Through the Liquor Glass — Sarah Fox

In the latest in the popular series from Sarah Fox, author of the USA Today bestselling Pancake House Mystery Series, a food festival brings new customers to Sadie Coleman's literary-themed pub in a quaint Vermont town -- but it also brings murder to her door. With a book and culinary theme and a charming small-town setting, the Literary Pub Mystery series will appeal to fans of cozy mysteries by such authors as Jenn McKinlay and Eva Gates

In the picturesque New England town of Shady Creek, Vermont, fall is in full swing, and Sadie Coleman, owner of the literary-themed Inkwell pub, is serving up delicious food and drinks -- with a side of sleuthing . . .

Autumn brings a wonderland of color and atmosphere to Vermont. As the last leaves fall from the trees, the town is gearing up for a new festival: A Taste of Shady Creek. Pub proprietor Sadie Coleman is looking forward to visitors coming to sample her literary-themed cocktails. She's a little more wary about her mother's impending first visit. What if her mom doesn't like Sadie's adopted town -- or her new boyfriend, Grayson Blake?

Those concerns are overshadowed when a food critic is found dead at Grayson's craft brewery, pinned under a barrel. Curiouser and curiouser -- the victim is linked to Grayson's past as a private investigator, and all the evidence points to him as the killer. While Grayson lays low, Sadie starts some investigating of her own, diving down a rabbit hole of suspects. Was it a bad review that made the killer mad as a hatter? Or are there other motives at play?
 
In between serving Kiss of the Cider Woman cocktails and book-minded bites to festival goers, Sadie is striving to clear Grayson's name. But it'll take more than a dash of ingenuity to prevent the festival from fizzing out completely -- and stop a killer from downing another innocent life . . .