Tangled Up in Brew by Joyce Tremel

Brew pub owner Maxine “Max” O’Hara and her chef/boyfriend Jake Lambert are excited to be participating in the Three Rivers Brews and Burgers Festival. Max hopes to win the coveted Golden Stein for best craft beer—but even if she doesn’t, the festival will be great publicity for her Allegheny Brew House.

Or will it? When notoriously nasty food and beverage critic Reginald Mobley is drafted as a last-minute replacement judge, Max dreads a punishing review. Her fears are confirmed when Mobley literally spits out her beer, but things get even worse when the cranky critic drops dead right after trying one of Jake’s burgers. Now an ambitious new police detective is determined to pin Mobley’s murder on Max and Jake, who must pore over the clues to protect their freedom and reputations—and to find the self-appointed judge, jury, and executioner.

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This is the second novel in the series, but can easily be read as a stand alone. I really like this series because it’s different than other cozy mystery series since it’s about beer brewing!

The mystery wasn’t too complex and I figured out the killer a few chapters before the killer was announced (yay me!). I learned so much about the brewing process and realized it is much more complex than I thought it was. I also like how it takes place in Pittsburgh, so I had a bit of an understanding of locations since I had visited Pittsburgh a few times.

The best part of the series is the characters, I really like Max and her boyfriend/chef Jake. There is also a great cast of secondary characters who keeps things entertaining!

3 calculators out of a potential 5. An enjoyable cozy mystery which I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in brewing!

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