WINE AND PUNISHMENT

A small town may mean big trouble for the owner of a New England pub.

Shady Creek, Vermont, seemed like the ideal escape for Sadie Coleman. When she's not inventing new cocktails, curating reading lists for meetings of the local book club, and mediating quarrels among cantankerous townspeople, The Inkwell, a literary-themed pub she’s opened in an old mill, keeps her busy. And keeping busy prevents Sadie from dwelling on her busted romance with fellow Bostonian Eric Jensen, whose return to the gambling table after promising he’d quit sent her off to the countryside and the solace of her nurturing Aunt Gilda. Of course, quiet doesn’t always mean tranquil, and matching wits with her handsome but cranky neighbor Grayson Blake, owner of Spirit Hill Brewery, keeps Sadie on her toes. A fire that guts two stores in Shady Creek’s tiny business district makes her uneasy. But what really puts Sadie on edge is learning that Eric’s coming to town with plans to win her back. Eric’s good intentions are cut short dramatically, and Sadie has to keep one step ahead of the police in a fast-paced race to see who can stop a killer from striking again.

It’s hard to imagine how Fox, already author of the Pancake House Mysteries (Yeast of Eden, 2018, etc.) and the Music Lover’s Mysteries (Deadly Overtures, 2016, etc.), can keep still another franchise going. But readers will cheer this brisk, literate addition to the world of small-town cozies.