I enjoy these fun little mysteries for a change of pace. They are always a quick read as well

Death by Cafe Mocha by Alex Erickson is the 7th book in the Bookstore Cafe series. I have not read any of the previous Bookstore Café mysteries, but I was able to follow along. With that said I recommend reading in order as the previous books you have the small town feel and all the quirky side characters.

Krissy Hancock and her pals are taking a coffee break--leaving their bookstore-cafe in Pine Hills, Ohio, and heading to a convention. But this road trip will be more dangerous than they expected ...

Coffee lovers are gathering from far and wide at the hotel, and Krissy, Rita, and Vicki are excited. But some of the attendees may need to switch to decaf, as a public argument breaks out soon after they check in and then a flavor competition leads to bitter feelings.

When the winner of the contest is beaned with a carafe full of cafe mocha, suspicions swirl--along with accusations of bribery. Was the dead man offering perks to the judges--or was something sinister going on in his personal life? This case is going to keep Krissy up all night long .

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and I liked the characters which are well developed. There are plenty of twists and turns in this story and I kept guessing and second-guessing myself on whodunnit right to the very end. The story moves at a steady pace, and I had a hard time putting it down.

I recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends, and plan on reading the previous books.

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from the Publisher and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Coffee lovers are gathering from far and wide at the hotel, and Krissy, Rita, and Vicki are excited. But some of the attendees may need to switch to decaf, as a public argument breaks out soon after they check in and then a flavor competition leads to bitter feelings.

When the winner of the contest is beaned with a carafe full of cafè mocha, suspicions swirl--along with accusations of bribery. Was the dead man offering perks to the judges--or was something sinister going on in his personal life? This case is going to keep Krissy up all night long...

This wasn't as great as I'd hoped. The characters are supposed to be 40+ years old for the most part and act like whiny, horny teenagers, something I generally try to avoid.

*Book received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This was a fun cosy mystery. It had a few twists and turns and red herrings. I liked several of the characters and an added bonus was the focus on coffee.

Death by Cafe Mocha was a basic cozy mystery with a death at a coffee brewing competition. The character who was murdered was unlikable and Krissy didn't have any connection to him so I didn't really understand why she felt compelled to investigate. I couldn't really get into this story, but I wasn't able to figure out whodunnit ahead of Krissy, so I gave it 3 stars instead of fewer.

It was decent, but...

Spoiler

I feel like the suspect pool was deliberately drawn out unnecessarily. Like the protag kept on going through 'well the victim slept with this woman and this woman and this woman, but who could it be???' when there were already scenes that hinted at him sleeping with a man and I feel like it was just stupid of her not to think of the possibility sooner, especially when another gay couple is mentioned in passing and she has no reaction to it (ie. gay relationships are normalized to her). It just bugged me because it seemed like it was being avoided only to keep the mystery going and for no other reason. Like if you're going to include diversity in your stories, great, but don't use it as a plot twist.