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Final Draft: A Sloan Krause Mystery Short Collaboration
Final Draft, a short spin-off of Ellie’s cozy mystery series, The Sloan Krause Mysteries, is the culmination of a fun online collaboration. Ellie wrote Final Draft with input from Team Nitro—her crew of amazing readers. Each week readers suggested a variety of scenarios regarding what should happen next and voted on the potential outcomes to help guide the plot.
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October has ushered in cool breezes and the threat of early snow in the charming Bavarian village of Leavenworth, Washington. Brewer, Garrett Strong, and his partner in crime, Sloan Krause, have just released Hoptoberfest, a hoppy grapefruit and lemon ale infused with notes of fresh pine. Things at Nitro, their nanobrewery, have slowed down between the busy festival season, and Garrett is thrilled when the owner of Das Buch, Leavenworth’s bookstore, invites them to serve their new brew at a book signing.
The night of the event brings a large crowd to Das Buch. Readers fill the cozy, bookish space eager to snap a picture and get their book signed by the celebrity chef-turned-author, Bertie Shaw. The beer is flowing, the atmosphere is festive, and the bookshop is warm and inviting despite a storm brewing outside. That is until the power goes out and Garrett discovers Bertie’s lifeless body on the floor.
What’s even stranger is that when Garrett returns to the scene of the crime, the body has gone missing. So, now, he and Sloan will have to sleuth out whodunit if they don’t want this to be their final draft.
_________________________
October has ushered in cool breezes and the threat of early snow in the charming Bavarian village of Leavenworth, Washington. Brewer, Garrett Strong, and his partner in crime, Sloan Krause, have just released Hoptoberfest, a hoppy grapefruit and lemon ale infused with notes of fresh pine. Things at Nitro, their nanobrewery, have slowed down between the busy festival season, and Garrett is thrilled when the owner of Das Buch, Leavenworth’s bookstore, invites them to serve their new brew at a book signing.
The night of the event brings a large crowd to Das Buch. Readers fill the cozy, bookish space eager to snap a picture and get their book signed by the celebrity chef-turned-author, Bertie Shaw. The beer is flowing, the atmosphere is festive, and the bookshop is warm and inviting despite a storm brewing outside. That is until the power goes out and Garrett discovers Bertie’s lifeless body on the floor.
What’s even stranger is that when Garrett returns to the scene of the crime, the body has gone missing. So, now, he and Sloan will have to sleuth out whodunit if they don’t want this to be their final draft.
- GenresCozy MysteryMystery
56 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 16, 2022
4 people are currently reading
210 people want to read
About the author
Ellie Alexander
85 books3,051 followersEllie is a voracious storyteller and a lover of words and all things bookish. She believes that stories have the ability to transport and transform us. With over forty published novels and counting, her goal is to tell stories that provide points of connection, escape, and understanding.
She loves inhabiting someone else’s skin through the pages of a book and is passionate about helping writers find their unique storytelling lens. As a writing teacher and coach, she guides writers in crafting the story they’ve always wanted to tell while navigating the path to publication that’s right for them.
Find out more about Ellie and her books by visiting her website at: http://www.elliealexander.co/ or following her on social media—
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_alexa...
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elliealexande...
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/elliealexande...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliealexand...
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/elliealexan...
She loves inhabiting someone else’s skin through the pages of a book and is passionate about helping writers find their unique storytelling lens. As a writing teacher and coach, she guides writers in crafting the story they’ve always wanted to tell while navigating the path to publication that’s right for them.
Find out more about Ellie and her books by visiting her website at: http://www.elliealexander.co/ or following her on social media—
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_alexa...
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elliealexande...
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/elliealexande...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elliealexand...
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/elliealexan...
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 19, 2022
I like the Sloan Krause novels, but I didn't love this. I thought the resolution was hokey.
This is written from Garrett's point of view, but I kept thinking it was Sloan, since that's how the novels are.
On the plus side, this is short and a fast read.
This is written from Garrett's point of view, but I kept thinking it was Sloan, since that's how the novels are.
On the plus side, this is short and a fast read.
January 24, 2022
This is one of my favorite series. I always look forward to the next book in the series and was happy to see there was a surprise short story to help fill in the wait between books. I've never given any of the other books in the series less than 4 stars, but in this case, if it were possible, I'd give it a MINUS 5 star review. I liked it up until the reveal, and then I was just plain mad!
January 27, 2022
I like the telling of the story from a different POV but the story just didn't flow for me. It also felt out of character for a couple of the regulars in the series.
January 21, 2022
A little too much
Liked the chance to visit with our friends from the series but this was just a little to over the top for me. It was sort of rushed and jumbled and I wasn't crazy about the end. I won't spoil it for others but not my growler of microbrew.
Liked the chance to visit with our friends from the series but this was just a little to over the top for me. It was sort of rushed and jumbled and I wasn't crazy about the end. I won't spoil it for others but not my growler of microbrew.
