Oktoberfest is over and now it's the dead season for beer maven and barstool sleuth Sloan Krause--literally.

In the Bavarian village of Leavenworth, Washington, the tourists are gone and the local villagers prepare for the upcoming winter light festival. Soon the German-inspired shops and restaurants will be aglow and visitors will return to the northern Cascades to drink warm mulled cider and peruse the holiday markets. Until then, Sloan Krause and her partner in crime Garrett Strong are experimenting with a new line of "hoppy holiday" craft beers at their brewery.

But the low-key vibes at Nitro are suddenly disrupted by a local political scandal: City Councilmember Kristopher Cooper is running for re-election on a platform of making Leavenworth dry--until, just before election night, Kristopher turns up dead. Now, with every beer-related businessperson in Leavenworth coming under suspicion, it's up to Sloan to find out who the guilty party really is...before someone else gets tapped for murder.

The Sloan Krause mystery series is:
"The perfect brew."--Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Exciting...irresistible...absorbing." --Washington Book Review