Drinks with Reads: JA Konrath & Whiskey Sour

Kerry Hammond has been reading J.A. Konrath's Whiskey Sour and she matches it with the perfect drink. Three guesses what she picked... 

Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath is the first in the Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels mystery series. Jack is a tough Chicago cop, a woman in a man’s world, who has worked hard to gain the respect of her co-workers and made it to Police Lieutenant. She’s kind of having a bad week when the book starts. She suffers from insomnia, so hasn't been sleeping well. In addition to that, her live in boyfriend moved out and left her for another woman. Then they find dead body.

The police quickly realize that a serial killer is loose in Chicago and he is calling himself the Gingerbread Man. He is abducting young women, doing unspeakably horrible things to them before and after death, and dumping their bodies. So far, the police are unable many deduce any clues from the crimes scenes and are at a loss as to how the Gingerbread Man is choosing his victims. They are sure that if they could connect the girls in some way, they would be able to figure out who is behind the murders. The FBI has gotten involved and sent two agents to try and profile the killer, which mostly just irritates Jack. When the killer takes a personal interest in her, everything escalates. She not only has to find the killer, but protect herself as well.

I really liked the characters in the book. Jack’s partner Herb was one of my favorites. You can’t have a good detective without a great sidekick, and Herb definitely fits the bill. The bumbling FBI agents were comical, and the book had quite a bit of humor in it to offset the violent crime they were investigating. It was an entertaining read and since it’s only the first in a series of 8 books (the 9th due out this year I think), I have more to look forward to. It also appears that J.A. Konrath co-writes additional books featuring Jack, so there may be more out there to read.

You won’t be surprised to know that I just had to pair the book with a Whiskey Sour. Anything else would be wrong. Most books in the series are named after a drink, so I will have more drinks with reads for J.A. Konrath in the future. He’s even nice enough to put the recipe for the drink in the book. So this came right from the author.

Whiskey Sour
1 ½ ounce whiskey (I used Jack Daniels of course)
1 ½ ounce sour mix 

Shake well with ice and pour into an old-fashioned glass (keep the ice, don’t strain it out). Garnish with a cherry or an orange slice.