Title:	Death Before Decaf
	Author:	Caroline Fardig
	Published:	2015, Alibi
	No. of Pages:	289
	Cover Price:	$2.99 Kindle

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Juliet Langley has moved back to Nashville after her ex-fiancé ran off with her roommate along with all her belongings and savings. Luckily, her best friend Pete has given her a job at her old college haunt, Java Jive, where she is the new manager. The employees don’t exactly welcome her with open arms, and there is conflict on her first day on the job. More than just a little conflict, in fact, since she finds her head cook murdered in the dumpster. Unfortunately, Juliet is considered a person of interest, and knows that because the police department is small and most-likely incompetent, she must discover who the murderer is before she is arrested.

While there is plenty of suspense throughout, there is also plenty of humor. The characters are well-defined, and most readers will be able to relate to them, especially those with memories of college days, since most of the employees of Java Jive are Vanderbilt University students. Juliet isn’t a particularly good sleuth, and gets herself in several dangerous situations. She begins dating a regular customer in the coffee shop, who is supposed to be a professor at Vanderbilt University, which is close to Java Jive, and although he’s cute, she’s suspicious of him because she senses that he isn’t telling the truth about himself.

Even though Juliet is involved in several dangerous situations and may not live to find out who the murderer really is, the book is a fast read, lighthearted, and fun. Death Before Decaf is a good introduction to the series, and most readers will find that they want to read the subsequent novels as they are published. The only thing missing is recipes; the book is very much like a culinary mystery, and since the setting is in a coffee shop/cafe, there are numerous mentions of food, and the recipes would be much appreciated by most readers.

This book is recommended for readers who like cozies, and suspense/thriller books that don’t contain graphic sex and violence. It is only available in Kindle format at this time.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This book may be purchased at Amazon:
Death Before Decaf: A Java Jive Mystery, Kindle