Death Distilled

A Whisky Business Mystery

By: Melinda Mullet

Narrated by: Gemma Dawson

Photojournalist by trade, distillery owner by blood, and amateur sleuth by necessity, Abigail Logan learns that murder can't stay bottled up forever in this charming Whisky Business Mystery.

It's been three months since Abi Logan last checked in on Abbey Glen, the celebrated whisky distillery she inherited. With her oversize wheaten terrier, Liam, by her side, Abi returns to the quaint Scottish village of Balfour. But her relaxing Highland homecoming takes a stressful turn when she unearths an unseemly bit of village history, welcomes a group of Japanese whisky enthusiasts, and becomes shepherdess to an unexpected flock of sheep - all within the first 24 hours. Still, nothing's more stressful than murder....

Local celebrity Rory Hendricks is the hotheaded, hard-rocking former frontman of the Rebels - and Abi's girlhood crush. After meeting him in person, Abi can't say no to anything he asks, like photographing his upcoming show...or figuring out who's trying to kill him. Turns out someone's been bumping off his old bandmates, with the drummer dead under mysterious circumstances and the keyboardist in a coma following a hit-and-run. Now a series of threatening messages leads Rory to think he's next on the chopping block. And the band has a devil's share of broken hearts and bitter disputes in their past, leaving Abi a huge batch of suspects to sift through - all before the killer takes another shot.

©2017 Melinda Mullet (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

There were a lot of characters to follow!

I enjoyed the book, but, there were so many band members, roadies, wives, daughters, girlfriends to keep straight. Hard to page back and look up who's who.

good story with history

Main character finds a new community as well as mystery and local history. Interesting setting and story.

Saving a Rock Star in Scotland

In <strong>Death Distilled</strong> by Melinda Mullet, Abigail Logan has returned to the Scottish town of Balfour, where her uncle and guardian left her the Abbey Glen whiskey distillery, after three months of being out of the country in her role as war photojournalist. Hoping to arrive to some relaxation, Abi finds herself thrown into all sorts of drama. Her wheaten terrier, Liam, immediately digs up some bones of a skeleton with clear signs of having been bashed on the head that the archaeologists think is at least 200 years old. Next Abi helps the new vicar examine a tunnel he has found starting at the church that was used to smuggle whisky when the British tried to stop them during the early 1700s. In the process, they find the hidden grave of Angus Fletcher, an early leader in Scotland that has been thought to have been lost forever. And Abi's best friend, Patrick, has taken a job as assistant editor of a journal on alcoholic spirits based in Edinburgh and has committed Abbey Glen to a special tour for some Japanese whiskey makers. And he did so without getting permission. Then, Abi spies some sheep being taken to slaughter only because their owner has died, so Abi saves them by purchasing them to give them a good retirement.

But the excitement moves to a whole new level when Abi gets a message from Hunter, her handyman, to go visit a new local reclusive resident. When she gets to the house, she is astonished and thrilled to discover that the new neighbor is Rory Hendricks, formerly known as Micky Dawson, the lead singer and lyricist of the former rock band The Rebels, which once rivaled such groups as Led Zeppelin in popularity, filling large amphitheaters in their heyday because breaking up twelve years earlier. Rory is scheduled to headline a charity concert to raise money for disabled veterans and asks Abi to serve as his official photographer. But even more than take photos, she is to keep her eyes and ears open because someone has been attacking people connected with the former band, and Rory is left the only man standing. Further, someone broke into the art gallery of the daughter no one has known Rory has, Summer Carmichael, stealing the three most valuable works connected to Rory and leaving a scrawled message of "In tears of rage, you're going down," lyrics from The Rebels's song "Drowning." So Rory brings Summer up to Scotland to try to keep her safe.

