Death by Vanilla Latte is the fourth book in Alex Erickson’s "Bookstore Cafe Mystery" series. It can be read as a standalone. I've read other books in this series, and really enjoy the characterization.

The main character, Krissy, keeps stumbling into these murders investigations, and then in her own bumbling way manages to solve them. She is not as naive as she sometimes across which is apparent as she puts together clues the police miss. She is such a delightful character, she makes this series fun to read.

Death by Vanilla Latte is the fourth book Alex Erickson’s "Bookstore Cafe Mystery" series. It can be read as a standalone book, but it will help with the character development if you read them in order.

Krissy Hancock and her best friend, Vickie Patterson, own Death by Coffee, a combination coffee shop and bookstore, in Pine Hills, Ohio. Krissy’s father, James Hancock, is a successful author of Mystery novels. He shows up at the store with his agent Rick Wiseman and Rick's assisstant Cameron Little, for an unannounced book signing. With a new book coming out, Rick thought it would be a good idea to get some publicity for the upcoming book. The town has an author's group and the president, Rita Jablonski invited James to speak to the group. Little does he know they all have manuscripts they want him to read. Because it is never a good idea for an author to read unsolicited manuscripts, he passes them all off to the miserable, unlikable Rick. Meanwhile, Rick makes rude remarks and advances to Krissy. When James finds out, he and Rick get into a shouting match and he fires him on the spot. This is not good, because the next morning, Rick is found dead in his room and James is the main suspect. Krissy tries to restrain herself from investigating but, despite Officer Paul Dalton’s warnings to stay out of the case, she can’t resist a good mystery, especially when her father is a suspect.

This story is pretty much about Krissy and her dad. The secondary characters do not have much involvement except for an occasional comment that gives Krissy a good idea. It is nice to see Krissy and her dad work together. He seems to enjoy investigating a real crime, especially working with his daughter. Krissy does not hesitate to admit she loves to solve mysteries and she does not fall into the investigation by mistake. She is quite well known by the townspeople for solving mysteries, in fact most of the town think the police are rather inept. The story is a bit slower than the others I have read in the series and I did not enjoy this one as much as the others. I am still going to continue to read this series as I have enjoyed others immensely.

Here it is again – the sign of something I think is either a really good or a really bad book: I made 140 highlights and comments on this book.

Hint: I didn't love it.

There were so many cozy mystery tropes done less than well… Like shops with punny names: Ted and Bettfast for a bed & breakfast run by Ted and Betty. Phantastic Candies for a candy shop run by a guy named Phan. Et cetera. Such things really do exist. There's a shop around the last page of the corner from me called "Lucky Ewe". But not every single shop has to be punny. And it all just points up the fact that the name of the shop owned by the heroine of the story, "Death by Coffee" is hardly original or clever.

Which leads me to the next trope: said heroine does indeed own a shop, and has employees (plural). I've said it before – I have never seen a small business-type shop like this which was able to support even one full-time employee. My mother and aunt owned a craft supply shop for a while when I was a kid, and they certainly could never have hired anyone. I briefly worked for two independently owned bookshops, and in one was paid in books, in the other less than minimum wage, and in neither could I ever expect more than a few hours a week. As I'm sure I've also said before – I get why cozy heroines have to be self-employed (because otherwise they'd be fired). But it's always so wildly improbable.

Third: quirky and unreliable employees (upon whom shop owner relies entirely while she's off playing Nancy Drew). There's a line between "quirky" and "weird". "Weird" can be really annoying. (So can quirky, honestly.)

Trope the Fourth: "I mean, how many people could die near me before it started to become a fatal pattern doomed to repeat over and over again until I packed my bags and left?" First off, that's a terrible sentence – and it's representative. Secondly: You know that it's implausible that a book shop owner will encounter corpses on a regular basis. That doesn't mean that you ought to have her comment on how implausible it is – unless you can find a more original way to do so.

Fifth Trope: Obviously, a book seller and coffee-vendor has absolutely no business going anywhere near a murder – but she does, of course (or there would be no book. Books.) And then she spends a great deal of time fretting about this and making excuses for it. "I was going to be a good girl this time. I swear I heard someone snicker on my left shoulder". This alternates with a deluded smug cockiness over how magnificent an investigator she is. "… My special brand of investigative genius" indeed. " My usual method of investigation was to walk up to someone and bluntly ask them whatever I wanted to know." Yup. Poirot's got nothing on you, honey.

