Review: A BREWSKI FOR THE OLD MAN, Phyllis Smallman

• published 2010, McArthur & Company, Toronto
• 320 pages
• ISBN 978-1-55278-836-3
• #3 in Sherri Travis series
• source: hard copy provided by the author
• note: Kindle edition is available to Australian readers

Synopsis (from author's website)

The third book in the series A Brewski for the Old Man tells the story of the return to Jacaranda of Ray John Leenders, the man who abused Sherri when she was a child. Back in town he's living with a woman who has a young daughter. Sherri doesn't want to get involved; it's none of her business - except, except - she knows the woman and her daughter and it's impossible to stay uninvolved.

Read an extract at Amazon

My take

It took me a couple of chapters to warm to this book. I think that was probably because I was aware there were back stories that I didn't know the details of, and that always puts me off a little. (Please read this an encouragement to read the earlier titles in the series - see the list below.)

But once Ray John Leenders came on the scene in chapter 3, and I understood Sherri's previous connection with him, and her consequent concern for any young women who had come into his grasp, the story gathered pace for me.

From the blurb on the back of the book:

Then Sherri's father, Tully Jenkins, reappears in her life, dragging Sherri deep into the swamp to exact revenge on the men who set fire to Uncle Ziggy's junk yard.

There's a tangle of relationships, the murder of Ray John, with Sherri's distinctively registered pickup making an appearance at the right time at the murder scene, all to be sorted out, as well as the Sunset Bar and Grill in Jacaranda, Florida to run. Sherri Travis sure is one feisty capable woman. She is also an engaging character who really tries to do best by everyone around her.

In the long run I enjoyed the read and may well have been added to Sherri Travis's followers. Many thanks to the author for taking the trouble to post me a copy and my abject apologies that it has taken me so long (a whopping 10 months) to get it read.

My rating: 4.4

There are 4 titles so far in the Sherri Travis series

• MARGARITA NIGHTS (2008)
• SEX IN A SIDECAR (2009)
• A BREWSKI FOR THE OLD MAN (2010)
• CHAMPAGNE FOR BUZZARDS (2011)

About the author

Phyllis Smallman was the first ever recipient of the Arthur Ellis Award for Unhanged Arthur from Crime Writers of Canada. She was short listed for the Debut Dagger by the Crime Writers of the UK, and nominated for the Malice Domestic Award in the U.S.A.  Margarita Nights was short listed for Best first Novel by the Crime Writers of Canada.
Check her website