e-mail address so I can get in touch with you if you win.  I will pick the winner next Wednesday, October 12th, so please leave your comment before 12:01AM Pacific Time on 10/12.  You will have until midnight on 10/16 to get back to me, or I will choose a new winner on 10/17.