Part of Bookstore Cafe Mystery
First published 2015
Krissy Hancock gets her bookstore café Death by Coffee ready for Pine Hills' yearly book club contest. Mystery lovers arrive for the competition, but the festivities take a fatal turn when a participant dies from blows with the silver teapot that was supposed to be the winner's prize. What should have been an award becomes a murder weapon. Witnesses saw Krissy walking around town in dark clothes on the night of the killing, making her the prime suspect. The investigation points straight at her. She turns to Paul Dalton, a police officer she once dated, asking for his help to clear her name. Paul finds himself torn between his feelings for her and his job as the evidence piles up against Krissy. Officer John Buchannan, who holds a personal grudge, works hard to get her arrested and convicted. With the law closing in, Krissy starts her own search for the truth. She has to find the actual murderer before the police lock her up for good.
Genres: fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary, detective, cozy-mystery
Vibes: character-driven, cozy, fast-paced, intriguing, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-allies, false-accusation, forced-proximity, second-chance-romance
Setting: Pine Hills, Death by Coffee
320 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Kensington
Content warnings: death, murder