Death Distilled (Whisky Business Mystery #2) by Melinda Mullet

Award-winning photojournalist turned whisky distillery proprietress and amateur sleuth Abigail Logan returns in the charming follow-up to Single Malt Murder.
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 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.

I am so glad I stumbled upon this series. Single Malt Murder was like a breath of fresh air on my reading list and Death Distilled turned out to be just as refreshing. I like mixing up my reading genres from time to time 😉

Abi turned a little fan-girlish in Death Distilled. I suppose that’s understandable, but because of that she kept second guessing herself. I still had faith in her gut instinct, even though she wasn’t always right. To be fair, there were a lot of twists and turns in this one and I honestly didn’t figure out who the ‘bad guy’ was until just before Abi did.

This series is turning into one of my favorite mysteries. There are more than a few quirky characters, an adorable dog (that’s now got his own flock of wayward sheep) and a somewhat budding romance. There was also more than one mystery within the pages of Death Distilled and I loved that way the secondary one turned out. The best part is that there’s obviously more to come and I can’t wait to see what Melinda Mullet has in store for the residents of Balfour.

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Single Malt Murder (Whisky Business Mystery #1) by Melinda Mullet

Abigail Logan never expected to inherit a whisky distillery in the Scottish Highlands. But in the first novel of an engaging new series blending fine spirits with chilling mystery, Abi finds that there are secrets lurking in the misty glens that some will go to any lengths to protect . . . even murder.
When Abi inherits her uncle’s quaint and storied single malt distillery, she finds herself immersed in a competitive high-stakes business that elicits deep passions and prejudices. An award-winning photojournalist, Abi has no trouble capturing the perfect shot—but making the perfect shot is another matter.When she starts to receive disturbing, anonymous threats, it’s clear that someone wants her out of the picture. But Abi’s never been one to back down from a fight.
Arriving on the scene with her whisky-loving best friend, Patrick, and an oversized wheaten terrier named Liam, Abi seems to put everyone in the bucolic village on edge—especially her dour but disturbingly attractive head distiller. Acts of sabotage and increasingly personal threats against Abi make it clear that she is not welcome. When one of Abi’s new employees is found floating facedown in a vat of whisky, Abi is determined to use her skills as an investigative journalist to identify the cold-blooded killer and dispense a dram of justice before he strikes again. But distilling truth from lies is tricky, especially when everyone seems to have something to hide.

So, I’ve felt like I’ve been in a rut with my reading lately – especially with my review requests. Not that I needed to add anything to my TBR shelf, but I do like variety 😉 That’s how I stumbled upon Single Malt Murder and I am so glad that I did. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with Abi, Liam, her best friend Patrick and the close knit group of people in the community her Uncle Ben had called home.

There was so much to love about Single Malt Murder, that I’m not sure where to start. I obviously loved the characters. The writing was great and the dialogue between the characters flowed nicely (clipped, unnatural conversations between characters drive me nuts!) The mystery had me trying to figure out ‘who-done-it’ almost to the very end. I had my suspicions, but just like Abi, I talked myself out of most of them. There was a hint of romance, which in this story, was just enough. There was an elderly character that was spry, witty and respected by pretty much everyone and her common sense observations were helpful to Abi. Liam was a great addition to the story and a true champion (I love it when a dog is as much of a supporting character as the humans they interact with.) What’s not to love about this perfect combination?

Of course, there was a lot more to Single Malt Murder, but I don’t want to give anything away. There were parts of the story and the way the author handled them that were refreshing. Needless to say, I can’t wait until Death Distilled, the second book in Ms. Mullet’s Whisky Business Mystery is released.

On a side note, have you ever had someone bring something to your attention and not be able to get it out of your head? I got so engrossed in Single Malt Murder that I didn’t even give the spelling of Whisky a second thought… until I noticed that one reviewer said that it bugged her. That’s all it took for me to do a little research. Turns out there’s a reason for it and Straight Up Cocktails and Spirits does a wonderful job of explaining it in their 2009 post – Whiskey vs. Whisky: What’s the Difference?. I love learning new things, don’t you?