Avalon Nash is still hiding out in the Olympic village of Tranquility, New York, serving as bartender at the Battened Hatch bar. As one of her duties she has to keep the patrons from getting too rowdy and one evening she has to stop a former Olympic luger from demonstrating how its done using tables and chairs. Now the Olympian is dead, but why was he murdered? was someone jealous of his ability to gain attention or was it something from his past?

The story was captivating with clues sliding in all directions. The interaction of the characters was delightful and the recipes for new cocktails could easily intoxicate the mind. ( )

murder-investigation, murder, amateur-sleuth, family, family-dynamics, friendship, triggers, abduction, thriller*****

This one's another real winner! The murder mystery is well crafted with great characters, a busy plot complete with twists, some very interesting red herrings, and a super mixology recipe with each chapter. Backstory is that Avalon left LA to go to NYC (family in Brooklyn) but is at an interesting station in an upper New York state town with a prior Olympic history to change trains when she runs full on into a murder and a temporary bartending job (now it's really permanent). Avalon's real schtick is listening to others and sometimes writing it all down, and this time it nearly gets her killed. Past Olympians is where the story begins and ends but with some truly amazing events in between.
I loved all of it and will need to get a print copy of this one as well to assemble all the drinks recipes for my favorite mixologist.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Arundel Publishing/Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )