Happy Release Day to Sleight of Hand, the new book in The Alewives of Colmar historical mystery series by Elizabeth R Andersen #bookreview #newrelease

Here’s the blurb:

In the spring of 1354, all was well in the town of Colmar – until Efi Kleven discovered a hand in her pot of new ale…a hand that was not attached to a body. Now, Gritta, Appel, and Efi, the three alewives of Colmar, must solve the mystery of the severed hand before suspicion falls on them. While they attempt to keep their fledgling brewery afloat, more bodies turn up outside of town – along with more suspects.

With few allies and several powerful men working against them, the alewives find themselves flummoxed: How did the hand of a man from Vogelgrun end up in a cooking pot in Colmar? Why were none of the victims local? And would this most inconvenient ingredient get in the way of Efi’s plans to find herself a new husband?

Book 2 in The Alewives of Colmar mystery series, Sleight of Hand follows the three alewives as they confront life after the Black Death with bravery and wicked humor, showing resourcefulness and determination in the face of poverty, misogyny, and murder.

Purchase Link

https://amzn.to/3xKB49r

My Review

Sleight of Hand is a fabulous follow-up to book 1 in The Alewives of Colmar Series, The Alewives (you can find my review for that here).

In Sleight of Hand we return to our three fabulous characters of Efi, Gritta and Appel and find them once more in a bit of a pickle. The characters of our women, their sort of ‘guardian angel’ and the only one who takes them seriously, Friar Wikerus, and the ‘men’ in Colmar remain as firm as in book 1 – the men are still stupid (aside from Friar Wikerus, although he also causes himself some difficulties) while Appel, Gritta and Efi are fabulous as they circumnavigate the restrictions placed on them by men who think they know better. There is a great deal of gentle humour, and this combined with the strong characterisation ensues the reader is very firmly in favour of the women, and not the men.

The mystery itself is very well-constructed. Everything slowly reveals itself and there are any number of red herrings to keep the reader guessing.

It was so delightful to return to the world of our Alewives of Colmar. I really hope there will be a book 3, and indeed, many more stories for our main characters. If you’ve not yet had the joy of reading The Alewives, then yes, begin there, but only because if not, you’ll be missing out on your first encounter with Efi, Gritta and Appel.

Meet the author

Check out Elizabeth’s website, or click on the link for The Alewives review above, which has all her info.

https://www.elizabethrandersen.com