Death by Iced Coffee (A Bookstore Cafe Mystery Book 11) 

259 pages Kensington publisher April 25,2023 publish date

ABOUT THE BOOK

A smart, well-crafted mystery set in a charming Midwestern small town, where bookstore-cafe owner Krissy Hancock has a sideline in sleuthing—just right for fans of Leslie Meier, Cleo Coyle, and Carolyn Hart.

Bookstore-café owner Krissy Hancock is stepping out from behind the counter to take part in the first annual Pine Hills, Ohio, marathon. But with a killer close by, she may soon be running for her life . . .
 
It’s a brutally hot day in Pine Hills, and Krissy Hancock would love to be sitting in a shady spot and sipping her favorite iced coffee. Instead, she’s lacing up her sneakers for a marathon—and swiftly regretting it. Especially when she finds one of the other runners lying motionless. At first Krissy suspects heatstroke, but the red marks around the man’s throat tell a more sinister story.
 
The victim, it turns out, had brewed up all kinds of enemies thanks to his cheating ways—both romantic and financial. Krissy’s not keen to get involved, but her friend Rita’s boyfriend, Johan, seems to be mixed up in the mayhem. For Rita’s sake, Krissy wants to help filter out the real killer. But can she do it before another Pine Hills resident gets permanently iced?

MY THOUGHTS

I’ve really gotten into cozy mysteries over the past few years and have started a few series and this is one of them. I enjoy cozies that have cats in them and have a coffee shop as the main area it takes place. Co-Owner Krissy Hancock, of Death by Coffee, a coffee shop in Pine Hills, Ohio has given up slogging joe for the day and entered a marathon raising money for a good cause.

Not sure I understand why the race was run during an ungodly heatwave and Krissy Hancock hadn’t trained for this race or gotten into shape for it. The race proved too much for her and she almost fainted from the heat and was couch bound after the race.

During the race a body was found, heatstroke is suspected but upon inspection it’s determined not to be the case. I do enjoy the cozies, but they can be a bit predictable as many are very similar. It surprises me how many people will just talk to the amateur sleuth and how much they’ll tell them.

Lots of clues presented and the victim did not have the best character so many people could have had reason to want the victim out of the way.
Enjoyed this and I’ll be reading more in the series.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Thanks for stopping in today. Do you prefer hot coffee or iced coffee if you drink it? My choice is iced coffee.