The next night the concert goes forward, and Abi makes a point to talk with each person involved with The Rebels, including their sound techs and former manager, Bruce, who spent five years of a ten year sentence for selling fake autographs. Then, as the opening acts perform, Abi and Rory go to his dressing room and find the message "Death awaits" painted on his wall. But Rory manages to get on stage, so Abi and Detective Michaelson helplessly watch from the side. But then the image on the background screen changes, showing Rory slowly bleeding to death with the word "Killer" written across him. Soon the lights go out, a gun resounds, and they spot one of the technical men dying from the gunshot. It seems that someone is trying to kill everyone around Rory but toying with him by not quite touching him. Abi ends up trying to solve the mystery while also protecting Rory.

I thoroughly enjoyed <strong>Death Distilled</strong> and its many creative angles. The book gives us a great flavor of Scotland as well as of the whiskey trade. We also appreciate the insight into the world of A- list rock bands. We see all the glamour but also the toil that the fame of their position brings upon them. Rory was essentially forced by his manager to avoid having contact with his daughter and her mother. When his girlfriend became pregnant while Rory was 19, he was ready to marry her to make the baby legitimate, but the manager feared that Rory's bad boy reputation would suffer, and that would hurt the band's sales figures.

The book has a creative plot embedded within the flavor of Scotland and the minor issues faced by Abi and the other residents. It may not have as many red herrings as many other five star books, but it still moves with interest and kept me drawn to the story of the book. The side stories had so many fun details in them that I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

I really appreciated the audio performance of Gemma Dawson in <strong>Death Distilled</strong> and enjoyed listening to the audiobook. Dawson does a good job of switching among accents, whether Scottish or different British ones. She also uses credible voices and good timing and expression.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to <strong>Death Distilled</strong>. I earlier appreciated the prior book, <em>Single Malt Murder</em>, and this one did not disappoint in its quality as a sequel. It held plenty of pleasure and kept me fascinatedly attached to the book. I give it five stars.

Cute but…

This is my second book in the series and I think I am done. I thought it was written well enough to keep my interest. If you like Cosy mysteries, this is a good one but just not my cup of tea.

Loved it

I can't wait until the next book comes out. I liked the narrator. I can totally see her with Grant!

More Whisky Business

Great story. Great narrator. Love the complicated story plots weaving in and out. Killer always remains elusive till the end.

Local history bored me

Too much local history for me and I didn't empathise with volatile rock star. But, narrator is excellent.

Wee bit o' charm & a whole lot of mystery

I truly enjoyed listening to Death Distilled. I didn’t realize that it was the second book in a series of standalone cozy mysteries; the author gives sufficient background information so I had no problem diving into the story.

A story set around a distillery in the Highlands of Scotland is a good enough hook for me! The delightful main character, Abi Logan and her dog, Liam, are a crack team of amateur sleuths. These two, along with the fun cast of villagers, make this cozy mystery highly engaging. I loved the balance between the story and scene setting with the progression of the mystery. Too often in cozy mysteries, you have a murder, then a bunch of fluff, and then out of nowhere, the mystery is solved. There are ample clues and red herrings to keep every mystery lover engaged. Additionally, there are some side stories blended into the mystery. They provide local color as they mainly involve the villagers…or their livestock.

Charming characters, a little local mystery, and a big whodunnit in a fabulous setting make for a good cozy mystery. Author Melinda Mullet and narrator Gemma Dawson have hooked me on her Whisky Business series.

A good mystery

This book starts out a bit slow (just like the first book) but it pulls you in and keeps you guessing and it’s hard to stop the book. I also love the Scottish history. I highly recommended both books in the series.

Better Whisky Business

This novel continues, and IMHO, improves on the Whisky Business series. Ms Mulltett seems more comfortable with the characters and develops a terrific plot line starting with the opening paragraph.

Ms Dawson's performance is strong, but I would like to see her slow down in the sections that are more about explanation than action or dialogue. Those sections need the most attention from the reader because they are the sections most likely to make the listener fall asleep. And a lot of the mystery's heavy lifting goes on in those sections.

This book propels the reader to the next book in the series. Can't wait.