Review: Pint of No Return by Dana Mentink

Posted June 1, 2026 by Lola in Mystery, Review / 4 Comments

Pint of No Return (Shake Shop #1)
written by Dana Mentink
narrated by Stephanie Nemeth-Parker

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
After her divorce from her thrice-married embezzler husband, Trinidad Jones is finally ready for a fresh start. So when she’s left one of her ex’s businesses in Upper Sprocket, Oregon, she decides to pack up her dog, cash in her settlement, and open her dream business: the Shimmy and Shake Shop, introducing the world to her monster milkshakes. And even with a couple sticky situations underway, namely that the other two ex-wives also call Sprocket home, Trinidad’s life seems to be churning along smoothly.

That is, it was until she discovered her neighbor, the Popcorn King, face down in his giant popcorn kettle. When one of Trinidad’s fellow ex-wives is accused of the murder and Upper Sprocket descends into mayhem, it’s going to take a supersized scoop of courage to flush out the killer.

My Review

This one just sounded so fun with the ice cream shop setting. I think I heard about this from a booktuber who talks about cozies and eventually bought it. I was in the mood for a summer-y cozy mystery when I started listening to it and this one really hit the spot for that. Main character Trinidad is opening a ice cream and shake shop in a small alpine town in Oregon when she finds the owner of the popcorn shop nearby dead.

The mystery in this one was a good one. I liked how Trinidad got involved, her friend Juliette gets charged for the crime, but Trinidad knows she didn’t do it. There were a lot of clues in this one and it took a while to have the meaning and impact of each one come to light. Quite early on I was having this suspicion of who the murderer was, but one thing didn’t make sense, so I wasn’t 100% sure. And then some later evidence had me thinking it might be someone else, but that didn’t feel right either. Eventually my initial guess turned out to the correct and the part that didn’t quite make sense to me got revealed what was behind that. I liked the reveal and how everything fell on it’s place. I liked how Trinidad investigates and also how her new friends help her with the investigation.

The summer vibes and ice cream shake shop theme were so fun to read about. Trinidad is still getting everything ready for the launch of her shop so there isn’t actually anything about the store being open yet, but it was fun to read about the preparations and the ice creams she makes as well as a scene involving a food truck they use for the day. This one also leads up to the 4th of July celebrations. And the small alpine town setting was a fun one too.

I liked reading about Trinidad, she was a likable character. I liked how much she cared about her new friends and how determined she was to prove Juliette’s innocence. I liked seeing her make new friends in town. There is a hint of possible romance with Quinn and I liked seeing her interact with him and the way he often helped her with the investigation. Quinn’s brother Dough was a great character too. And Trinidad’s dog Noodles was so cute and there are some great scenes involving him. There are a bunch more of fun side characters like Trinidad’s grandfather, the two twins who help out in her shop, Stan and more.

The narrator was a new one to me, but I quickly got used to her style and enjoyed listening to this one. I liked the way she did the different voices.

To summarize: This was a great start to the series. I liked reading about Trinidad as she prepares her ice cream shake shop for opening, tries to solve a mystery and makes new friends. The mystery was well written with plenty of clues and the full impact of them which only becomes clear toward the end. I had an early suspicious of who the murderer was and my guess turned out to the correct, but I couldn’t figure out part of it which made me not 100% and it was interesting when everything got revealed at the end. Trinidad was a likable character, I enjoyed reading about her and there’s a great group of side characters as well from her dog Noodles to love interest Quinn and a lot more. I enjoyed listening to this one and got the next book in audio as well.