Sloan Krause is busy getting ready for Maifest, the spring festival that Leavenworth, Washington celebrates almost as hard as Oktoberfest. To get ready, she and Garrett, her brewing partner at the nanobrewery Nitro, are brewing their new Lemon Kiss beer, made with Lemondrop hops, and creating new delicacies for their menu. They have been working for weeks to get enough beer brewed for the big weekend, as they are anticipating more tourists than they’ve seen a long time.
The whole town is getting ready, decorating the storefronts and getting their lederhosen and dirndls prepped for the big parade. But as Sloan rests one night, an insistent knocking at her door forces her to wake up. A woman claiming to be her mother’s sister asks to be let in, saying that she and Sloan are in danger. Sloan isn’t sure how to react, but she decides to let the woman in. But she keeps her phone in her hand, just in case.
The woman explains that her name is Marianne, and she was the one who put Sloan into foster care when she was a child. Her sister, Sloan’s mother, had been murdered, and Marianne felt that it was the only way to keep Sloan safe. When Sloan tells her that she doesn’t understand why she wasn’t safe, Marianne explained that her mother had been killed by a very dangerous man named Forest and that Sloan had witnessed it.
Marianne goes on to say that a woman had been murdered in her hotel room, and she thinks it was Forest, thinking it was her. And now that Forest is in Leavenworth, Sloan isn’t safe, and neither is her family. Sloan isn’t sure what to believe, but she calls Police Chief Myers to find out if there really is a murdered woman in Marianne’s hotel room.
Chief Myers comes by Sloan’s house a little later and informs her that the housekeeper at the hotel, Sara, was killed in Marianne’s room. She assigns an officer to keep an eye on Sloan, just in case, and questions Marianne about what happened. Sloan still isn’t sure if she should believe Marianne or not, but she refuses to leave town or to hide.
The next day, they stop by the hotel, and Sloan gets a chance to talk to some of the other employees as well as to a guest. The more she learns about what’s been happening at the hotel, the more Sloan wonders if it really was Forest who killed the housekeeper, or if it was maybe someone closer to home. She realizes that if she can figure out who killed Sara, then Sloan can figure out if Marianne is paranoid or if she is justified in her fears for Sloan’s safety.
But the more Sloan learns, the closer she gets to danger. If the killer of Forest or not, they’re still a killer, and Sloan is asking dangerous questions. Will she get the answers she’s after, or will the killer make this Maifest Sloan’s last?
The Cure for What Ales You is the fifth in the Sloan Krouse mystery series. These cozies, set in a small town in Washington that mimics a Bavarian town, are filled with interesting characters, strong plots, and an insider’s view of brewing beer.
There are a couple of reasons I keep coming back to Ellie Alexander’s mysteries. First, they are consistently good. Like, really good. Every time. And the second thing I love is her sense of place. Getting a chance to visit Leavenworth once a year is like a vacation to a favorite small town. I feel like I can see the decorations as I walk down the street, smell the flowers, feel the energy of the crowd watching the Maifest parade, and I can almost taste the beers. I admit I’m not as big a fan of hops as Sloan is, but I would love a chance to try that Lemon Kiss, especially with that lemony trifle she brings out for the celebration.
Egalleys for The Cure for What Ales You were provided by Minotaur Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.
