Hitchcocktails: Lethal Libations Inspired by the Master

Murder and manners make for the ultimate mixture in the movies of director Alfred Hitchcock. In every one of his major pictures, characters down an alcoholic beverage or two—even in a film set on a lifeboat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Hitchcocktails: Lethal Libations Inspired by the Master of Suspense features more than two dozen artisanal cocktail recipes inspired by such characters such as Norman Bates, Mrs. Danvers, Uncle Charlie, Marnie, and the ultimate stranger on a train, Bruno Antony. Cary Grant’s elegant way around a cocktail shaker is traced from his would-be poisoner in Suspicion to his government agent with an intimate knowledge of hangover remedies in Notorious to his bourbon-addled ad man-on-the-run in North by Northwest. Author Laurence Maslon (who combined his passion for Broadway and cocktails in I’ll Drink to That!, an award-winning Weldon Owen book from 2023) reveals the relationship between drinking and drama with anecdotes and fun facts, ranging from early Hitchcock espionage thrillers such as Secret Agent and The Lady Vanishes through his final films such as Frenzy and Family Plot. Chapters such as “Wrong Place, Wrong Time;” “Foreign Climes;” and “Ice Maidens” organize the drinks around famous motifs such as Hitchcock's iconic blondes and other unforgettable female characters. With easy-to-follow instructions, beautiful full-color photography of the cocktails by legendary photographer Joan Marcus, and rare film stills and posters from the movies themselves, Hitchcocktails: Lethal Libations Inspired by the Master of Suspense is the kind of perfect addition to a bar shelf or a bookshelf that any cinema fan would kill for.