Review & Giveaway - Room With a Brew

I have followed this series since the debut novel, To Brew, or Not To Brew (click here), the second novel Tangled Up in Brew (click here) and two guest posts (click here and here).  Let's check out the third release in this series and see how our lady brew master is doing!

Author: Joyce Tremel

Copyright: Oct 2017 (Berkley) 288 pgs

Series: 3rd in Brewing Trouble Mystery series

Sensuality: Mild

Mystery Sub-genre: Cozy

Main Characters: Maxine "Max" O'Hara, brewmaster and owner of Allegheny Brew House

Setting: Modern day, Pittsburgh PA

Obtained Through: Publisher for honest review

From the book cover: "It's Oktoberfest in Pittsburgh, and brewpub owner Maxine "Max" O'Hara is prepping for a busy month at the Allegheny Brew House. To create the perfect atmosphere for the boozy celebration, Max hires an oompah band. But when one of the members from the band turns up dead, it's up to Max to solve the murder before the festivities are ruined. 

Adding to the brewing trouble, Candy, Max's friend, is acting suspicious... Secrets from her past are fermenting under the surface, and Max must uncover the truth to prove her friend's innocence. To make matters worse, Jake's snooty ex-fiancée shows up in town for an art gallery opening, and she'll be nothing but a barrel of trouble for Max."

Maxine "Max" O'Hara is busy brewing, running a restaurant, running to church and her folks place every Sunday, and oh yeah solving a murder.  Apparently her personality is fueled by caffeine running through her veins.   Jake Lambert gets to be more present in this outing and he acts more like a boyfriend with Max.  Book two in the series was lacking in that regard and now we have that back.  Candace "Candy" is a stubborn and independent character with an incredible past that comes back around.  Tommy is Candy's ex husband who shows up to help deal with her past redux and quickly becomes the break out character.  Victoria is Jake's ex-wife who plays a role in the story and shows just how bad Jake's marriage really was.  Hops is Max's kitten who is just adorable throughout.

Pittsburgh is great and filled with such potential as a setting.  I enjoyed all the references to local quirks and sayings.  I enjoy the history touches here and there too.  The Brew House is a good setting as usual, although not as much time spent there this time around.

The plot reached a bit and it worked well while remaining in the cozy wheelhouse.  The pacing was fast paced and kept interest.  The climax was a little surprising in that it snuck up on me when I wasn't expecting it.  The wrap up was delightful and brought a smile. 

I was grateful to have some chemistry back between Jake and Max.  I had figured out the motive to the murder and the killer fairly early on, which happens - but it seemed a little too obvious.  I can't be that good of an armchair detective!

Rating:   Excellent - Loved it, it had a good grip on me! Buy it now and put this author on your watch list

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GIVEAWAY

The publisher has offered one copy of Room with a Brew for giveaway!

Entry for giveaway lasts until Monday November 6th 6:00 p.m. (MST).  U.S.  entries only please.
The publisher will be shipping the books to the winner.

How to enter:

*** First, you must be a member (follower) of this blog.***

All entries are to be in the comments for this post.
I shall notify the winner via the email address you provide to get your mailing address and have the prize sent directly to you.

IF you are a member or follower (including email subscriber) of this blog, you only need to leave a comment with your correct email.


BECOME a member/follower/email subscriber of this blog if you aren't already and enjoy the celebration of all things mystery and suspense.

Author Guest Post - Joyce Tremel

Today we are honored to have Joyce Tremel join our blog.  She was a police secretary for ten years.  Joyce is a native Pittsburgher, has two grown sons, and lives in a suburb of the city with her husband. When coming up with the idea for this series, she thought her big city with the small town feel would be the perfect setting for Max's brew pub. She hopes "yinz" guys agree!  I will be reviewing her newest book later this week.  Please welcome Joyce.

Why Pittsburgh?

I’m often asked by readers why I chose Pittsburgh as the setting for my Brewing Trouble series. The reasons are numerous. Anyone who has read the books so far has probably figured out by now that Pittsburghers are a little different. We use expressions like “n’at” and “yinz.” We call thorny shrubs “jagger bushes.” We often use the word “jag” which comes from the Scots-Irish and means “thorn.” When we call someone a “jagoff” we’re not swearing—it just means they’re a jerk, or a “thorn in our side.” There are websites and dictionaries explaining Pittsburghese to non-natives. I actually bought my editor a Pittsburghese dictionary for Christmas.

