The Cure for What Ales You is Book 5 in the charming Sloan Krause mystery series by Ellie Alexander. Set in Leavenworth, Washington, this cozy mystery series features craft beer brewer Sloan Krause.
Title: The Cure for What Ales You
Author: Ellie Alexander
Series: Sloan Krause #5
First Published: October 5, 2021
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books
Genres: Mystery
Acquired: from the publisher via Netgalley
*** Thank you to the St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
After a long cold winter, spring is beginning to bloom in the alpine village of Leavenworth, Washington, where craft brewer Sloan Krause and her partner in crime Garrett Strong are putting the finishing touches on their bright and refreshing Lemon Kiss ale. They’ll be debuting their new line at the Maifest celebration, which will bring visitors from near and far to dance around the Maipole and shop at the outdoor flower markets.
Despite the festive spirit in the air, Sloan is brewing over her past. She’s spent months following leads that have turned into dead ends. But when she spots a woman who strongly resembles Marianne—a long lost contact who may be her only connection to piecing together her story—she hopes that things might be taking a turn in her favor. That hope is quickly smashed when Marianne is involved in the murder of a local housekeeper. To make matters worse, Marianne issues a dire warning that Sloan and her entire family are in danger. If Sloan can’t figure out who the killer is and what happened in her past, she won’t find any hoppy endings.
First, let’s talk about the beer
As soon as I see a new cozy mystery by Ellie Alexander published, it always goes right to the top of my TBR list. I absolutely love both of her series – The Bakeshop Mysteries and the Sloan Krause Mysteries. So I was really excited to dive into another adventure with Sloan, one of my favourite cozy mystery sleuths.
One of the things I enjoy about this series is the look into the craft brewing business and process. My husband is a big fan of craft beer and by extension, I find myself knowing more than the average person about these brews. When I read Sloan and Garrett’s latest experiment, the ‘Lemon Kiss’ beer, I was drooling. It’s a light tangy IPA with notes of lemon, mint, melon, and green tea. I wonder if there’s a brewery near my that does something like this because it sounds FANTASTIC.
While the casual reader may find the brewing information a bit too much, I think it adds a touch of uniqueness to the series. Most of my favourite cozies are set in libraries, bookshops or involve baked goods, so settling in with some cold brews is a nice change of pace.
A mysterious, fast-paced outing
Speaking of pace, this is one of the fastest-paced cozies I have read in a while.
In the previous four books of this series, there was always a small sub-plot running throughout the books which involved Sloan’s hunt into her past – trying to find out more information about her birth mother. While each book had a main mystery to focus on, there were hints dropped throughout Sloan’s past but it was never a major part of the storyline.
Until Book 5. In The Cure for What Ales You, it all comes to the forefront – the main mystery, the murder, all of it revolves around Sloan’s past and the mysterious Marianne, a figure from Sloan’s past who knows a lot more than Sloan expected.
By now, I am fully invested in these characters – Sloan, her business partner (and potential love interest) Garrett, son Alex, her in-laws and even her ex-husband. I adore these characters (and yes, I have even come to grudgingly accept that Sloan’s ex, Mac, has become a better person) and always look forward to how their characters will develop with each instalment. So when one of them is put in real danger, it was all hands on deck – both in my head and in the story.
To be fair, this one feels a bit different than the usual cozy mystery I’ve come to expect. It starts out like a cozy mystery but when everything starts to happen it almost feels a bit like a thriller. The actual murder almost takes a back seat when the action starts heating up. Things happen FAST. I found that I couldn’t read fast enough to find out how things turned out. There was no “let’s figure out the clues and try to guess whodunnit” for me this time, it was more like “OHMYGOD what’s happening? Is everyone going to be ok?!” It was a race to the finish.
And while I enjoyed the breakneck speed of The Cure For What Ales You, and I especially appreciated how much character development happened in this book, I’m hoping the next outing with Sloan and her family/friends is just a light murder mystery like I’m used to. My heart rate can’t take another outing like this one!
Read The Cure For What Ales You for yourself
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