I have absolutely zero patience for a civilian who is specifically told to butt out by the authorities, and who comes up with wildly creative justifications to ignore the orders. Even better, everyone around her waits with bated breath for her investigation to turn things up, even when she claims to be trying to obey the law and butt out. Well – she can't let her fans down, can she? And – and – her father! Yes, he father wants to see her solve a mystery! Yes, that's another great excuse. She can't let him down!

And I have even less patience (we're in the negatives now) for someone who not only ignores direct orders from the police, but actively breaks into a crime scene and touches everything. If there were any justice in the world, or at least the book, crime scene investigators would go back for a second look, find her hair and fingerprints and epithelial all over the place, and get her locked up. Things like "What harm could a few minutes of poking around really do?" just make me growl softly, under my breath. (The fact that the door to the room of the crime scene was left unlocked comes under the next paragraph's umbrella.)

I had issues with the storytelling. An author signing is advertised the day it's happening, and not before. Someone at the B&B claims it was much too busy for them to have noticed what was going on the night of the murder – but from the sound of it two customers would make for a busy night in this place – how could there be such a hectic rush that night that the desk person couldn't give an answer? How could it be that "The door to [the murder victim's] room was unlocked"? "I screamed as I tripped, falling hard on the floor" – how can you trip over a single sheet of paper on the floor, and how do you not control yourself when you're supposed to be being stealthy?

It didn't take long for me to start making snarky comments on the Kindle. The main character, a first-person narrator, was whingeing from the very beginning. She had a sleepless night. "My life always seemed to revolve around someone dying, and my having to deal with it. This kind of thing didn't happen to normal people, so why me?" "Of course, when was the last time something happened just like I wanted?" Stop whining. "But darn it, it wasn't my fault!" Whatever. And again "Why did this kind of thing always happen to me?" *slap* Nobody likes a whiny narrator, stop it.

The writing … it was coherent, but sometimes I wished it wasn't. The narrator's crush is nauseating – "He had that creamer-rich coffee skin tone that made me want to lap him right up." The hard copy of the book should be packaged with air-sickness bags. In the same queasy-making vein, the whole chipped mug thing was absurd. It was supposed to be a sweet moment for the main character and her father – but all I could think was that anyone who purposely chips her coffee mugs is a moron. Not only is a chipped mug uncomfortable to drink from if it's damaged in an awkward place, but it makes it a lot more likely you'll find yourself holding a former mug one day, with hot coffee all down your front. And it's unsanitary. (Well, that's what I was always taught.)

There was the ... coincidence? that the murder involves a guy being stabbed with a pen … and then a little while later the narrator has to snatch a pen away from a cat "Before he could stab himself in the roof of the mouth". No comment about the connection there is made. And honestly, I got tired of the narrator's father kissing her on the forehead or the top of her head. I'm not sure how you can write something that repetitive without it being noticed by someone. And why on earth is the fact that someone is exactly three minutes late cause for deep terror? A dog barks up a storm; someone talks a million miles a minute; someone's mouth was running nonstop; lots of people babble (another annoying repetition); someone "elect[s]" an article of clothing (for what office?)…

One more incredibly obnoxious cozy trope this indulged in to the hilt: surrounding the main character with morons. (To make her look smarter without actually making her smart, I suppose?) Here, a friend of the narrator tries (unsuccessfully) to hide a new romance – but it was so obvious that it took her explaining that she was trying to keep it on the down-low for me to know that. Most unbearable, though, was "Rita", a fan of the narrator's father who makes Kathy Bates's character in "Misery" look sane and tranquil. It was actually hard to read the last scene she was in.

I gave this book two stars initially, but I'm looking at the sheer number of times I actually swore at the book, its characters, and/or its author in my notes, and … yeah. One star is more reasonable. I wouldn't read anything else from this series at gunpoint.

The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to read and review this title before it was archived.

Despite this being the 4th book in the series, it was new to me. Nothing really new here....just an enjoyable cozy.

I️ didn’t care for this cozy. Just not interesting to me—the voice, plot, relationships—just bored me

As a cozy mystery, this is entertaining, cute, and a quick read. The storyline was interesting enough to keep me interested, and I felt like I got to know the characters...although there were a LOT of them.

This is the first book I've ready by Alex Erickson, and I do not know much about the other books in the series. The previous books/storylines were mentioned to tie everything together and help you get to understand the character's past.

