Photojournalist by trade, distillery owner by blood, and amateur sleuth by necessity, Abigail Logan learns that murder can’t stay bottled up forever in this charming Whisky Business Mystery. It’s been three months since Abi Logan last checked in on Abbey Glen, the celebrated whisky distillery she inherited. With her oversize wheaten terrier, Liam, by her side, Abi returns to the quaint Scottish … quaint Scottish village of Balfour. But her relaxing Highland homecoming takes a stressful turn when she unearths an unseemly bit of village history, welcomes a group of Japanese whisky enthusiasts, and becomes shepherdess to an unexpected flock of sheep—all within the first twenty-four hours. Still, nothing’s more stressful than murder. . . .
Local celebrity Rory Hendricks is the hotheaded, hard-rocking former frontman of the Rebels—and Abi’s girlhood crush. After meeting him in person, Abi can’t say no to anything he asks, like photographing his upcoming show . . . or figuring out who’s trying to kill him. Turns out someone’s been bumping off his old bandmates, with the drummer dead under mysterious circumstances and the keyboardist in a coma following a hit-and-run. Now a series of threatening messages leads Rory to think he’s next on the chopping block. And the band has a devil’s share of broken hearts and bitter disputes in their past, leaving Abi a huge batch of suspects to sift through—all before the killer takes another shot.
Melinda Mullet’s delightful Whisky Business mysteries can be read together or separately. Enjoy responsibly:
SINGLE MALT MURDER | DEATH DISTILLED | DEADLY DRAM | DIED IN THE WOOL
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I read the first in the Whisky Business Mystery cozy series almost two years ago and adored it. I got caught up in other series and book reviews, but this fall, I’ve committed myself to catching up on many of my favorites. Enter Death Distilled, the second book in Melinda Mullet’s wonderful Scotland-based series. To start with, these covers are amazing! I want to move there and drink whisky all day long in my tartan.
The premise of the series is that Abi Logan’s uncle has passed away, and she inherits his whisky distillery. She struggles to make it successful in the first book, so she takes off to work her day job as a photo-journalist. Three months later, she’s back and finds a dead body. It turns out to be from 200 years ago, but then she’s asked to play sleuth for a sexy former rocker whose band mates have all died under odd circumstances. Is it his recently found daughter? A spouse of another band mate? A fan with a deadly crush? Or is he behind it all? So much fun trying to guess the culprit.
The backdrop is amazing. I love learning about the whisky business, Scotland, and photo-journalism. The dialog and accents are fantastic. The supporting characters, Patrick and Grant, are very cool. Patrick’s her gay best friend (a gorgeous catch) and Grant is her 49% co-owner who she sorta has the hots for… but he’s a typical Scot and not sure he can let himself fall for her yet. In the end, I can’t stop wondering what’s under the kilts!
If you’re a fan of non-American settings, this is definitely a series to start. This book delivers lots of suspects, great side stories, and propels the overall story arc forward. My only minor pet peeve is there is sometimes a disconnect with the characters where I can’t get on board that Abi leaves between books to do her other job… I’m on the fence, but never enough to stop reading… on to number three next month!
The setting, learning about the distillery business, also the girl, her keen sense of evaluating people.
Informative about single malt whiskey. Writing is ok.
I love learning something while enjoying a mystery. This book takes you back to the Jacobite rebellion and the illegal distilleries in the caves of Scotland. It’s a great read.
Liked the characters and the plot.
It is fun to read.
It was just ok. Good characters, but too many- hence, character development could have been better.
Read 9.9.2018
Ohhhhhhhh, this one was such a better book than #1!!! Way more mystery [and WHAT a mystery it was; WOW!!] and way less whiskey [though there was enough that you still learned a bit about whiskey] and the narrator of these is just fantastic! She really brings the characters to life and makes the story even more enjoyable.
I can only hope that the third one will be as good as this one!!
I truly enjoyed listening to Death Distilled. I didn’t realize that it was the second book in a series of standalone cozy mysteries; the author gives sufficient background information so I had no problem diving into the story.
A story set around a distillery in the Highlands of Scotland is a good enough hook for me! The delightful main character, Abi Logan and her dog, Liam, are a crack team of amateur sleuths. These two, along with the fun cast of villagers, make this cozy mystery highly engaging. I loved the balance between the story and scene setting with the progression of the mystery. Too often in cozy mysteries, you have a murder, then a bunch of fluff, and then out of nowhere, the mystery is solved. There are ample clues and red herrings to keep every mystery lover engaged. Additionally, there are some side stories blended into the mystery. They provide local color as they mainly involve the villagers…or their livestock.
Charming characters, a little local mystery, and a big whodunnit in a fabulous setting make for a good cozy mystery. Author Melinda Mullet and narrator Gemma Dawson have hooked me on her Whisky Business series.