Book Review: A Room with a Brew by Joyce Tremel (Brewing Trouble Mysteries #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Characters we love and a compelling mystery

Cons: None to be found

The Bottom Line:

Mysterious past

Drives compelling present plot

Fast reading delight

Leave Room on your Bookshelf for this Well Brewed Mystery

When you are a beer brewer who studied in Germany, you have an annual Oktoberfest celebration.  And when you writing a cozy mystery series about such a brewer, you find a way to set a mystery around this celebration.  That’s just what Joyce Tremel has done in A Room with a Brew, and the result is the strongest book in the series.

The book opens as Maxine “Max” O’Hara is working on the final preparations for the weekend celebration, which is still a couple of weeks away.  She wants to listen to the band she’s hired to provide the German music and make sure they are what she is looking for, so she grabs some friends and heads down to where they are performing that night.  While she and her friends enjoy the music, the evening ends on a weird note when Felix, a member of the band, insists that he knows Candy, Max’s neighbor and the owner of the neighboring Cupcakes N’at.  Candy absolutely denies it and goes outside when Felix won’t take no for an answer.

The next day, Max receives a call from a member of the band that he wants to tell her something, but it has to be in person.  Is this related to the weird encounter between Felix and Candy?  Candy promises to tell Max what that encounter was all about, but before she does, a body turns up.  What secret is Candy hiding?  Did it lead to murder?

Before we go further, I do need to warn you that this book spoils much of the first book in the series.  All that means is you should read the series in order.  Trust me, that isn’t a hardship at all since all the books in this series are lots of fun.

This book continues the trend.  The plot was very well done, and I was hooked from the beginning.  I could hardly wait to find out what was happening.  The pages flew by, and I read the book in two days instead of my usual three days to read a novel.  That’s now engrossed in the story I was.  We get some twists and surprises before we reach a climax that explains everything.

I realized how much I love the characters in this series as I started reading it.  Max comes from a close-knit family.  While we don’t get to know all of them well, it is wonderful to see a family that loves each other this much.  And they are always expanding to welcome neighbors and friends.  While Candy has been a presence in the earlier two books in the series, we obviously get to know her better here.  And Max’s relationship with her boyfriend Jake is wonderful as well.  The characters introduced to be suspects here are strong and kept me confused until the end.

No, we don’t get any beer recipes in the back of this book, but we do get some recipes for things like a beer soaked brat and German potato salad.  Personally, I’m most intrigued by the Pittsburg Pretzel Salad.

With endearing characters and an engaging plot, A Room with a Brew is a fantastic read.  Grab a favorite beer or other beverage of choice and cozy up with this book.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book.

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 Tuesday, October 10th, so please leave your comment before 12:01 AM Pacific Time on 10/10.  You will have until midnight on 10/15 to get back to me, or I will choose a new winner on 10/16.