Pittsburgh is a beautiful city. It’s gone from being a smoky, dirty place in the early twentieth century to a clear and bright high-tech oasis. It’s home to Google and Uber. It’s the first city where Uber is testing self-driving cars. (Frankly, if they can navigate here, they can drive anywhere. We have streets that aren’t even streets—they’re tiny alleys, or sometimes just concrete steps on a hillside.) Our hospitals and medical centers are always on the cutting edge of the next important breakthrough. The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University are leaders in research in neuroscience and robotics. There’s a vibrant downtown and cultural district. And one of my characters, Candy Sczypinski, would be highly upset if I didn’t mention the sports teams—the Pirates, the Penguins, and Candy’s beloved Steelers.

I can’t forget to mention the food. We Pittsburghers like to eat! Part of the fun of writing this series has been figuring out what my characters are eating or cooking in certain scenes and developing the recipes. Around here, we love Buffalo Chicken Dip and pierogis, so I invented a recipe in To Brew or Not to Brew (book 1) that combined the two—Buffalo Chicken Pierogis. And what goes better together than caramel and chocolate? Not much, so I came up with Caramel Pecan Brownies in Tangled Up in Brew (book 2). They are to die for, by the way. I had a great time planning the recipes in A Room With a Brew (book 3). Since it takes place around the time of Oktoberfest, I included some German recipes along with some distinctly Pittsburgh recipes like Ham Barbecues and that picnic staple, Pretzel Salad. Never heard of it? I guess you’ll need to read the book. It’s delicious!

We like to have a good beverage or two to wash down all that tasty food. Craft breweries are abundant in the Pittsburgh area. In the real Pittsburgh neighborhood of Lawrenceville where the fictional Allegheny Brew House is located, there are now four craft breweries. Max O’Hara would feel right at home. Pittsburgh also has some top-notch restaurants that rival any you’d find in New York City. You can even find a winery or two not far outside city limits.

It’s also a friendly city. Residents are always quick to help out anyone in trouble. You can often find a fire hall or church hall hosting a spaghetti dinner to raise funds for someone with a medical issue, or for a family who lost their home in a fire. If a stranger asks someone for directions, we’re always happy to show them the way—as long as we don’t have to use north, south, east, or west. We’re more likely to say, “Turn where the Isaly’s used to be.” We might be the only city where the natives give directions on what used to be in certain locations.

So you see, Pittsburgh really does have everything. Maybe in the future when readers ask me why I chose Pittsburgh, my answer should be, “Why not?

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Thank you Joyce!   Fascinating how the city is very unique and has it's own personality.

Here is a recipe for all my readers.

Harvest Walnut Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin puree (from 15 oz. can; not pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup canola oil
1/3 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons orange peel

Directions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Step 2
Place muffin liners in muffin tins.
Step 3
In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
Step 4
In a mixer, cream together pumpkin puree, oil, applesauce, eggs and vanilla extract. Slowly mix in flour mixture. With spatula, scrape sides of the bowl while mixing. Stir in walnuts. Pour about ⅓ cup muffin mixture into each muffin liner. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool.
Step 5
In small bowl, place powdered sugar and orange peel; add fresh orange juice, one teaspoon at a time, and mix until the mixture reaches a consistency to be drizzled.
Step 6

Drizzle glaze on muffins. Let set completely.
                   Recipe from Kings Soopers website

Author Guest Post - Delia James

Delia James was born in California and raised in Michigan, she writes her tales of magic, cats, and mystery from her hundred-year-old bungalow home. She is the author of the Witch’s Cat mysteries, which began with A Familiar Tail. When not writing, she hikes, swims, gardens, cooks, reads, and raises her rapidly growing son.  Let's join her for some classic movie talk.

LET US NOW PRAISE A VERY TALL MAN

Fall is my favorite time of year. I’ve always lived near the Great Lakes where we get the classic red and gold, crisp, frosted autumns and I love to be out and about and just feel the air.

Fall is also a time when I get my retro on. Maybe because it’s a time of such dramatic change outside, I find myself curling up inside with things that have lasted. I dig deep back into my favorite classic books, and classic movies. And since I’m a fan of mysteries, that tends to pull me back around to the work of actor Jimmy Stewart.

A lot of people may only know Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey — the kind, infinitely upright, somewhat bewildered hero of It’s a Wonderful Life. Or maybe they have heard a passing reference to his Mr. Smith Goes to Washington when the papers are talking about changes to the filibuster rules in the Senate, again.

