What's the only thing that could make New York City's iconic 42nd Street Library better (especially after a murder puts a damper on the fun)? Bourbon!
So mix bourbon and books with this week's Pick Your Poison—where we create a cocktail inspired by a recently published mystery, thriller, or crime novel—the “Bourbon in the Manuscript Room” cocktail, inspired by Con Lehane's second 42nd Street Library mystery, Murder in the Manuscript Room!
Murder in the Manuscript Room by Con Lehane is the second book in the 42nd Street Library mystery series—a smart, compelling mystery in which the characters themselves are at least as interesting as the striking sleuthing (available November 21, 2017).
When a murder desecrates the somber, book-lined halls of New York City’s iconic 42nd Street Library, Raymond Ambler, the library’s curator of crime fiction, has a personal interest in solving the crime. His quest to solve the murder is complicated by personal entanglements involving his friend―or perhaps more-than-friend―Adele Morgan. Not only does Adele’s relationship with the young woman staffer who was murdered get in the way of Ambler’s investigation, more disturbing for him is Adele’s growing interest in a darkly handsome Islamic scholar.
Soon the Intelligence Division of the New York Police Department takes over the case from NYPD homicide detective Mike Cosgrove, Ambler’s friend and sometimes partner-in-crime-solving. Ambler suspects that the murder of the young woman, who’d been working at the library under an assumed name, and the curious intervention of NYPD’s intelligence division are connected. The trail of intrigue leads to a seemingly unrelated murder in an upstate prison and a long-ago murder of a trade union reformer.
No one else sees the connections Ambler is sure are there―not an unusual state of affairs for Ambler. But with the city’s law enforcement establishment determined to stop his investigation, the inquisitive and intrepid librarian faces challenges that may put his very life at risk.
Read an excerpt from Murder in the Manuscript Room!
PICK YOUR POISON
“Bourbon in the Manuscript Room”
Ingredients:
– 2 oz. bourbon whiskey
– 3/4 oz. lemon juice
– 3/4 oz. honey syrup
– 1/2 oz. peach schnapps
– 1 oz. club soda
– 2-3 dashes of Peychaud's bitters
– lemon (garnish)
– mint sprig (garnish)
How to make the cocktail:
- Add bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup, and peach schnapps to a mixing tin with ice.
- Shake well.
- Strain into a mason jar (or pint glass if you don't have a mason jar) over fresh ice.
- Top with club soda and Peychaud's bitters.
- Garnish with lemon and mint sprig (optional)
So have a few “Bourbon in the Manuscript Room” cocktails and don't forget to order your copy of Con Lehane's Murder in the Manuscript Room today!
Take a visual tour of Murder in the Manuscript Room with GIFnotes!
To learn more or order a copy, visit:
Con Lehane is a mystery writer who lives outside Washington, DC. He is the author of the Bartender Brian McNulty Mysteries, including What Goes Around Comes Around, and The 42nd Street Library Mysteries, including Murder at the 42nd Street Library. Over the years, he has worked as a college professor, a union organizer, a labor journalist, and has tended bar at two dozen or so drinking establishments.
I’ll have a poison cocktail, and I’d love to read the book,
I’ll have a poison cocktail, and I’d love to read the book,