Death by Coffee (A Bookstore Cafe Mystery)

A new coffee café and bookstore is opening in Pine Hills.Krissy Hancock and her best friend, Vicki Peterson havenamed there café/bookstore “Death by Coffee”. They havepicked this name because Krissy’s father, an author has afamous mystery book by that name.First day, the coffee café/bookstore is open a not so niceman arrives, orders a coffee then sits at a table until hisphone rings. Hurriedly he leaves the café to run across thestreet to his office. A little while later, emergency vehiclesrush to the office into which the man had gone. The not sonice custom is DEAD!!!Was the accidental or was it murder?? Krissy was one ofThe last person to see him plus her coffee was the one ofthe last things for him to drink.The story moves fast as it is discovered that the man diedFrom anaphylactic. The Epi-Pen which the man alwayscarried as he was allergic to peanuts was missing fromhis belongings.Who murdered him? Who knew about his allergies? WhoTook his Epi-Pen? How was he exposed to the peanuts?So many questions and Krissy has decided to investigate.There are an array of characters making the suspect listcomplex. The characters are well defined. Each one addstheir own flavor to the mystery.Will Krissy be able to clear her herself and restore thegood name to the coffee café ?There are two cats, Misfit and Trouble plus a dog, Maestroto add some mischief into the story.

IMO: This book has good bones.....a good story in it, but the author failed to bring it out. 10 pages or so into this book, I wanted to dump it. But, I have to finish reading....just a thing with me. I think this could have been a great book, but the great story was not able to shine through because many aspects in the story detracted from what could have made it great.1. The main character came across as immature, selfish, rude, depressed, a Debbie Downer, and a dimwit, of sorts. As a reader, things need to make some kind of sense for me. Most of the actions or thinking by this character did not make sense. The character arrives into town the day before the coffee/bookstore place she and her best friend are to open! This whole story takes place in about 5-6 days......but the author's writing in the character's wording makes it seem as though they have been at this for a lengthy amount of time.2. Find some other descriptive words. Many words such as scowled, frowned and furrowed, and glared are use repeatedly. Also, there are too many things going on, in terms of themes: books/coffee, puzzles, cats.....pick one and focus on that.3. A business is not at risk of closing/failing in just a few short days with little customer activity! This repetitive writing about it just grated on my nerves for some reason. And if it fails, it's because of the actions by the main character.4. Who in the heck opens a business and then abandons her best friend on many occasions and even calls in sick during the first few days of being open?....which again is about half the time of this actual storyline. They have no other employees....so the actions of this character came across as unimaginable! She seems unfit in the job she has, which is running the coffee part of the store. She appears uneducated in operating a business and puts forth little to no effort in their business.Many other aspects kept me from focusing on the story, my main objective was to just get it read so I could be done with it. I ended up feeling sorry for the best friend, and hoping the main character would get on some anti-depressants so that the story could go a different direction.I really wanted to like this book! The cover art is beautifully done. I ended up hating the main character.

This is book one in a series I'm just discovering. So many books and so little time. I was impressed by the characters and the set up.Best friends, Kristina Hancock, and Vicki Patterson are escaping their childhood lives by moving to a small Midwest town, Pine Hills. Vicki, the daughter of actors, and Kristina (Krissey,) daughter of a mystery writer open Vicki's dream job...a coffee shop/bookstore. Krissey isn't so into the project but cares for her friend's dream. So, Krissey is easily diverted when a man comes into the coffee shop (her area of concern,) and goes back to work to die. What just happened?Well, Krissey wants to know also. Her nosiness is either a true sense of love of mysteries, or she is one interfering person, but, you soon get involved with Krissey's search for true answers and her constant determination to solve the crime for the Police Department, whether they want her help or not.This was a good read and I look forward to reading the next book in the series. Oh, and for cat lovers...well, there are two cats, but, love them? Well, you have to read yourselves to decide...Enjoy!

The first in the series is great! Two best friends have just moved far away from their families to open a coffeeshop bookstore. Their very first day, a not-so-nice man is murdered right after buying coffee there. Or was it an accident? Meanwhile, two cats cause chaos everywhere they turn. My favorite characters are the police chief and the candy-shop owner. Great mystery with a cast of characters that we feel we have known a long time. I’m excited to read more in the series.

Perhaps the book will get better, but so far we have a heroine who definitely sees a "glass half empty" in her attitude about everything. Not a single character introduced so far is one I really want to learn anymore about. All are glowering, scowling, skulking, annoying, or irritable.

A new to me cozy mystery series by an author I've not read before. Set in the small town of Pine Hills, Ohio; Krissy and her best friend Vicki set up a bookstore with coffee shop attached. They called it Death By Coffee after Krissy's Fathers famous mystery novel. Of course, as with all good cozy mysteries there are 2 cats involved, Krissy has Misfit who lives at home and Vicki has Trouble who comes to the bookstore, each live up to their names!Unfortunately, on their first day, the coffee shop lives up to its name, when a local lawyer is found dead in his office, soon after he visited the coffee shop. Krissy decides she needs to investigate, otherwise their venture into shop ownership will stop all too soon!An enjoyable read, and available on kindle unlimited.

As a fan of the cosy mystery genre, I read a lot of cosy mysteries. This one is ok...the characters are well-written (at least, the main ones are) and the plot moves at a steady pace. However, I am a little tired of the "death by peanuts (due to allergy) and stolen epi-pen story line", it really is getting too repetitive nowadays. On the plus side, this was an easy and engaging read. On the minus side, the ending was rushed, and the motive for the murder a little weak. All-in-all though, this was by no means the worst of its genre and I will probably read more in the series.

And it was a great beginning to the genre. A lovely easy to read story which I couldn’t put It was rather entertaining getting to know the residents of Pine Hills, especially Rita. Can’t see why she isn’t Krissy’s favourite person as I thought she was wonderful and very funny.Hope the next book is just as funny.

I really wanted to like this book. The story was OK but lacking background information. Unfortunately for me the writing style didn't flow smoothly the way female authors write. Not many male authors seen to be able to write quality cozy mystery stories. I hope the next book will be a big improvement.

I really enjoyed this book, and will probably read the other books to follow in the series. I am pleased with the service I received from the seller and would buy from them again.