100 PROOF MURDER
by Mary Ellis
A journalist lands her second case of murder.
Travel writer Jill Curtis’ last trip ended with her solving a homicide, reuniting her grandmother and Aunt Dot, and falling for State Trooper Nick Harris, who works out of the Louisville post. Now Jill and Michael Erickson, her videographer pal, are in Louisville to write a story on the bourbon industry. Her visit to Parker Estate Distillery is derailed when the master distiller dies the day before their appointment. Jill still meets Alexis Scott, the dead man’s daughter, and they strike up an instant friendship when Alexis confides her fears that her father was murdered and asks Jill for advice. Alexis has to battle her mother, Rose Parker Scott, a cold woman who seems in a rush to get her husband’s body cremated, in order to get the police to look at the case. Alexis helps open doors for Michael while Jill spends time helping her and earning Rose’s enmity. Although Nick wishes that Jill would mind her own business, he uses his contacts to dig up information on the Scott family and possible enemies. The reading of the will brings big surprises, headlined by the revelation that Alexis has an elder brother, and sparks fly. Since Nick’s busy dealing with his mother, who’s recently developed dementia, and helping his family make hard decisions about her future, Jill must go it alone.
Romance, mystery, and bourbon mix nicely in this fast-paced cozy.