Title:	Murder over Mochas
	Author:	Caroline Fardig
	Published:	October 24, 2017, Alibi
	No. of Pages:	234
	Cover Price:	$6.99 Kindle

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Caroline Fardig writes a delightful cozy series, The Java Jive Mysteries. The 5th installment in this fun series is Murder Over Mochas, where Juliet Langley, manager of Java Jive Coffee house, has just received her private detective credentials. Juliet’s ex, Scott O’Malley, who stole all their money and her belongings a year prior, shows up at the coffee house begging for her help in finding his wife who had just been kidnapped because he had obtained illegal information on some criminals. Juliet punched him in the nose, breaking it, and he said he would come back later. When he arrived later, he sat at a table with Juliet and fell over and died. The police blamed Juliet, and she was now responsible for clearing her name and finding a killer.

Fardig is an excellent storyteller, and weaves her tale in a way that is easy to follow, and showcases the main characters. The suspense builds slowly, and the scenarios make it hard to put the books down. Fardig has developed her characters throughout the series, and Juliet, the protagonist, is very likeable, as well as her police friend Ryder, and best friend, Pete. Even though most readers who have read the previous novels know the characters, new readers of this series will gain enough information to know the characters and find them seemingly real.

All told, this is a fun cozy that is a fast read, and is light and fun.



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