Deadly Draft

When a viral food blogger's murder exposes a corporate conspiracy to destroy Hopefield's local dining scene, former lawyer Mackenzie O'Brien Blake must solve the case before respected community members take justice into their own hands. Summer tourist season should have showcased Hopefield's thriving farm-to-table restaurants and collaborative food culture. Instead, Mac finds herself defending local businesses against Bradley Sinclair, whose viral reviews systematically destroy rural dining establishments for the entertainment of his half-million social media followers. When Bradley turns up dead from mushroom poisoning after demanding a "traditional foraging demonstration," Mac discovers that someone used expert mycological knowledge to serve him a lethal meal disguised as authentic mountain cuisine. Armed with husband Travis Blake's food science expertise from brewery operations and her own legal training in corporate fraud, Mac uncovers Bradley's real purpose in Hopefield: advance scout for a development company planning to crater local property values through viral humiliation campaigns, then acquire the town for resort conversion. But when the investigation reveals that the toxic mushrooms came from research specimens ordered by a community member, Mac realizes the killer used scientific knowledge and community trust as weapons in a carefully planned murder. In small-town North Carolina, protecting your community can become a deadly obsession. With Police Chief Alexa Carlsbad managing a murder investigation that exposes painful divisions about vigilante justice versus legal remedies, Mac must identify the killer before community protection efforts destroy the relationships they're meant to preserve. But when the murderer proves to be a respected doctor who killed to save Hopefield from corporate takeover, Mac faces the heartbreaking reality that understanding someone's protective motivation doesn't make their violent methods acceptable. The tenth book in the Brews & Blues Mystery series featuring Mac O'Brien and the Emerald Isle Brewery.