Unfortunately for me, I could not get over how cheesy this was. The writing, Krissy's thoughts, and everything were just cringe/eye-roll worthy at times. The fact that she just openly and unabashedly meddles in police investigations really bothered me. I'll admit, I was rushing to get through it, but I felt like this could've been edited down more. There was a lot of "fluff" and random comments throughout.

*Thank You to NetGalley and Kensington Books for which I given an honest and unbiased review*

Solid writing and a great mystery! This is my favorite of the series so far. It took me time with the other books to get to know the characters. Krissy Hancock, along with help from her mystery author dad, are at it again in working to solve the murder of her dad's agent. There are many suspects to choose from, so this is not an easy case to solve. The cats in here have personality which make it even more enjoyable. I love seeing more of Krissy's dating life revealed as the series progresses. There's sure to be lots more to come that you won't want to miss.

I haven't been reading much lately but I always love to curl up with a nice cozy mystery. After enjoying the first two books in this series I was looking forward diving into this third installment. However while I did finish the book and liked it, it took me a while to actually finish it.

The story wasn't bad and it was nice to have Krissy's father come for a visit. He was talked about so much and it was about time he made an appearance. The mystery was interesting enough but was mostly flat and boring. Not much excitement and in the end a very poor motive and capture.

While I like this series I am not sure if I would read a fourth installment. I can see me grabbing at it but after this one took me so long to finish I wonder if another book in the series would even get read.

I have enjoyed this series from the start and was excited to see Krissy's dad in this story helping her solve the crime. It was extremely well written and a delight to visit this series again. I felt as though the plot and murder could actually be real, as I can only imagine the world of book publishing.

This is the fourth book in the bookstore cafe mystery series. Each book in the series is a book lovers delightful visit to coffee, books and the cozy bookstore. I recommend the entire series as the author presents each character and background so any reader can enjoy each in the series.
In this next in series our protagonist Krissy Hancock is happily managing her bookstore cafe and preparing to host her Father , a famous mystery writer for a reading and signing event. As he arrives with his staff Kristy finds his literary agent is rude and difficult . Soon the agent is murdered and her Father is prime suspect number one. Krissy joins the investigation to clear her Fathers name and find the true suspect. She has a knack for finding clues and soon finds herself in danger.
This is a very enjoyable next in series with a great sleuth of many clues to surprise the reader. The location is pleasing and fun to experience through the authors eyes. . The characters are all well suited to the story. The writing is fast paced and well crafted just right for a perfect mystery read.
I highly recommend this series for all mystery lovers. Thank you for the ARC that did not influence my review.

Princess Fuzzypants here:
I like Krissy and I like these books even though she does things that make me roll my eyes sometimes. She puts herself in danger and drags her father along with her. He should know better. He is a famous mystery writer who has decided to do a signing on his new book at Krissy's cafe cum bookstore. Krissy is taken by surprise but that is just the start of the surprises.
Her Dad's nasty agent comes along and manages to tick off a whole bunch of people. It is no great surprise when he is found murdered in his hotel room but who had sufficient rage to kill the guy. Because of the personal association with the victim, both Krissy and her father feel compelled to interfere when the police reach an impasse. Of course, her investigation does not please her former boyfriend who has reasons to rethink his relationship with her. Her current boyfriend is introducing her to his family so the reader can expect some fireworks.
If you are looking for an entertaining and light read for a hot summer day, this would be perfect.
I give it four purrs and two paws up.

Death By Vanilla Latte is the 4th book in the Bookstore Cafe Mystery series following the adventures of Krissy Hancock, the quirky and inquisitive owner of a small town bookstore café, as she finds herself again and again tangled up in puzzling murder investigations.

In this installment of the series, Krissy’s father, famed mystery writer James Hancock, comes to town for a surprise visit/book launch, bringing along his ill-mannered literary agent Rick Wiseman and his agent’s assistant, sending all the local writers with unpublished manuscripts into a frenzy. When Wiseman is found dead and it looks like Hancock is the main suspect, Krissy becomes determined to prove her father’s innocence by finding the real killer, much to the aggravation of local law enforcement.

Death By Vanilla is the first book in this series that I’ve read, but the author does a great job of catching you up in such a way that it almost feels like a friend bringing you up to date on what’s been going down why you’ve been a way – there’s a warm familiar tone to this book that’s very inviting. Of course that could have been all the mentions of coffee and books and cuddly pets that made me feel right at home within the pages.

