The Brewery Murders, by J.R. Ellis is a clean, beer filled murder mystery. If you have an interest in the history of breweries and like a mystery, you'll likely enjoy this book. Each of the chapters starts with some interesting history about different breweries around England. I had a hard time getting into the story, itself and found it slow going. This one was just ok for me.

DS Andy Carter and his boss DCI Olroyd are back in their ninth mystery investigating a murder in a Yorkshire brewery. Owned by Richard Foster, the brewery was once famous for it’s award winning beer made famous by Richard’s father. Unfortunately the recipe was lost when he died and didn’t pass it on to Richard or his sister Emily, also owner of a brewery with her partner Janice, staffed solely by women. When Brenda Scholes, a former worker in the brewery turns up in town claiming to have the recipe and offering to sell it to Richard or Emily, they are both sceptical that it exists. Before they can find out more Brendan’s body is found with hois head bashed in, floating in a tank of beer at Richard’s brewery.

There are a number of suspects to investigate which Olroyd goes about in his usual methodical old style approach. However, before they can solve the case there will be other murders to muddy the waters. It’s an engrossing mystery with some twists and turns to keep it interesting and keep the reader guessing. The brewing siblings with their two competitive breweries along with a homophobic campaign against Emily also adds an another dimension to the personal lives of the main characters. Overall an enjoyable and interesting addition to the series.

The brewery murders is another episode in the DCI Oldroyd series, set in the Yorkshire Dales. Together with his loyal co-worker Andy DCI Oldroyd investigates a murder in a brewery in Markham.
Almost from the start it is clear that there is bad blood between the two brewery's in town that are owned by two siblings that have fallen out over the search for a very successful beer recipe that has gone missing.

Apart from the interesting protagonists what I like most about this series is that in addition to the main story, there is always a side theme on a current topic. In this episode it is misogyny and homophobia. Fortunately, humanity triumphs in the end. The plot is always very well developed in this series, the stories are well written, the main characters are pleasant and well developed in terms of character and their experiences.

So, full marks for this book. Looking forward to the next book.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this book but I just couldn't get into the story. I didn't like the writing style but overall the story was good.

This is the ninth and latest book in the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries. In Markham trouble is brewing between the breweries (I meant to say that) and competition is turning into conflict. When a body is found floating in a vat of beer things become really serious.

I always enjoy returning to this series set in beautiful Yorkshire and featuring a really old school detective, DCI Oldroyd. The book is heavy on police procedure and discussion about the suspects, making it fun for readers who enjoy trying to solve the crime themselves.

This is an excellent addition to the series and I look forward to more in the future.

Markham, England, is the proud home to two breweries – run by siblings Richard and Emily. When the town’s former bad boy returns, claiming to have a copy of their father’s award-winning brew – a recipe that is said to have died with the old man – he wants to sell the recipe to the highest bidder. When his body is found at one of the breweries, the police must solve the case before even more people die.

When I requested this book from NetGalley, I didn’t realize that it’s book #9 from a series I haven’t yet started. It’s on my to-read list, though, which made me a bit nervous about jumping in mid-stream. By the time I go back to the first book and work my way through the rest, I won’t remember much about this one, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

One of the things I dislike the most about reading a book from the middle of a series is not knowing the backgrounds of the characters, their relationships and how they came to be, and any previous involvement in investigations or cases. Either that wasn’t an issue with this book or I missed it completely, although I would love to know more about Inspector Oldroyd and his staff. They worked well together in this book, but it seems like that wasn’t always the case.

The murder victim in this book had a nasty reputation when he lived in the area previously, so there weren’t many in town who were sorry to see him dead, and the suspect list was lengthy. Clues led round and round in circles, making it hard for me to keep everything straight, so I gave up trying to figure out the killer and decided to simply enjoy the book. Besides trying to find the killer, it also involved themes of misogyny, homophobia, and racism, especially in small towns, and they were handled well in this book.

I look forward to going back to start this series from the beginning, and meeting DCI Oldroyd at the start of this journey.

An award-winning beer worth killing for. Can DCI Oldroyd find the killer before last orders?

Steeped in a history of award-winning Yorkshire ale, the town of Markham boasts not one but two breweries. Richard Foster runs one; his sister, Emily, along with her partner, Janice, runs the other. And not without some resentment.

The unwelcome return of the town’s former bad boy, Brendan Scholes, threatens to ignite the sibling rivalry further. Scholes claims to have found the long-lost secret recipe to the beer that made Richard and Emily’s father famous, and he wants money.

