Review of:  The Malt in Our Stars:  A Literary Pub Mystery

Sarah Fox

I love cozy mysteries and was eager to read this as I haven’t read this author or the other books in this series before.  But I was captured by the cute title and series premise!  I really liked the setting in Shady Creek, Vermont, and the descriptions of the manor house.  I also enjoyed the mystery involving a visit to the town by a well-known author and her assistant (who, of course, promptly gets murdered).  There were several plausible suspects and red herrings along the way as the protagonist, Sadie, uncovers whodunit and why.  However, I felt as though I were plopped down in the middle of the story right from the get-go as there was almost no backstory and a large cast of characters.  I’m not sure I know who Sadie really is and would have liked to see more development of the main characters and overall arc of the series.  Since this is a literary series I also would have liked to see more emphasis given to the theme.