Death by Coffee (A Bookstore Cafe Mystery Book 1)

I thought I'd enjoy this book, but I did not. Had to force myself to finish it, in fact. The lead character, Krissy, was not likeable at all. She spends too much time asking very personal questions of total strangers, in a small town where she had just moved. It is so unbelievable that people would speak to her about the murder or the victim. Even Krissy herself says often how guilty she feels asking questions or favors. Also, her cat is awful. Why anyone would keep a creature that behaves so badly is beyond me. I read a lot of mysteries, and sometimes they aren't written as well as others. This is the first time I remember a book being uncomfortable to read. The police come off as buffoons, other characters are not developed enough, and others are as awful in different ways as Krissy is. Perhaps the male author doesn't write women characters well, and maybe he thinks women behave like Krissy. Whatever the case, I will not buy any other books from this series.

Contains spoiler...This book is so obviously a spoof, and if read with that in mind it’s almost funny. Mr. Erickson has obviously read a bunch of women’s cozies – young woman recovering from a bad break-up moves to a new town and starts a new business. She stumbles upon a murder and, knowing nothing about crime detection, decides she knows more than the police do. So she totally neglects her business and runs around asking people questions that are none of her business. In the meantime she gets involved with the cop working the case. In the last chapter she confronts the killer and is rescued at the last minute by said cop. This book is so full of clichés it’s got to be a lampoon of the genre!Also, those obnoxious cats have got to go! The one does NOT belong in a store, and neither of them is a "pet." They're a couple of nasty creatures. But I guess a resident cat is another cliché that Mr. Erickson decided he needed to include.

Death by Coffee, sounds like a great title for a great series. One side of the store is for coffee and conversation, the other half is a bookstore. What's not to love? I was really looking forward to starting this series and was highly disappointed. I did not love this series at all! I felt the protagonist Krissy, was rude and her character lacking. The "gorgeous" best friend was hardly in the story.The story itself would have been great if there had been more development of plot and characters. Most of the characters felt shallow, I couldn't wait to finish the book. Not because it was better as I read, but because I was so frustrated with the entire thing. I feel giving this book three stars was being generous. I don't think I will continue with the series.

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.

I love cozy mysteries, especially ones with cats. I wish I had just purchased one of the books instead of the entire series. The main character, Krissy, was not very likable. She spends all her time harassing people for no apparent reason except that she is nosy. by the end of the first book, I wished that the murderer got away and that their business went broke. Even the cats were nasty. I won’t be reading the rest of the books,

The protagonist opens a coffee shop/bookstore with her best friend. One of her customers dies soon after drinking a coffee purchased in the shop. He dies because he has a peanut allergy and there was peanut dust in his coffee. His epipen is missing. From there on, the story gets ridiculous. All the town's citizens are weird. The protagonist Krissy, the daughter of a mystery writer, decides she has to solve the murder. She does this by badgering people repeatedly to ask them questions she has no standing to ask and breaking in or pushing her way into places she has no right to be in. The police seem inept. Krissy and her friend Vicki own very poorly behaving cats (and I love cats).

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 am glad I picked this cozy up. It was quite enjoyable. I liked the theme. I am looking forward to the next one.

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.