Quick review – Whisky Valley by Joan Sauers

Publisher: Allen & Unwin (ebook – 3 June 2025)

Series: Southern Highland Mystery – Book 2

Length: 384 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Australian screenwriter Joan Sauers returns to the Southern Highlands with another cosy and compelling mystery Whisky Valley.

Back in 2023, I had the pleasure of reading Joan Sauers’s first book, Echo Lake, a cosy Australian mystery that really stood out thanks to its great use of several small towns in the picturesque Southern Highlands as a background setting. While not my usual cup of tea, I quite enjoyed Echo Lake, especially as I drive through the Southern Highlands all the time, and I was curious when Sauers released a sequel novel last year. This second book from Sauers, Whisky Valley, proved to be another fantastic read, that combines entertaining characters with beautiful locations and a clever mystery.

Plot Synopsis:

A missing violinist. A rising flood. A race against time. Intrigue, music and danger collide in Whisky Valley.

After nearly being murdered last year, Rose McHugh battles anxiety as she uses her investigative skills to find her son’s best friend, a famous violinist who is missing along with his priceless violin.

As floodwaters rise, Rose uncovers secrets and lies among the missing man’s fellow musicians, as well as their patron and her enigmatic psychologist husband.

But when a body is found, can Rose shield her son from suspicion?

Whisky Valley was a genuinely nice and enjoyable mystery novel from Sauers, who provided a great balance between character moments and the underlying murder narrative. Bringing back protagonist Rose McHugh as she continues her troubled settlement in her beloved Southern Highlands, Whisky Valley quickly introduces a new crime involving a missing violinist with connections to Rose’s son. Determined to solve the case before her son is suspected, Rose soon uncovers deeper secrets beneath the musical world of the victim and uncovers details of a troubled family.

I quite enjoyed how this new mystery from Sauers unfolded, and there was a certain amount of uncertainty and alternating suspects that will keep readers guessing until the end. Indeed, I felt that the mystery in Whisky Valley was stronger than that of the first book, and I really enjoyed just how captivating and suspenseful events got as this book progressed. This great mystery blended well with the other key aspects of the book, including the protagonist’s continued exploration of her new local area, her various relationships and friendships, including a new romance, and the fallout from the trauma of Echo Lake. This allowed for a quite emotionally rich novel at times, especially with a lot of compelling conflicts and complex problems coming out of the woodwork. Sauers did a great job building up a lot of different issues in the plot and slowly resolving them throughout the course of Whisky Valley, and you come away a lot closer to the relatable protagonist of this novel as a result.

While I did enjoy Sauers’ latest mystery, my favourite part of Whisky Valley had to be the author’s excellent use of the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales as a backdrop for her mystery. Sauers has a clear love of the Southern Highlands, which is quite evident in this series, as the protagonist lovingly describes various picturesque places found throughout the area. As someone who spends a bit of time visiting or travelling through the Southern Highlands, it was really entertaining to see the protagonist explore various locations I was familiar with throughout the course of the book, and it helped to give a sense of realism to the plot at times. These locations also serve as compelling backdrops to the crimes and drama of the story, and thanks to Sauers’ great descriptions, you can really envision some of the remote locales where murders are taking place, even if you’ve never been to this unique part of Australia. Throw in some interesting dives into the region’s history and culture, which is a fantastic inclusion to the book, and you come away really appreciating Sauers’s use of the Southern Highlands in this series, especially after how well she uses it in Whisky Valley.

Joan Sauers continues to impress with her compelling and heartwarming cosy murder mystery series. Her second book, Whisky Valley, was another great read that combined a fantastic mystery with some interesting character moments a wonderful background setting. An excellent read that I enjoyed checking out.

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