Whisky and Murder in the Highlands

SINGLE MALT MURDER
Melinda Mullet
Random House Alibi
March 21, 2017


Award-winning photojournalist Abigail Logan is grieving the death of her uncle Ben, who raised her after the death of her parents in an auto accident. Fifteen years prior to his death from cancer Ben sold up his London holdings and purchased a small whisky distillery in the Scottish Highlands. Abby is now the owner of the distillery but has no plans to continue. She loves her globe-trotting career and has no intention of taking up distilling single malt and settling down in a small village. But Ben made a success of the distillery and she wants to make sure that any buyer will preserve his vision for the business. Abi takes her wheaten terrier, Liam, for a stay at Abbey Glen in order to sort things out. The village and the distillery staff are far from welcoming and a series of petty vandalisms culminate in murder and fire at Abbey Glen Distillery. Someone wants Abi gone, but who is it, the various prospective buyers, someone who works at the distillery or someone in the village itself? Abi must use all her investigative skills to find out the culprit and perhaps save her own life.

I am a fan of all things Scots (except haggis, perhaps) but I have never developed a taste for single malt and knew absolutely nothing about distilling. Single Malt Murder is packed with information about the methods, history, and lore of Scots whisky. It's never boring and woven seamlessly into the story. Many interesting and intriguing characters, especially Grant MacEwen, Ben's right-hand man, appear and I did not figure out who the murderer was until the end. 

I highly recommend Single Malt Murder and am looking forward to the next in the series.Thanks to Random House Alibi and NetGalley for an advance copy. The opinions above are my own.

RATING- 4 Stars