But it isn’t long before Scholes’ body is found floating in a fermentation tank at one of the breweries, his head caved in by a hammer. DCI Oldroyd and Andy Carter are called in to investigate the murder, and there’s no shortage of suspects.

As rumors of the possible existence of a recipe for the famous beer spread against a backdrop of growing homophobia and misogyny, tempers run high. With Markham’s beer industry at stake, a killer on the loose and the town’s residents out for blood, Oldroyd needs to solve the murder before someone else is killed…

Loved it. Will recommend to others

Grippingly unpredictable. Be prepared to put your life on hold! Taut and tense from the first page to the closing paragraphs……loved it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

There’s a lot going on in the small town of Markham, especially with a rivalry between two breweries run by siblings who have had a bit of a falling out. When a former resident who doesn’t seem to have ranked very high on anyone’s list of friends or respected neighbors ends up dead, lots of secrets start to be revealed.

I found the plot very interesting, especially the ending, despite a few aspects being predictable. However, I found the writing style distracting. Instead of allowing the characters reveal the details of the environment or their thoughts, the author did so outside the scope of the characters….and in most cases then had the characters address those same details. As a result, I unfortunately did not enjoy this book overall.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, Netgalley, and the author for early access to this book.

First book I have read from this author. I enjoyed it but would call it more a mystery than a thriller. Good characterisation and page turner. Plenty of quirks to keep me interested. Would definitely read the next offering. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

The story is well written with plenty of plot twists and turns to keep you from guessing the ending!! The descriptions of the characters and locations are well written. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series
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Thank you to J. R. Ellis, NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK – Thomas & Mercer for the arc of this book.

The Brewery Murders is the 9th in the Yorkshire Murder series. This is a straightforward police procedural series and the books don’t necessarily need to be read in order.
I appreciate the main character, Jim Oldroyd, a detective in the old school style - a straight shooter, fair man and good teacher to those under him.
I loved the premise of this book. The town’s initial brewery was known for its fabulous beer. But when the owner died, the recipe, supposedly never written down, died with him. Now, his two children are each running their own breweries. As the one child is a gay woman and her brewery employs mostly women, it brings out the misogyny and homophobia in some of the local men. At the town’s festival, a man shows up,claiming to have the missing recipe and offering to sell it to the highest bidder. But later that night, someone bangs him over the head and pushes him into a fermentation tank. And that’s just the first murder to occur.
The book moves at a steady pace. There are multiple suspects and much theorizing over the who and why. The book will appeal to readers who like to try to suss out the whodunit along with the cops. Although this wasn’t one I came anywhere close to figuring out. The book is unusual for concentrating as much on some of the suspects’ personal lives along with the team’s.
My thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an advance copy of this book.

Amazing. I have read the other books and found them totally enjoyable. I like the characters, which is a good mix through the police ranks. There is just the correct amount of police procedure. And I love the area it is set in, so much, I want to visit and see all the sights and landmarks in the books. The twist at the end is always a "good 'un" as the say in Yorkshire

I have been a longtime reader of this series, starting with the first volume. After nine, I’ve realized that my enjoyment of the book depends on the subject of the mystery. Magicians, locked-room murders, Dracula, musicians? Yes! Beer? Not as much. That’s why the degree of interest of this one depended solely on the plot. Based on previous volumes, this murder looked simple, a man found drowned in a vat of ale. Tons of suspects, all hiding a secret. The twist was ingenious but the problem with having set the bar so high (dead body in a locked train compartment, for instance) is that this time I was a little disappointed. It doesn’t mean that it’s not a solid mystery, just that there was no question of how the crime was carried out, and that’s what attracted me to this series in the first place. Another issue I had with this novel was how there were too many details completely unrelated to the murder. This is not something I enjoy. Others readers will love this book, I found it a little disappointing.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Amazon Publishing UK, Thomas & Mercer!

This is book 9 in the series and it's a bit of a twist to the normal routine. Oldroyd and Carter step into more than they expected when there is a death in the brewery. Old scores and secrets are causing issues and drama in modern day, and quite possibly now murder. Can they solve the mystery before more people die? It's a bit of a roller coaster toward the end, with the reader pretty sure they know who the killer is, but not truly WHY. Fun for new fans and old!

This is the ninth book of this series set in Yorkshire County in the north of England. Yorkshire is a area very much the same as it has been for centuries, lots of small towns where people have lived for generations. Like small towns in the area, the town is proud of it's local brewery. In the time after the war the Brewery was famous for it's local beer which won many awards. With the death of the owner, his two children were left the Brewery but not the beer recipe. The children didn't get along and the younger sister set herself up as a brewer and did reasonably well.