But Stewart was also the star of some absolutely classic

crime dramas. He wasn’t an action hero. He was a talker, a reasonable, if sometimes cranky, man. His characters were played with intelligence, understatement and a very dry humor, but also with a humanity, and an appreciation for the people around him. Stewart projects a manner that draws you in, in the same way a good storyteller at the party can make you forget the mini-quiches because you really want to hear how this one came out. Stewart also had an eye for a script, and his crime dramas have aged amazingly well. They are slow by modern standards, and the watching them is more like seeing a play than a thriller, but then, I’m a theater buff too, so for me, that’s a feature, not a bug.

The suspense in Stewart dramas builds on small things, ordinary things, like passing remarks and small, observed details. There’s an admirable lack of explosions and very low body counts. The suspense is intimate; it always remains on a human scale. As such, although they are not cozies, I like to go back to them for inspiration, and a reminder of what really makes for a good mystery.

The first of my three Jimmy Stewart favorites has got to be Rope. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and based on a stage play, Rope is one of a flurry of works inspired by the case of Leopold and Loeb. In it, Stewart is a teacher invited to a dinner party by a former student, who has just committed a murder, and hidden the body in the apartment. This does not count as a spoiler, because it happens right up front in the first five minutes of the movie. The suspense is built around whether or not Stewart’s character is going to work out what’s wrong. The humor is dry, the people are deeply individual, and the story is satisfying.

The second favorite is also a Hitchcock project; Rear Window. This is another one-room movie. Stewart is a photographer laid up with a broken leg who starts watching the people in the next apartment building. Yeah, okay, slightly creepy, but the guy’s bored. He also thinks he’s seen a murder, and the disposal of the body. Like Rope, Rear Window is not a whodunit. But even more than in Rope, Rear Window’s story, is built around the slow reveal of the reality, and the humanity, of both friends and strangers.

My final Stewart classic is a local favorite, and probably the most famous Michigan-set mystery. Anatomy of a Murder takes place in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and is a classic courtroom drama. Stewart is a lawyer in serious need of cash, so he takes on the case of a man accused of murdering his wife’s rapist. The problem is the murder took place in a crowded bar and a lot of people saw who fired the shots. The further problem is there’s a question of exactly who is guilty of exactly what.

This version of Stewart has a few more shades of gray than his usual characters. More dogged than stalwart, he’s a little depressed, a little adrift and a little more interested in his check than in the truth.

Oh, and if you’re into a side of classic jazz with your crime drama, there’s a cameo by the great Duke Ellington.

It’s fall. Winter, as somebody keeps reminding us, is coming. Time to take up the comforter, the pumpkin spice, and a nice, warm classic.

Enjoy.

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THANK You Ms. James.  I enjoy classic old movies and Jimmy Stewart as well.  

My favorite Stewart movies are Hitchcock's Rear Window, Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Glenn Miller Story, and the Cheyenne Social Club.

For Halloween I like to watch the classic Tom Hank's movie The Burbs.  Of course, for a classic scary movie, Betty Davis in Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte is great.

How about you?  What movies do you like to enjoy either with cold weather approaching or for Halloween?

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GIVEAWAY

The publisher has offered one copy of Familiar Motives for giveaway!

Entry for giveaway lasts until Monday October 23rd 6:00 p.m. (MST).  U.S.  entries only please.
The publisher will be shipping the books to the winners.

How to enter:

*** First, you must be a member (follower) of this blog.***

All entries are to be in the comments for this post.
I shall notify the winner via the email address you provide to get your mailing address and have the prize sent directly to you.

IF you are a member or follower (including email subscriber) of this blog, you only need to leave a comment with your correct email.


BECOME a member/follower/email subscriber of this blog if you aren't already and enjoy the celebration of all things mystery and suspense.

Spooktacular Giveaway Blog Hop 2017

If you are joining us as part of the Spooktacular Giveaway Blog hop, look around and stay for awhile.  We celebrate everything mystery and suspense here - no doubt you can find something of interest!

GIVEAWAY PRIZES:

We are celebrating Halloween here at Mysteries and My Musings with a giveaway for the sixth year!  One combination prize to a winner, 6 winners!

1)  A Panicked Premonition by Victoria Laurie and A Ghostly Light by Juliet Blackwell

2)  Wrong Side of the Paw by Laurie Cass and Crowned and Dangerous by Rhys Bowen

3)  Muffin to Fear by Victoria Hamilton and Murder She Wrote: Hook, Line, and Murder by Donald Bain

4)   Familiar Motives by Delia James and By Familiar Means by Delia James

5)   Telling Tails by Sofie Ryan and A Tale of Two Kitties by Sofie Kelly

6)  Whispers of Warning by Jessica Estevao

Entry for giveaway lasts until October 31 6:00 p.m. (MST).  U.S.  entries only please.  