January 30, 2022
Nope. This didn't work. I didn't really mind the change of POV, but the rest just didn't cut it. Very disappointed.
January 21, 2022
A murder and a twist
Wow!!! I absolutely love this series by Ellie Alexander and couldn’t wait to read this little short collaboration. Such a fun story with all the Leavenworth gang in it. Had me on the edge of my seat wondering who could be the murderer. The twist at the end was great! I definitely recommend this series to everyone and be sure to add this short collaboration too
Wow!!! I absolutely love this series by Ellie Alexander and couldn’t wait to read this little short collaboration. Such a fun story with all the Leavenworth gang in it. Had me on the edge of my seat wondering who could be the murderer. The twist at the end was great! I definitely recommend this series to everyone and be sure to add this short collaboration too
January 18, 2022
I’m a huge Ellie fan and LOVE the Krause mysteries, so I was really excited for, and surprised by!, this one. It’s definitely a fun story, but the ending feels unnatural to me for one character in particular for some reason (I dont want to spoil it for anyone so I won’t mention names). Don’t take this review as that I don’t like it because I really do! But aside from my feeling that it seems a little unnatural or out of character, the editing seems rushed (there were several typos that took me a second to decipher and I found distracting)- these two factors are why I only gave 3 stars. Overall, I’m looking forward to the next book in this series and will definitely be preordering when it’s announced. It’s really fun to get Garrett’s perspective and it makes me even more excited to see what the future holds for him, Sloan, Alex, Otto and Ursula, Mac, April, and all of Leavenworth!
January 21, 2022
Twisty Mystery
Fun short story collaboration with an interesting mystery and a nice twist at the end. I enjoyed it very much.
Fun short story collaboration with an interesting mystery and a nice twist at the end. I enjoyed it very much.
January 20, 2022
This was a fun read.
February 17, 2022
I love the Sloan Krause series, and I'm glad she's continuing it after it was cancelled by the original publisher. I also thought it was sweet to do a fan collaboration story. However, I didn't enjoy the result. The characters seem off, and the story is in Garrett's perspective instead of Sloan's. The writing isn't different enough from the novels, so I kept forgetting it wasn't Sloan's perspective and getting confused. The ending was also atrocious, and I don't believe Chief Meyers would have behaved the way she did in this story AT ALL. The love story part with the bookseller also made literally no sense. I was so excited for this story but am just disappointed in the results.
There were also several glaring typos that were distracting.
There were also several glaring typos that were distracting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2022
W T F did I just read? THIS was a complete waste of time and money. At least it was short.
I like the Sloan Krause mysteries, but this was just awful. I know it was written by Ellie and a group of fans/readers, but they made characters completely different than they are in the series [Garrett, who plays MC in this one is NOT a wuss and that is absolutely how he comes across in this one and it was just ick] and it was just off-putting. The story itself was awful and gimmicky and I may have sprained my eyes rolling them so hard at the writing trying to be hip and happening when it was just awful overblown dialogue. Meh. I am so disappointed that I wasted my time on this one.
I like the Sloan Krause mysteries, but this was just awful. I know it was written by Ellie and a group of fans/readers, but they made characters completely different than they are in the series [Garrett, who plays MC in this one is NOT a wuss and that is absolutely how he comes across in this one and it was just ick] and it was just off-putting. The story itself was awful and gimmicky and I may have sprained my eyes rolling them so hard at the writing trying to be hip and happening when it was just awful overblown dialogue. Meh. I am so disappointed that I wasted my time on this one.
March 3, 2022
3 to 3.5 stars. It was great to be back in Leavenworth with the gang. And I enjoyed Garrett's perspective. I also acknowledge the fact that this was written with fans, and not by Ellie Alexander alone. All of that being said, I felt that the characters weren't exactly true to themselves in this one. While I didn't hate it, I also didn't enjoy it as much as the full length novels
February 2, 2022
I adore this series. That being said, the ending was atrocious. Ridiculous. Juvenile. Unbelievable. Silly. Disappointing. I enjoyed the story until the ending. It was the worst ending to a mystery I’ve ever read. Please, Ellie, no more collaborations.
February 4, 2022
So disappointing
I've really tried to like the Sloan Krause series, but in the end, the stories just don't make sense. This was even more over the top, and they many typos added to the frustration of getting through this quick read.
I've really tried to like the Sloan Krause series, but in the end, the stories just don't make sense. This was even more over the top, and they many typos added to the frustration of getting through this quick read.
February 2, 2022
I actually enjoyed this book... it was a quick and fun read. One that left me just as surprised as Sloan was in the story.
February 22, 2022
Not even close to being as good as the other Sloane stories.
March 5, 2022
A VERY short novella, about an hour's worth of reading. Written from Garrett's view, it's just a filler that fits in between the full books.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews