I’ll take mine straight up with a dash of murder! Cathi Stoler has a new Murder on The Rocks Mystery out. Straight Up is Cheers with a bit of FBI mixed into the story. It’s a great combination with a main character whose trying to keep it all together with a serial killer on the loose.

Book Description

Jude Dillane, owner of The Corner Lounge in Manhattan’s East Village, knows she will never be safe until The New Year’s Eve Serial Killer, Art Bevins, is behind bars. Still on the loose, he continues to taunt her. Blaming Jude for all his troubles, Bevins is determined to make her pay. With the FBI investigation at a stand-still Jude knows it’s up to her to bring him to justice. With all this swirling around her, Thomas “Sully” Sullivan, her friend and landlord, becomes enamored of his new tenant, Dolores Castel. Jude instantly distrusts Sully’s new love and believes Dolores is weaving a dangerous web. As she continues her pursuit of Bevins, Jude looks into Dolores’s past, uncovering a series of deadly coincidences. Can Jude stop Bevins from his deadly pursuit and protect her friend from ruin?

My Review

Straight Up takes place in a cozy little bar in Manhattan with residential apartments above it. This is the third book in the series, and the bar owner, Jude, is in recovery mode after being a target of the New Yea’s Eve Serial Killer. Having a killer on the loose has affected both her business and personal relationships, and with the killer uncaught, Jude is being watched over by the FBI. Her landlord and good friend, Sully, is there for her until he meets the beautiful Delores and her weird little assistant Diego. Delores is scheming with a whole pack full of secrets from her last home in California, but Sully is smitten. When Art Bevins, the serial killer that got away, shows back up, Jude is hard-pressed to find someone to help her through it. Straight Up was an enjoyable read with great pacing. I want to go back and read the other books in this series. 

About the Author

Cathi Stoler is an Amazon Best Selling author. Her new Urban Thriller, LAST CALL, the 2nd book in the Murder on the Rocks Mystery series, featuring The Corner Lounge bar owner, Jude Dillane, was published in November 2020 by Level Best Books. The third book in the series, STRAIGHT UP, will release in November 2021. Her series, with Blackjack player, Nick Donahue, includes the novel OUT OF TIME, and the novella, NICK OF TIME. She is also the author of the three-volume Laurel & Helen New York Mystery series, which includes TELLING LIES, KEEPING SECRETS, and THE HARD WAY, and a three-time finalist, and winner of the 2015 Derringer for Best Short Story, “The Kaluki Kings of Queens”. Very involved in the crime writing world, Cathi is a member of Sisters in Crime New York/Tri-State, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers.

Find out more about Cathi at: www.cathistoler.com