Winter's Bite

When a predatory journalist's murder exposes a deadly conspiracy targeting rural communities, former lawyer Mackenzie O'Brien Blake must protect her neighbors from both media exploitation and vigilante justice before her own community destroys itself. Just days into the new year, Mac thought her biggest challenge would be keeping Emerald Isle Brewery's fermentation tanks warm during ice storm season. Instead, freelance journalist Greg Kelley turns up dead in a rented cabin after threatening to expose local businesses as participants in "e;poverty tourism"e;—a fabricated scandal designed to build his career on rural community destruction. Armed with her legal expertise and husband Travis Blake's electrical knowledge from brewery maintenance, Mac discovers that Kelley's "e;authentic mountain experience"e; article was actually systematic blackmail targeting legitimate businesses for a sensational exposé. But when the investigation reveals that someone used sophisticated electrical tampering to create a deadly trap, Mac realizes the killer had both intimate knowledge of local electrical systems and desperate reasons to silence the predatory journalist. In small-town North Carolina, outside threats can turn neighbors into suspects. With Police Chief Alexa Carlsbad managing both the murder investigation and a media siege, Mac must expose Kelley's exploitation scheme while unraveling a web of blackmail that gives multiple residents motive for murder. But when evidence points toward someone with access to specialized knowledge and community trust, solving this case might require Mac to suspect the very people she's trying to protect. The eighth book in the Brews & Blues Mystery series featuring Mac O'Brien and the Emerald Isle Brewery.