Review of Deadly Dram

From the publisher of Deadly Dram

Distillery owner Abigail Logan discovers that high spirits are no match for a cold-blooded killer as the Whisky Business Mystery series puts a fatal twist on stiff competition.

My review

For those that don’t know, a “dram” is a small drink of whiskey. And since this is a cozy mystery based on the owner of a whiskey distillery who is attending an industry competition where she expects to receive an award for her company’s product—let’s just say those spirits play a prominent role in this story.

Apparently the whiskey industry is like any other industry. There are rivalries and conflicts and plenty of personality clashes. For instance, there are nationalist distillers who believe that all whiskeys not made in Scotland are inferior. It’s this theme of nationalism that sets up many of the conflicts in Deadly Dram. On the fun side, there’s Abi’s whiskey-drinking dog Liam, who has a knack for causing havoc. All-in-all, those characters are entertaining and fun to follow.
There are multiple murders in this cozy whodunnit. Each seems to further both ascertain and obfuscate who the real killer is. Personally, I would have liked to have seen less rehashing of the clues and suspects and more following the trail to the killer. With that said, the dialogue was crisp and well done, the characters’ actions were always believable and consistent. 

There were some good red herrings along the way, and the real killer’s identity remained a mystery until near the end. This is a nicely done cozy that will give you some insight into the whiskey business along with its internal drama and conflicts. It will also keep you entertained until the end. 

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