Leavenworth, Washington, a Bavarian-theme brewery town, is preparing for its Octoberfest. A group filming a documentary arrives, but the program's troublesome star ends up dead before much filming occurs. The microbrewery where Sloan Krause works is a bit off the beaten path, but tasting their cherry weizen seems to be among the star's last experiences. Sloan and the police begin investigating persons who'd had run-ins with the star. Is it Leavenworth local or a member of the documentary crew? This continues to be an interesting cozy series. ( )

Mystery

The Pint of No Return is the next installment of the Sloan Krause Beervaria Mystery Series. I loved every single aspect of this book. From learning about the brewing process, to understanding more about Sloan's childhood, and falling in love with the different characters within the story.

Ellie has an uncanny ability to teach her readers about what her protagonist is passionate about This brings a hint of realism and probability to what she writes. Having a Cozy Mystery or a Mystery in general be believable is the first step in getting the readers to fall into the world and be open to the murder and the 'whodunit' aspects of the storyline.

In this book Sloan is still trying to figure out her feelings for her soon-to=be ex-husband, her new boss, and what she wants to do with her life after the divorce happens. This however has to be put on hold as Oktoberfest has now come around and this is the biggest and more important time for the town.

An added pressure is the fact that there is a film crew who are there to make a documentary about the brewing process, how the brewers interact with each other, and everything in the World of Beer. Of course with most documentaries you have to have a a host. And a host they have. An old child star here to revamp their stardom. He is a pompous jerk who everyone seems to hate.

After being as to leave Nitro from drinking too much Sloan finds him dead in an alley way. Hoping that it wasn't alcohol poisoning from their bar Sloan calls the police to get to the crime scene. Sloan is asked my the chief of police to keep an eye our since they are shorthanded due to the Oktoberfest going on.

Sloan wants to make sure that Nitro doesn't get a bad name and she makes it her duty to figure out what is going on with the film crew, who doesn't seem too distraught about their star's death, her estranged husband, and keeping everything together when she learns about her past.

This is a wonderful addition to the Sloan Krause Beervaria series and I highly recommend it if you love Cozy Mysteries! ( )

This was the next book in the Sloane Krause mystery series. As soon as I finished Death on Tap, I had to get this one and luckily it wasn't too expensive on Apple Books. This book is just as informative as the previous books when discussing Leavenworth and the microbrewery scene.

Sloane has become kind of an amateur detective in this one, providing support to the one officer in her town. I especially like how the one officer is female, and they work together throughout this book. Her boss is still super hot and her (ex?)husband is still kind of an irresponsible human. There's definitely a love triangle there but it's tolerable. Sloane is growing more independent and getting even more responsibility as she left her past life from her ex-husband and his family's business, but she's still very much an integral part of the family. The one docked star is definitely all of the coincidences and conveniences that Sloane comes across to solve the mystery, and it feels odd for the sheriff/ officer to place all of her hope in solving the murder on one citizen.

The ending of this book was interesting. The culprit isn't who you think it would be, and the method was alluded to but very interestingly used in the end. I don't want to spoil anything but it's a little bit traumatizing, depending on if you've ever experienced anything like it. I am happy that Sloane was able to pull through in the end because I was actually freaking out.

We also get a small glimpse into Sloane's past and family. This part is what really intrigues me the most - exploring fostering and adoption. Of course, erasing records for a child is a bit questionable, but it's all part of the plot for what's coming next.

I definitely recommend this series as a light, fun read and exploration into brewery! ( )

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, which I was so excited about, because this is one of my favorite cozy mystery series. I love the setting, I love the characters, I love the friendships (and possible romance), and the mysteries are always good ones. Sloan is such a strong female character in a profession that is considered a man's job, and she is also full of personal history and complications. She is a character I absolutely adore, and I can't wait to read more of her solving mysteries. ( )