Sunday, November 27, 2016

A Whole Latte Murder by Caroline Fardig

Juliet, manager of a popular coffee house in Nashville, has another adventure in this third novel of the Java Jive series. Juliet finds the body of a young woman who lives in her apartment complex. That murder might be connected to a young women who had gone missing days before. And then one of the young women working at Java Jive goes missing. Even though the police tell Juliet to stay out of the investigation, she is soon on the trail of the murderer.

I like this series. Juliet reminds me of Stephanie Plum. Juliet's not quite as funny but her character makes for lots of action and suspense. Juliet gets into all kinds of odd situations trying to identify the culprit. Her sidekick is Pete, long time friend and owner of the coffee house she manages. There is a little spark of romance between these two in this novel. I have to admit, I like Pete better than Ryder, the man Juliet had been seeing. Ryder is a detective whose wife had been murdered years before. He's been promoted to detective and is investigating this case. He and Juliet do not see eye to eye with respect to her involvement in pursuing the killer.

Juliet is a fun character. She is a true sleuth, going to almost any length (like interviewing for an escort service) to find the killer. She gets into some pretty crazy situations. Snappy dialog, humor, and good suspense make for an entertaining novel. There are some surprises near the end of the novel too.

There is some foul language and casual sex in this novel. Other than that, a good mystery that is fun to read.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Caroline Fardig is the USA Today bestselling author of the Java Jive Mysteries series and the Lizzie Hart Mysteries. Her Bad Medicine was named one of the best books of 2015 by Suspense Magazine. She worked as a school teacher, church organist, insurance agent, funeral parlor associate, and stay-at-home mom before she realized that she wanted to be a writer when she grew up. Born and raised in a small town in Indiana, Fardig still lives in the same town with an understanding husband and two sweet kids. You can find out more at www.carolinefardig.com.

Alibi, Penguin Random House, 345 pages.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

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