Death on Tap by Ellie Alexander (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"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."

My Thoughts:

It's official: I love everything that Ellie Alexander writes and this beginning to a new series was no exception!  She just has this knack of creating small towns that I want to spend time in and books that I can't get enough of.  I am by no means a beer expert (or huge beer drinker for that matter) so this is totally not something that I would have thought that I was interested in.  And yet I was totally caught up with all of it.  The descriptions of crafting different types of beer, the foods that Sloan created to pair with it....I just couldn't get enough!  It is funny but with so many of my favorite cozy series I care less about the mysteries and more about the characters in the books.  Even though this is just the beginning to this new series, I already felt the same way.  I can tell already that this is a cozy series that I will be following very closely and am already left wishing that I had my hands on the next book!

In this book, Sloan finds herself dealing with more than she could have possibly expected.  She finds out that her husband has been unfaithful to her very early on in the book.  Add to that the discovery of a body at her new workplace and you've got quite the combination.  I found myself flying through the pages of this book (well through the pages on my e-reader).  I loved every minute of it!  This author just writes in such a way that I find myself completely wrapped up in the stories that she creates.  I can't stop reading and wouldn't want to even if I could!  I didn't care for Sloan's husband at all so I'm curious to see how their relationship or lack thereof will play out in future books.  I loved the way that this book ended and also set up the beginning for book two.  It has me pretty pumped up about this series.  Ellie Alexander is hands down one of my favorite mystery authors and this new book has cemented that fact.  

I'm pretty sure that it is obvious by now how much I enjoyed this book.  Cozy readers that haven't tried Alexander's books yet are definitely missing out!  I'm super excited about this series already and we are only on book one.  If you are worried that you will miss out on the delicious food descriptions that she shares in the Bakeshop series, no worries.  I felt just as hungry while reading this book as I usually do with all of her other books.  The only difference is now I have the strong urge to try out a beer cupcake!  I would highly recommend this book to cozy mystery fans!  It was a delight to read and I cannot wait for more!  

Bottom Line:  A new favorite cozy series for me to follow!  I loved every minute while reading it!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.

Death on Tap releases today, October 3rd!