Death by Coffee

Bookstore Cafe Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Alex Erickson

Narrated by: Melissa Moran

Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

When Krissy Hancock and her best friend Vicki decide to open a bookstore cafe in their new town of Pine Hills, they decide to call it "Death by Coffee", after Krissy's father's most famous mystery novel. Little do they know how well the name fits....

On their very first day of business, Brendon Lawyer huffily takes his coffee...to the grave. It seems he had a severe allergy to peanuts...but how could there have been nuts in his coffee? And who stole his emergency allergy medication?

Fortunately, Krissy's love of puzzles and mysteries leads her not only to Officer Paul Dalton, but also to many of her new neighbors, who aren't terribly upset that the book is closed on Brendon. But one of them is a killer, and Krissy needs to read between the lies if she wants to save her new store - and live to see how this story ends....

©2015 Eric S. Moore (P)2017 Tantor

Super cozy murder mystery!

I pick this book up because I LOVE coffee and the title captivated me! The story did not disappoint! Super cute! Love the vibe! Gave me a hmmmm who done it feel & surprised me when the end came around. FMC is relatable!

Fun

Enjoy the quirky characters and red herrings. Cat activity adds to the fun. New girl with a bookshop/coffee shop is trite but it works. Of course there is a handsome single cop to fill out the story.

OK

OK so the lead asked a few questions and stumbled on the murderer but what challenges did she really face. She certainly wanted to catch the villain more than other residents. Why? From the beginning no one thought she was a suspect. The victim was never buried as far as I know. I guess he was so disliked they just gave him to the hog farmers to feed their pigs. Oh I’m sorry. I don’t know that there were any businesses around except for where the victim worked, the bookstore/coffee shop where the main character and her friend worked, and the dress shop where the killer worked.

Cozies more than most genres benefit from an economy of words, maximizing the information and impact of each word. This book needed a little more attention to editing.

Wanted to like

I really wanted to like this book. I've actually listened to a couple of other books in the series trying to see if it was just the first book but I just can't. The main character is a complete idiot. Books are supposed to relax you but the main character in this book is so dumb it's stressful. And no one in their right mind would actually own a cat that behaved the way the one in this story does. It's a shame because the story line is decent except for the main character. She's enough to ruin it.

Fun easy listen.

I enjoyed the story and how the coffee shop got started. The only thing that was a little annoying was how the main character asked questions of her suspects that were just too blunt and expected the suspects to answer honestly. It made the story a little less believable, otherwise I enjoyed the author, and the narrator were very good. 

Easy Listen

Seemingly basic story with surprise twists and turns. Looking forward to the next book. Would recommend.

More annoying. - protagonist or narrator?

Okay so I am a fan of the genre.

I liked the setting of course and it’s always fun to get stereotypical digs in at LA and the entertainment industry and elevate one’s own art.

What I am conflicted about is the protagonist. Is she a quirky creative with a wild imagination that goes off and we are supposed to think it cute, adorable, and I suspect, funny? Or is she a selfish, immature woman who can only focus on her own dramas?

I suspect the author was going for the first but has landed closer to the second. What I wanted was more Vicky. Not because she is pretty but because she seems nice and I want to know why she tolerates our annoying lead. I mean she comes out to open a coffee shop bookstore with her and then barely does any work, constantly leaves, and vaguely apologizes making a few jokes about the service industry work being tiring and why should she have to do it. I get it- she’s gonna write perhaps like her father but wow is she selfish. I want to know why her friend tolerates her - what did she do to earn that friendship and loyalty- that will make her more interesting and likable - maybe that happens I don’t know.
I am not sure if randomly confronting people and imagining you are going to be the hero is a great trait for someone that can solve crimes because we don’t want the lucky protagonist, we want one that figures it out genuinely and shows some smarts.

Finally equally annoying is these two whining about having no customers- did anyone else wonder what they were doing to promote their business? Oh no we have no customers. Oh no we have no customers. Should we do something yo get people on here? I believe I heard that line! It read like they were two spoiled girls from LA riding on family money to play shop - the very thing criticized in the book.

I cannot help but wonder having written this if the narrator did or didn’t contribute to the annoyance I was feeling. If the author was going for humorous, she let you down.

Just my thoughts!!

Not for me

I enjoy cozy mysteries but this was not my favorite. Some of the reviews here were really harsh. The main character inserts herself into a murder investigation for really no discernable reason, becomes obsessed and investigates. She is new in town so it really isn't believable that people will talk to her. I am willing to listen to another one to see if the series improves. I think this was the first book by the author. There are currently 12 books in the series, so he must be doing something right!

Okay listen

Not sure why, but I couldn’t get into the main character in this novel. Performance was good and it was okay overall, but the main character’s sleuthing was not very realistic to me. Maybe I’ll try it again later and see if it’s just me!

Coffee a great place to start

The cute story somebody should tell her she’s going to get her self killed well I guess the carpet already tells her that but it’s a really cute book and I enjoyed it today and you might to