The Drinks With Reads series at Mystery Playground is one of my favorite blog series—pairing cocktails with stories and novels by some of today’s best mystery writers.
I’ve been pleased to be included in the series a few times before, and I’m especially fond of the pairing this time out—since the cocktail plays on a drink mentioned within the story itself!
Here’s my essay on the Sun Stealer, paired with “Better Days” from the May/June issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.
I should’ve mentioned this in the essay, but in making my own at home, I actually relied on two North Carolina products as a tribute to the story’s setting on NC’s Crystal Coast.
- For the Fernet Branca, I substitute the Appalachian Fernet from Eda Rhyne, a small craft distillery in Asheville, NC.
- And for the orange bitters, I used the “Sycophant” orange & fig bitters from Crude Bitters in Raleigh, NC.
In any case, it’s a delicious cocktail—with both direct ties to the story and thematic ones too, as you’ll see.
And hope you enjoy the story too!