Bookstore café

Alex Erickson: Death by Red Velvet Latte

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Bookstore Café #16

Bookstore café owner Krissy Hancock has her hands full. In addition to running her shop (Death by Coffee in Pine Hills, Ohio), she’s preparing for her wedding, and she and her best friend/co-owner Vicki are getting ready to open a second store in California. She’s also dealing with out-of-town guests and trying to find a baker to make her wedding cake.

Krissy and her fiancé Police Officer Paul Dalton have decided on a red velvet wedding cake (and red velvet lattes, as the title suggests), but they have not decided on a baker. They interview two competing local bakers who provide samples and resumes. The next morning when Krissy goes to the bakery to inform the winner, she finds both men dead, apparently after an epic fight that ended in mutual destruction. To make matters worse, just as Krissy picks up a rolling pin spattered with red velvet cake, an assistant baker walks in and assumes Krissy is the murderer. read more

Alex Erickson: Death by Java

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Bookstore Café #14

In the fourteenth outing of Alex Erickson’s Bookstore Café series, protagonist Krissy Hancock has made a comfortable life for herself in Pine Hills, Ohio. She owns and operates a bookstore café called Death by Coffee with her longtime friend Vicki Lawyer. The two of them have worked hard to make their shop a success, as well as a local landmark. Krissy has also picked up a little side hustle of solving crime throughout the town. Local law isn’t exactly thrilled, but they can’t deny that she has been instrumental in solving many murders. However, they can breathe a sigh of relief and get a break from the amateur sleuthing as Krissy is heading back to her hometown of Redwood Village, California, to visit her roots with her father, his girlfriend, and her boyfriend. read more

Alex Erickson: Death by Iced Coffee

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Bookstore Café #11

Alex Erickson’s most recent addition to the Bookstore Café Mystery series is Death by Iced Coffee. The story opens with owner of local Death by Coffee shop and amateur ‘just can’t help herself’ sleuth Krissy Hancock taking part in a marathon – during a heat wave. Like any sane person, she is regretting her decision, but, as a woman of integrity, she is determined to keep her promise to her friend Rita and do her part. However, she is surprised to spot Rita’s boyfriend display some rather suspicious behavior before the race even starts. Krissy does not want to jump to any conclusions, but her internal radar is pinged and she intends to look into what he could possibly be up to – but not until after the heat wave marathon of pain. Which is thankfully, but tragically, cut short when Krissy stumbles through the brutal heat and across one of the other runners lying dead on the ground. Despite the mild heat stroke, she is able to take in enough of the scene to decide that this poor man wasn’t a victim of heat stroke but rather of murder. read more