Jane Reads: In the Drink by Allyson K. Abbott | Blog Tour with Review, Recipe, and Giveaway

Castle meets Cheers in the third Mack's Bar Mystery, featuring bar owner Mackenzie "Mack" Dalton!

The Blurb

Mack’s Bar and its crime-solving clientele are quickly gaining notoriety for helping solve some high-profile cases. But Mack is learning the hard way that not all press is good press…

By day, Mackenzie “Mack” Dalton is the proprietress of a popular Milwaukee watering hole. But after last call, she uses her unique cocktail of extra perceptive senses to help solve some of the city’s most grisly homicides. Now, Mack and her barstool detectives are happy to help when Tiny, one of the bar’s newest patrons, asks them to look into his sister’s murder. Though the case has gone cold, Mack’s heightened senses quickly put her on the killer’s trail. But when a throng of reporters intrigued by her talents descends on Mack’s Bar, her efforts are muddled as a real-life Moriarty begins putting her infamous skills to the test, leaving Mack feeling shaken and stirred…

* Includes drink recipes *

In the Drink by Allyson K. Abbott
Series: A Mack's Bar Mystery, #3
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: July 28, 2015
Paperback: 336 pages
ISBN-10: 075828019X
ISBN-13: 978-0758280190

e-Book File Size: 765 KB
ASIN: B00P53BX30

The Review

I just read an amazing book, y'all — In the Drink by Allyson K. Abbott. Let me tell you a little about it. In the Drink is the third book in the Mack's Bar Mystery series of cozies, set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Author Allyson K. Abbott does not waste any time with introductions or reminding the reader what happened in the previous books. In the Drink is majorly intense from the get-go.

In the Drink begins with Mack reading a "fan letter" from a psychopath, who has challenged Mack to solve his/her "series of tests." This "intrigued fan" doesn't believe

all the hype I've heard and read recently in the local media that you are some kind of crime-solving savant who can literally sniff out clues.

If Mack fails a test, he/she will kill someone,

someone you know, someone who is close to you, someone who is a significant part of your life

and then Mack will move on, to the next test in the "game." The psychopath admits he/she is looking forward to Mack's failures — then wishes her "good luck."

See what I mean? It's so intense and compelling, I couldn't stop reading, and finished In the Drink in one day.

I read Murder on the Rocks (book one) and Murder with a Twist (book two) first, so I would have all the necessary background information. I am quite glad I did, and strongly recommend that you begin at the beginning of the series yourself.

In Murder on the Rocks, you'll get the deep background about Mack's neurological condition, synesthesia, and how it affects her senses. You'll also learn the deep background about Mack's personal life, her history. In Murder with a Twist, you'll find out how Mack ends up in the local media, and learn how she is a "crime-solving savant."

By reading Murder on the Rocks and Murder with a Twist first, you will know Mack's friends a lot better. You'll also know how their crime-solving group came to be, and how it got the name "Capone Club." This way, if/when any of them are sacrificed in the psychopath's little games, you can better understand and share Mack's pain and sense of loss.

Mack's tests are not the only mysteries to be solved. One of Mack's barflies, a long drink of water ironically nick-named Tiny, brings his own mystery to the "barstool detectives" — a 12-year-old cold case. His sister was murdered, but the killer was never caught, even though there were several suspects. I was surprised by whodunit, and had not suspected the actual culprit.

I am really looking forward to Shots in the Dark, book four in the series. I can't wait to find out what happens next, after the way In the Drink ends. (Write faster, Allyson!)

In the Drink is unique, very imaginative, very entertaining, and highly recommended, as is the rest of the Mack's Bar Mystery series by Author Allyson K. Abbott. In the Drink is the best of the series, bar none! I really love In the Drink, and hereby award it the maximum rating of Five Kitties!

Five out of five kitties

Note: I received a complimentary copy of In the Drink in exchange for my honest review.

All opinions shared are 100% my own.

Click here, to read other reviews and drink recipes, plus Author Interviews!

The Drink Recipe

The Bootlegger

¾ oz. bourbon

¾ oz. tequila

¾ oz. Southern Comfort

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, add the ingredients, and shake. Strain into a chilled glass and garnish with an orange peel.

Perhaps fitting given the name of this drink, there is no acceptable non-alcoholic version.

The Author

About Allyson K. Abbott

Allyson K. Abbott, author of the Mack's Bar Mystery series, is a pseudonym used by Beth Amos, a mystery and thriller writer who also works as an emergency room nurse. Beth is the author of the suspense novels COLD WHITE FURY, EYES OF NIGHT, SECOND SIGHT, NICK OF TIME, and FACE OF DEATH. Beth is also the author of the Mattie Winston mystery series written under the pseudonym Annelise Ryan, which includes WORKING STIFF, SCARED STIFF, FROZEN STIFF, LUCKY STIFF, BOARD STIFF, and STIFF PENALTY. STIFF COMPETITION comes out on January 26th, 2016.

Beth lives with her family in a small Wisconsin town, where she changes identities nearly every day.

Find her on the web at

Website | Blog | Facebook | Amazon | Goodreads

The Giveaway

The author will award two print copies of In the Drink,
and a HobbyReads Travel Sewing Kit,
to randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway