Carol Fardig mystery series which is published by Random House is based on two people who have known each other off and on, but have always worked together in a coffee-house. Except now, the coffee house has included murder in their mix.
Death Before Decaf
Synopsis
Juliet Langley’s music career has crashed and burned in spectacular fashion, now she is forced to turn to the only other business she knows: food service. Now her personal life is in ruins. Juliet packs up and moves back to her college stomping grounds in Nashville to manage an old friend’s coffeehouse. The place is burning money, the staff is has declared open warfare, and Juliet finds one unlucky employee dead in the dumpster out back on her first day.
The corpse and Juliet had just had a huge fight over the health code. The other employees are not impressed with Juliet and have no problem selling her as the number one suspect in the murder. The is a stranger who’s asking a lot of questions, and now Juliet in hot water. What is a girl to do when her luck is currently all bad.
Book Review plus 4.1
The book is good and it definitely follows the cozy mystery formula. However, I liked Juliet, the main character the fact that she has a good friend who is willing to help her out, even if the rest of the staff isn’t quite on board. The story also incorporates my favorite drink: coffee.
Mug Shot
Synopsis
Former musician Juliet Langley has been working hard at the coffeehouse owned by her best friend, Pete Bennett. IN addition, Pete’s girlfriend, Cecilia Hollingsworth, is organizing the annual Holiday 5K Race . This year, Java Jive has a booth right at the finish line, which is where. . . Juliet stumbles over Cecilia’s dead body on the morning of the race.
Pete is arrested for Cecilia’s murder, Juliet sets out to clear his name. Juliet goes undercover and enter Nashville’s high society to find any hidden skeletons in Cecilia’s closet. Pete’s bond is paid for by Juliet, but Juliet needs to hang onto her temper and find out who killed Pete’s girlfriend.
Book Review plus 4.3
The story was good and I glad to see more of a relationship between Juliet and Pete. It is a great read and wonderful second book in the story. It is a must read
A Whole Latte Murder
Juliet’s personal and professional luck has taken a turn for the better. She has a boyfriend, great looking, detective Ryder Hamilton continues to simmer, and business at Java Jive is booming. However, Ryder has been promoted to homicide and Juliet is concerned about the type of people he will encounter, not to mention then the safety issue.
Juliet finds Chelsea dead, a missing college student and her involvement puts a strain on Ryder’s first homicide case. Now one of her’s and Peter’s employees went missing. Now what is happening and what will the end result be?
Book Review and 4.4 stars
This is a whole bunch of trouble for everyone connected and what happens at the end will be a surprise to them all. However, it is sad and it kind of reminds me of the episodes of Disappear I watch, the ending . . . well I guess you will just have to read the book.
Brew or Die 
Juliet Langley is officially one of Nashville’s licensed private investigators. Her best friend, Pete Bennett, isn’t worried that it will interfere with her job at Java Jive, he’s concerned about the amount of trouble she will find. In addition, he would like her to re-enter the local music scene.
However, one of Java Jive’s baristas, Shane, asks Juliet to look into the suspicious death, when she died on the job. He thinks that her party-planning colleagues are up to something criminal—and will do anything to keep it quiet.
In addition, Juliet will need to bridge her differences with her ex. Detective Ryder Hamilton. Now what happens?
Book Review plus 4.2
I will be honest, I didn’t like the fact that Juliet got her P.I. license. I liked her status as a coffee store manager. My opinion. The story did work, it kind of brought together elements that I was glad to see occur, but I wish Ryder had another police job. Yet, Yet, Yet . . . I liked the story and worked well!
All of these books were provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in return for my honest review of the books.
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