There is death and dead body imagery in the book, pretty much a given since this is a murder mystery, but it’s not explicit – although the way the guy was killed was bit squicky to me. While Krissy has a pretty full plate in the romance department – she’s dating a doctor, has a lingering connection with a local cop, and a stalkerish ex who just won’t take a hint – the romance in this book is extremely sweet – the most contact seen is a sweet little kiss Krissy receives on her forehead.

I ended up really liking Death By Vanilla Latte. I enjoyed how the mystery was presented, giving you enough clues in the course of the investigation to figure out the killer on your own, but also plenty of red herrings to keep things interesting. I thought I had it figured out early on and was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. I’m actually pretty excited for the next book in the series, Death By Eggnog, which looks like a cute holiday mystery and I also might look into some of the other books in the series as well.

Death by Vanilla Latte (Bookstore Cafe Mystery #4)
by Alex Erickson (Goodreads Author)
Paperback, 320 pages
Published May 30th 2017 by Kensington Publishing Corporation


Goodreads synopsis:
Ever since cafe owner Krissy Hancock settled into a relationship and mostly forgot about old flames, life has become surprisingly serene. Too bad her father, famed mystery writer James Hancock, had to pay an unexpected visit to Death by Coffee and brew up a batch of trouble...
While caught off-guard by her dad s presence, Krissy never dreamed he d become the biggest murder suspect in town. But that s exactly what happens when James s boorish agent a man he allegedly fired just hours earlier is found cold and lifeless, a still-warm vanilla latte resting by his hand...
With Pine Hills divided over her father s innocence and a fanatical fan keen on locking the author away for safe keeping, Krissy must end the madness and identify the real criminal even if that means meeting an ex or two along the way. But as her social life becomes increasingly chaotic, Krissy may be caught in a case that s far too hot to handle..."

***

4 stars

Krissy Hancock owns the coffee house/book store named Death by Coffee. This also happens to be the name of her father’s popular book. He is an author and is a pretty famous one.

He shows up unexpectedly one day in her shop and she had no idea he was coming. He is putting out a new book and he is having his book release party at her bookstore/cafe. Then Dad becomes suspect #1 when his agent is found dead.

This book had a lot of twists and turns. I had a hard time trying to figure out whodunit because there were so many good suspects. I love this series because it always surprises me and keeps me guessing.

Definitely check out all the books in this series. Very worth the read.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank Net Galley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

Alex Erickson's Death by Vanilla Latte is book four in the Bookstore Cafe Mystery series. Krissy's father shows up for a surprise visit which throws her store, Death by Coffee, and her private life into chaos. Things get worse when she finds her father's agent dead in his room at the local bed and breakfast. I had read previous books in this series, but it is not at all necessary. Krissy is a strong lead character, and this book features a good mix of supporting characters. The mystery kept me guessing until the very end!

I quite enjoyed this cozy crime novel, the first that I have read in this series, set in a cafe. This installment sees the owner's author father in town for a book signing when his agent gets murdered. I thought this lost steam a little in the second half, and while I liked the author's honesty about the lead character's nosiness and investigative activity, when the plot started to drag a little that too-stupid-to-live-ness started to grate on me a little. I might read more if they came my way, but I'm not going to go looking.

Everything about this book said read me, but it somehow fell short. Setting, plot, characters, etc., we're OK, but just couldn't quite settle in with this one. Not a good flow for me.

Krissy Hancock’s father is a famous mystery author.  Her bookstore cafe is named for him, but she is the last to know about his surprise visit.  James Hancock’s visit to Pine Hills is a major event, bringing out both amateur authors and fans in droves.  Unfortunately for Krissy, it also means the presence of his slimy agent, and to make matters even worse, her father’s agent is murdered.  With her father as the primary suspect, Krissy knows she must dig up the truth before he is arrested.  James, like his daughter, loves a good mystery, and sees it as a great opportunity, Krissy isn’t so sure…

Death by Vanilla Latte is a good addition to Alex Erickson’s series.   Krissy is more whiny and abrasive than in previous novels (which did at times irritate me), but she is also more confident in her mystery solving skills.  While she is bombastic and highly anxious, her father, James Hancock is laid-back, almost relaxed about the entire situation.  It was nice seeing the two together, especially after hearing so much about her father in previous novels.  They make quite a team.

4 / 5

I received a copy of Death by Vanilla Latte from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

This is a great book; this is the fourth book in the Bookstore Cafe Mystery series written by Alex Erickson. This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. I am looking forward to reading the next book by this great author. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy of this book. The free book held no determination on my personal review.