3.5 stars

Abi Logan is back in the third entry in the Whisky Business mysteries. Abi inherited a distillery from her uncle and has had a big learning curve fitting in to the small village and its male whisky community. She is torn between resuming her career as a war correspondent and photojournalist and settling down to the mostly appealing life in the Highlands. Her distiller Grant MacEwan would like to be more than her business partner, but Abi's track record is not good for romance, and she's afraid a botched relationship would also ruin their business arrangement.

Their company, Abbey Glen, has been nominated for a prestigious award and Abi has been persuaded to attend the festivities and network. But the event is plagued from the outset and it doesn't take long to wonder who is bumping off whisky makers as the bodies accumulate.

I enjoy the writing and the unusual and appealing setting. In my ARC, I found the ending disappointing -- straight out of a romance novel and clearly geared to force us all to read the next novel to read what happens. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in return for my honest review.

This is a fun cozy with a well developed plot, interesting characters and an inside look at the whiskey industry in Scotland and beyond. Abi Logan has inherited the distillery Abbey Glen from her Uncle Ben and their whiskey has been nominated for the prestigious Golden Quaiches award. Abi and her business (and perhaps more) partner Grant go to the posh Eagles Lodge resort for the awards weekend. Abi meets some of the event judges and her fellow competitors and learns about the disagreement between some of them concerning whether whiskey from countries other than Scotland should be considered for the awards. One of the leading proponents of international competition, Sir richard Simpson is found dead, poisoned by nicotine in a bottle of whiskey by his bedside and when Abi's best friend Patrick was the last to leave his room and therefore a prime suspect, Abi gets involved in the investigation. The story flows at a steady pace,with plenty of twists and turns and plenty of suspects to keep you guessing. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.