Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Death by Vanilla Latte
    Death by Vanilla Latte
    Death by Vanilla Latte
    Audiobook7 hours

    Death by Vanilla Latte

    Written by Alex Erickson

    Narrated by Melissa Moran

    3/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    While caught off-guard by her dad's presence, Krissy never dreamed he'd become the biggest murder suspect in town. But that's exactly what happens when James's boorish agent-a man he allegedly fired just hours earlier-is found cold and lifeless, a still-warm vanilla latte resting by his hand . . .

    With Pine Hills divided over her father's innocence and a fanatical fan keen on locking the author away for safe keeping, Krissy must end the madness and identify the real criminal-even if that means meeting an ex or two along the way. But as her social life becomes increasingly chaotic, