Review: Death By Coffee 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…

Paperback, 320 pages

Published May 26th 2015 by Kensington 

Genre: Mystery

Kristine's Thoughts:

**I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.**

It has been a while since I have read a cosy mystery so this book seemed to be the perfect solution to that. Take two best friends who open a book/coffee shop, a handsome cop and a suspicious death and you have the makings of an interesting story. Right??

Well... unfortunately this one fell quite flat for me and it was all (or mostly) because of Krissy Hancock who happened to be the main character. I didn't like her. It is as simple as that. She was annoying, selfish, immature, a terrible friend and business owner and dull at the same time. This is the first book in a new series so hopefully Erickson can get the kinks out and make her a more enjoyable character because right now she lacks anything endearing or positive.

The actual murder mystery was not an exciting one and what made it even less exciting was the lack of sleuthing on Krissy's part. There was nothing unique or genius about how she got her information or followed the clues. She was just nosey and asked and people answered. It just wasn't believable. Then the plot would endlessly get interrupted by cat stories that had no relevance the story. I think the intention was humour with the cats but it missed the mark.

If Krissy could gain some likeable qualities and get better at her amateur sleuthing and some of the other kinks get fleshed out (like the cats) than perhaps the next book, Death by Tea will be worth a read.

About the Author

Alex Erickson has always wanted to write, even at a young, impressionable age. He's always had an interest in the motive behind murder, which has led him down his current path. He's always ready with a witty-at least in his opinion-quip, and tries to keep every conversation light and friendly. Alex lives in Ohio with his family and resident felines, who provide endless amounts of inspiration.