When the two siblings heard that the recipe for their father's beer existed, they both sought it out, but neither was successful. Now is when bodies kept turning up and DCI Oldroyd is plagued by these murders but also a spate of robberies of some of the more secluded farms. This is the story but not what the book pivots around. Ellis has decided that along with the having Oldroyd search for the murderer(s) and looking at buying a house, it's time to help his staff straighten out their personal problems.

But circulated around everything else is an unusual number of characters seem to be suffering the long-term effects of gambling and alcoholism. It's not just one or two but more like six and includes some couples with both problems. If people aren't stealing from their businesses to cover their gambling losses, their relationships are falling apart because the excess use of alcohol. It's a little overwhelming that in almost every chapter someone is brought down by alcoholism or gambling debts.

It's not that this is not a real problem(s), but it comes off like a bad "Hallmark" movie or the problems of a lot of "Soap Opera" characters. It's ok to take on social problems in your writings but this is like beating the proverbial dead 'sheep' (this is Yorkshire).

Thank you NetGalley for the review copy and introducing me to the Yorkshire Murders series.
A plot with a few twists and turns but generally quite simple to follow.
Just my opinion, but I found I got frustrated with Andy, who seemed to constantly repeat and simplify everything that had happened! I felt it unnecessary, as the plot developed well without his summarising.
For me, the connection between Steph’s father and the underlying addiction theme was also quite tenuous. I imagine the whole series needs to be read prior to this to explain the character’s seemingly random involvement in this book?
However, it was a good story, an easy read and will keep you in guessing who dunnit right until the end.
3.5*

Love this book. Very twisted in the plot, but numerous at the same time. Felt real as if a TV series.the characters were very ‘human’ and you were involved in the plot. Lots of thoughts to keep you motivated in the storyline. Definite read for murder mystery fans.

"The Brewery Murders" takes readers on a delightful journey to the town of Markham, where DCI Jim Oldroyd and DS Andy Carter find themselves embroiled in a captivating British cosy mystery. The story unfolds when a body is discovered in the Yoredale Ram Brewery's vat, belonging to Brendan Scholes, who possessed a valuable formula for the long-lost Wensley Glory Bitter beer. As the team investigates, the plot thickens with another murder at the Scholes home, leaving them puzzled about the motive behind the killings.

The novel's charm lies in its well-crafted characters and the camaraderie between DCI Jim Oldroyd and DS Andy Carter, which draws readers in from the start. The quaint setting of Markham adds to the cozy atmosphere, making it an inviting read for fans of the genre. With a touch of nostalgia surrounding the award-winning brew, readers are kept guessing until the final reveal. The seamless blend of mystery, intrigue, and British charm makes "The Brewery Murders" a quick and enjoyable page-turner.

I extend my gratitude to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an advance e-galley of this compelling mystery, which has left me eager for more adventures with this endearing team. #TheBreweryMurders #NetGalley

I would like to thank Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an advance copy of The Brewery Murders, the ninth novel to feature Harrogate based DCI Jim Oldroyd.

In Markham a brewing rivalry runs deep with Richard Foster running the family business while his sister Emily and her partner Janice run their startup. Town bad boy, Brendan Scholes returns to Markham, offering the long lost secret recipe to the beer that made the Foster family famous to the highest bidder. Then Brendan Scholes is found dead in a vat of beer with his head caved in.

I enjoyed The Brewery Murders, which is another well constructed plot with some good twists and turns. It is told mostly from the investigative side, mixing the professional and domestic, so it has a well concealed perpetrator and motive as no one believes that the recipe exists.

The plot is fairly standard for the series, not that this is a bad thing, an eminently readable story with several twists and some clunky dialogue. Oldroyd is somewhat at a loss in this novel as there are several suspects and motives and nothing seems to gel, especially with the rivalry between the breweries and an undercurrent of misogyny and homophobia. It’s perplexing until a cunning ruse saves the day and solves the case. I must admit that I did guess one of the big twists early on, so it was fun watching the detectives flounder slightly from a position of knowledge when not screaming at them to get with it. There is an old fashioned feel to the series as a whole as it prizes deduction and brain power over technology.

The characters are moving forward as they always do. Oldroyd is house hunting in the villages around Harrogate while his subordinates, DS Andy Carter and DS Steph Johnson have their own concerns with Andy thinking about promotion away from the team and Steph reconnecting with her abusive, alcoholic father.

The Brewery Murders is a good read that I can recommend.