This past weekend I decided to curl up with A Cup of Murder, the first installment in the Roasted Love Cozy Mystery series by Cam Larson. I one-clicked and added it to my Kindle for free during a recent promotion.
Synopsis (from Amazon)
It’s been a rough week for Laila Rook, the barista at Roasted Love, a community favorite indie coffeehouse that serves coffee in ceramic cups and features art from local artists on the walls.
A new upscale chain coffeehouse, Sunrise, opened across the street, and Laila’s customers are leaving. The owner of Sunrise, Michael Simms, wants to put Roasted Love out of business and enjoys letting them know with his rudeness and his mean Doberman.
Jacob Weaver, the owner of Roasted Love, won’t back down, and he’s not being too quiet about it, either.
When the owner of Sunrise is found murdered, Jacob is naturally the prime suspect. Laila has to decide if Jacob could be guilty and figure out how to save Roasted Love from closing – not to mention balance a cute paramedic and an orphaned Doberman.
Between Jacob’s mood swings and things not adding up, the clock is ticking on the future of Roasted Love.
My Review
It’s no secret that I really like cozy mysteries. This one was no exception. I found it to be a fast-paced and enjoyable read The author has created a very likable character in Laila – loyal and good-hearted – she is determined to prove that her boss is not a murderer. Laila runs the coffee shop while Jacob is in jail, and collects a lot of interesting and incriminating information about the victim’s friends and family, and in the process makes a powerful enemy. She also befriends a hot guy, adding a hint of romance to the story. This whodunnit takes twists and turns along the way, which is always fun if you like to be kept guessing. I recommend this book to lovers of cozy mysteries – culinary or not.
The Amazon description is preceded by a note that this book has been re-edited. I saw that many of the book’s negative reviews cited editing and typos as a problem. I found the new improved version to be reasonably well written with only a few typos that slipped in.
BTW, I hate coffee – but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the book 🙂
A Cup of Murder is available on Amazon.
Cassidy's Bookshelves 
Thanks for the review, and glad to hear the editing issues were addressed. You don’t like coffee?!
LikeLike