Allyson K. Abbott Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Mack's Bar Mystery Books
| Murder on the Rocks | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Murder with a Twist | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| In the Drink | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Shots in the Dark | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| A Toast to Murder | (2017) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Last Call | (2018) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Allyson K. Abbott is the pen name used by writer Beth Amos. She is a writer of thrillers and mysteries. She also works full time as a nurse in the emergency room.
Beth Amos, a.k.a. Allyson K. Abbott, lives in a small town in Wisconsin with her many pets and her family. She is the author of Mack’s Bar Mysteries. There are five novels in the series. The first is titled Murder on the Rocks and was published in 2013. The sequel is titled Murder with a Twist and was published the following year.
In Murder on the Rocks, the main character is named Mackenzie Dalton. She owns a Wisconsin tavern called Mack’s Bar where the specials revolve around a crime of the day picked out by Mack where the winner gets a free drink and meal. She inherited the bar from her father. It is a somewhat small town bar and one of those places where people know you not only by face but by name too. It’s a nice place to go unwind and hang out with friends. Mack is not just like any other person. She has something called synesthesia. It is a neurological disorder that makes her senses far more sensitive than any other person’s would be. Her senses get crossed, so she also experiences what would be the normal senses in a strange way. This could be something like seeing music, seeing smells, tasting sounds.
Having stimuli in from one group of senses causes other aspects of her senses to react in what can be unpredictable ways. For most of her life, she keeps this one particular fact about herself hidden and does not advertise it. But one day, it becomes something useful. What she sees as a weakness becomes a strength as it strangely helps her in solving crimes—for a price. When someone’s buying you a drink, the cozy quarters and familiarity are not so bad. But when you’re on the list of suspects for murder and they have found that they are your fingerprints on the knife, it’s not so much a good thing.
The book zooms into the life of Mackenzie Dalton, known as Mack to most of the people that live in town and frequent her bar. She owns a bar in Milwaukee and seems to have a nose for trouble. She is actually gifted with senses that are even more perceptive than the average person, thanks to a neurological condition called synesthesia. She discovers a dead body in the alley that is located behind the bar, her bar, and it doesn’t look good. Coincidentally, it is the same spot that her very own father was shot about eight months prior and she knows that there is something strange in the air. It is just so unfortunate that bodies seem to be cropping up, and it seems like she was just at her father’s funeral. This all is a horrible, horrible incident, and they might be related. Not only that, the detective thinks that the two deaths might be linked.
He might even need the help of the shocked bar owner in order to find out who the killer is. There is no guarantee that it might not be one of the regulars. At some point, suddenly all of the evidence points to Mack as being one of the most prominent suspects. Not a good situation to be in, and it doesn’t help that it was her bar and her father that was shot (with no killer ever apprehended). Will Mack be set free of suspicion and able to live her life? You’ll have to read this book to find out, which comes with complimentary cocktail drink recipes to go along with it. It’s the last call for finding the murderer this time, and Mack needs to get in gear if she wants to find out who did it and clear her name as well.
The sequel to the first novel is titled Murder with a Twist. The same old characters and Wisconsin tavern is back as Mack and the local customers that frequent Mack’s Bar make another appearance in the second of the Mack’s Bar series. The regulars love to go over a mystery or a puzzle, and so does Mack. She offers a free drink and meal to the person who solves the crime up on the board first. However, the bar owner is beginning to learn that there is a very big difference between brain teasers in the bar room and a murder in real life.
The Milwaukee bar owner must work with her neurological gift of the senses and of course her mind to figure out what’s going on, all while continuing to make killer drinks and keep the bar running. Her new friend Police Detective Duncan Albright thinks that Mack’s abilities mean that she might be a great help when it comes to tracking down bad guys. She’s perfected drink mixing, but when it comes to police work, Mack is still pretty green and has no training in the detective world and solving crimes. She also is pretty sure that she’s starting to develop feelings for the new man in her life; a certain police detective guy that she really likes. So when she sees a dead body from a suspicious suicide, Mack is not sure that she is up for collaborating with the police. She just went through a traumatic incident.
But when she finds out it’s a child that is missing, that is enough to get her into motion, determined to try and lend a helping hand and bring that child home. With the combined talents of a bar owner with synesthesia and an experienced police detective, can they figure out the mystery before it is too late? Or will Mack prove too green to really make a difference? This second book of the series is filled with twists and turns. If you love mysteries, check out the Mack’s Bar Mystery series from Allyson K. Abbott and see how each of the exciting novels in the series turns out!
Book Series In Order » Authors »
Any issues with the book list you are seeing? Or is there an author or series we don’t have? Let me know!
Dr. Abbot, I enjoyed all five of your books. I hope you are able to find time to continue the series. As you know, some stories are character-driven others plot-driven. I thought all five of yours had a good balance of both elements.
Are there going to any more Mack’s Bar Mystery Series in the future? I just finished book #6 and now I want more!
Did you try RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, the owner is wonderful. I met her a while back on my commute from CT to NYC. There is also that wonderful used book store called The Book Barn in Old Lyme. The conductor on my usual evening train told me about it when he saw I read a new book every day. LOL. Good Luck!
Well, I have been trying desperately to purchase a copy of Allyson K. Abbott’s, A Toast to Murder.
I am from Connecticut and none of the booksellers here have a copy. Moreover, I have called five booksellers in
Milwaukee also to no avail. The series is no longer in print. I am sending this only to vent my disappointment. Yes, I can go to Amazon, but NO, I refuse. They have put enough small businesses out of business here in CT. (Sorry, you can
delete that and I will understand.) Anyway,
I will continue to do what I can to find the above book and also her first two, Murder on the Rocks and Murder With a Twist.
I am currently finishing Shots in the Dark but will slow down my reading to savor the book.
The three mentioned here are the only ones I need especially A Toast to Murder.
Please give my regards to the author.
Leonard Rotondaro
Looks like it’s on ebay – you could order that way.
Library, library!
Thanks for the information on A. K. Abbot. And I’m glad that I have more to read in her series. I’ve just finished #2 and so I must go now!