I will be shipping the books to the winners.

How to enter:

*** First, you must be a member (follower) of this blog.***

All entries are to be in the comments for this post.  ALL ENTRIES WITHOUT AN EMAIL ADDRESS ARE DISQUALIFIED.

I will accept entries for this giveaway until 6:00 p.m (MST) on  Oct 31, 2017.    I shall notify each winner via the email address you provide to get your mailing address and have the prize sent directly to you.  If I don't hear from you in 3 days, I will select another winner and notify them.

IF you are a member (or email subscriber) of this blog, you only need to leave a comment with your correct email.

BECOME a member (or email subscriber) of this blog if you aren't already and enjoy the celebration of all things mystery and suspense.

Other participating blogs: 

Review - Murder on Black Swan Lane

I loved Andrea Penrose's Lady Arianna Regency series beginning with Sweet Revenge (click here), The Cocoa Conspiracy (click here), and Recipe for Treason (click here), plus an interview with the author (click here).  She has started a new historical mystery series that I was excited to read and review.  Check out what I thought.

Author: Andrea Penrose

Copyright: June 2017 (Kensington) 304 pgs

Series: 1st in Wrexford and Sloane Mystery series

Sensuality: Mild

Mystery Sub-genre: Historical Amateur Sleuth

Main Characters: Earl of Wrexford, former military man and amateur chemist teamed with Widowed Charlotte Sloane, a satirical cartoonist under the name A.J. Quill

Setting: Regency era, London England

Obtained Through: Personal Purchase

From the book cover: "The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. He does not suffer fools gladly. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London’s most popular satirical cartoonist, A.J. Quill, skewers them both. But then the clergyman is found slain in a church—his face burned by chemicals, his throat slashed ear to ear—and Wrexford finds himself the chief suspect.

An artist in her own right, Charlotte Sloane has secretly slipped into the persona of her late husband, using his nom de plume A.J. Quill. When Wrexford discovers her true identity, she fears it will be her undoing. But he has a proposal—use her sources to unveil the clergyman’s clandestine involvement in questionable scientific practices, and unmask the real murderer. Soon Lord Wrexford and the mysterious Mrs. Sloane plunge into a dangerous shadow world hidden among London’s intellectual enclaves to trap a cunning adversary—before they fall victim to the next experiment in villainy"

Charlotte Sloane has been scraping by financially since her husband died and she took up the satirical cartoon drawings he had done. But she still cares for a pair of homeless boys (Raven and Hawk), feeding them from her scant rations and clothing them. She is practical, rational, observant and an excellent artist.  She is also educated in Latin and well read, hinting that there is more to her background than meets the eye.

Earl of Wrexford, Wrex for short - never a first name, even with his friends - is a scientist in outlook which makes him different than other wealthy or titled peers.  He is faced with accepting he could be arrested for the murder, even though he didn't kill the man.  He has to keep his anger in check and investigate the murder better than the bow street man.  Tyler, his valet, is primarily his lab assistant and secondly his valet.  Tyler is a gem and challenges his Lordship.  Wrexford's best friend Christopher Sheffield has a gambling problem and is always in need to funds that his father will no longer provide.  But, when Wrex needs someone to watch his back, Christopher is right there in the investigation.  Henning is the anatomist dealing with autopsies of the dead, an old military doctor that Charlotte has known for a while and Wrex knew in the military.

The descriptions of London were just enough to set the stage and the rest is left to the reader's imagination.  I had no problem with that and felt the stage was set with atmosphere enough for me.  Even Charlotte's small place in a rough neighborhood was atmospheric for me.  I enjoyed how the settings were used to increase the tension.

The plot contained plenty of misdirection and red herrings to keep me guessing.  The final solution was more involved than I expected.  The pacing was maintained, keeping my interest throughout.  The killer confrontation is full of suspense and wonderfully well done.  The wrap-up raises the question of Charlotte's education and leaves the door open for them to work together again.

I have to say that I greatly enjoyed this novel.  It was entertaining and kept my interest in the characters and the investigation.  The two boys, Raven and Hawk, are delightful, and the subtle attraction between Wrexford and Charlotte is fun to watch.  There were an instant or two where I thought a phrase was more modern, but that didn't detract from the story for me.  I can't wait to jump back into the Wrexford and Sloane world again.

Rating:  Excellent - Loved it, it had a good grip on me! Buy it now and put this author on your watch list