Death by Coffee by Alex Erickson

Death by Coffee (Bookstore Cafe Mystery, #1)

by Alex Erickson

When Krissy Hancock and her best friend Vicki decide to open a bookstore café 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…

Reviewed by Angie on

2 of 5 stars

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I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I love coffee and I love books, so of course I had to give Death by Coffee a read! Sadly, I didn't love it. There wasn't nearly enough coffee or books, and Krissy was a really bad amateur sleuth (and a bad barista and bookseller, to be honest). She's new in town, running a bookstore/cafe with her BFF, when one of their first customers turns up dead soon after ordering one of their coffees. Brendon Lawyer wasn't well liked, but the police have deemed it an accident. An accident where peanut dust somehow got into his coffee (he's highly allergic), and his EpiPen was mysteriously missing. Krissy doesn't want anyone to think his coffee had anything to do with his death, so she decides to investigate.

Death by Coffee started off pretty good. Krissy is trying to start her new life away from her cheating ex and her parents. But having someone die right after serving them coffee is really dulling her mood. I also really like her cat, Misfit. He's such a little jerk! But things quickly go downhill once Krissy starts investigating the murder, even after the police tell her it was an accident and that she's not a suspect or even being held accountable. Of course, that means she believes she's a suspect and has to clear her name. Not very smart.

Krissy is just downright nosy! She doesn't use any special skills and her hobbies don't help her accidentally stumble upon clues. She straight up goes to people and starts asking them questions. Even when they tell her that she better leave, and if she comes back they'll call the cops, she comes back! She pushes her way into people's homes and gets arrested! Then proceeds to stalk them on Facebook, show up at their job, and just generally be super duper invasive. She does say she's interested in mysteries because her father is an author of mystery novels, but that didn't feel genuine. It was just something she said to the police chief to avoid getting into too much trouble. Krissy needs to pick up one of her dad's books to see how investigating is actually done!

I did like the conclusion of the mystery. I didn't expect that, so Death by Coffee did surprise me in that regard. It's also nice to see some diversity in this genre, since I haven't come across much at all so far. I just wish that Krissy had done things differently. There wasn't anything special about her, unless you count being ridiculously nosy as special. There should have been more subtlety in her tactics, instead of openly interrogating everyone for her own curiosity's sake.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 30 April, 2015: Finished reading
  • 30 April, 2015: Reviewed