by Sandra Murphy
& Sherry Harris

This week we have a review of From Beer to Eternity By Sherry Harris along with a fun summery guest post from Sherry. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book, and links to purchase it.

From Beer to Eternity: A Sea Glass Saloon Mystery by Sherry Harris
Review by Sandra Murphy

Chloe and Boone were best friends from the day they met. When Boone was deployed to Afghanistan, he asked Chloe to promise, if anything happened to him, she’d go to Florida and help his grandmother.

The worst did happen. Boone was killed in action. Leaving snowy Chicago winters behind, Chloe takes a leave of absence to go to the warmer temperatures with Gulf and lake views, of the Florida panhandle. Picturing Boone’s grandmother Vivi, as a sweet little old lady was her first mistake.

Faking a needed repair on her vintage Volkswagen Beetle, she gets a job at Vivi’s Sea Glass Saloon—not that she’s sure Vivi will actually pay her. Still, wearing shorts and a tank top to work while looking out at the water is a lot better than professional clothing and frigid Great Lakes’ winds.

The bar has its share of eccentrics. For example, Elwell Pugh is a regular, sitting there with his drink, watching the water, wearing an armadillo shell on his head. He says it’s better than tin foil to protect his thoughts from the government spying on him. No one is sure if he’s serious. There are card players, beach bunnies who drool over Joaquin, the hunky bartender, and sailors on leave. All in all, not a bad gig, just for a while.

Of course, things change when Chloe finds a dead body by the bar’s dumpster, and Vivi is a main suspect. Boone would want Chloe to find the real killer and protect his grandmother.

Potential suspects include the man’s ex-wife, daughter, job-related contacts, local businessmen, and the bar regulars. There’s also a mysterious but good looking guy named Rhett who should be on the list since he keeps turning up where Chloe is.

The main thing for Chloe to remember is—everyone has secrets.

This is the first in a new series. Chloe is a woman who keeps her promises, no matter what. She may be a little too trusting but that’s not all bad—unless there’s a killer involved. Considering her quiet life as librarian, she’s able to relate to the bar patrons, ignore suggestive remarks, and dodge the butt-patter/pinchers. I predict a long life for this series.

Harris also writes the equally enjoyable Sarah Winston garage sale series (8, reviewed here). Look for book nine, Absence of Alice, due out in December 2020, available for pre-order now.

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. A Murder of Crows, edited by Sandra Murphy (a popular title so you need her name to search), has twenty-one cozy stories. Each features the collective name of an animal and a crime. The animals range from tarantulas, koalas, wolves, bears, jellyfish, toads, cats, dogs, alpaca, goats, penguins and more. No animals were harmed. The people weren’t so lucky. Available at the usual outlets, print or ebook.

Summer By the Ocean
by Sherry Harris

It’s August which means hot, humid summer days and hot, humid summer nights. I’ve been daydreaming about spending time by the ocean this summer and picturing myself at different beaches. Here are a few of the places I’ve dreamed of:

Destin, Florida. If you love to go to a beach with warm water, this is the place for you. The beaches in Destin are white, the sand soft as talcum powder, and the air is like a warm caress. (Okay, sometimes it’s a hot caress – daytime temps average ninety degrees and the Gulf averages eighty-six!) The water in the Gulf of Mexico is usually calm. We have spent many a happy hour on boogie boards there. It’s a great place for snorkeling, fishing, or walking the board and long expanses of beach.

Sherry Harris

While you are there take a drive down the 30A to escape the high rises and visit Grayton Beach. It’s home of The Red Bar which I mention in my book From Beer to Eternity. Grayton Beach State Park is named one of the top ten beaches year in and year out.

Continue your drive to Seaside, Florida. It was the first New Urbanist community built with lots of outdoor spaces. It’s a place for walking to gawk at all the houses behind their unique white picket fences. From the tiny to the palatial, it is a sight to behold. https://seasidefl.com/

I based the town of Emerald Cove on an idealized version of Grayton Beach and Seaside, Florida.

Bar Harbor, Maine. I made my first visit to Bar Harbor, Maine, last fall. It is stunningly beautiful. Bar Harbor is a place to cool off. The air temperature is in the seventies in August, and the ocean water is a chilly sixty degrees. The town is small and easy to walk around with lots of restaurants, shops, and Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop.

While you are there you have to visit Acadia National Park. It is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. There are rugged beaches, Cadillac Mountain with its expansive views, and lots of places to hike. Stop by the Jordon Pond House restaurant for their famous popovers – you won’t regret it!

Big Sur, California. From East Coast to the West Coast. I was lucky enough to live in Monterey, California for eighteen months. California always reminds of the flip side of Maine. Like Bar Harbor the average day time temperature is in the seventies and average ocean temperature around sixty. Both have rocky coasts, cold ocean water, and extraordinary views. The drive along the coast from Monterey to Big Sur is hard to beat.

While you’re in Big Sur, drive a bit south to Julia Pfeiffer State Park. The McWay Falls drops eighty feet from rugged rock to a pristine cove. It’s only a half mile walk to see it. Once you are done feasting your eyes on the scenery stop at Nepenthe for a meal. The site was once owned by Orson Wells and Rita Hayworth. It also has amazing views of the Big Sur coast.

If, like me, you can’t get away this summer, I hope you enjoy a virtual visit to each place or pick up a read like From Beer to Eternity for a summer escape.

To enter to win a copy of From Beer to Eternity, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “beer,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen August 22, 2020. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If you are entering via email please include you mailing address in case you win, it will be deleted after the contest. You can read our privacy statement here if you like. BE AWARE THAT IT WILL TAKE MUCH LONGER THAN USUAL FOR WINNERS TO GET THEIR BOOKS DUE TO THE CURRENT CRISIS.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Also listen to our new mystery podcast where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify. A new episode went up last week!

You can use this link to purchase this book from indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy, and KRL gets a portion of the sale:

From Beer to Eternity (A Chloe Jackson, Sea Glass Saloon Mystery #1)

You can use this link to purchase the book on Amazon. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the link:

Sherry Harris is the Agatha Award nominated author of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale mystery series and the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon mystery series set in the panhandle of Florida. She is the immediate past president of Sisters in Crime and a member of Mystery Writers of America. Sherry loves books, beaches, bars, and Westies — not necessarily in that order. Sherry is also a patent holding inventor. Sherry, her husband, and guard dog Lily are living in northern Virginia until they figure out where they want to move to next.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.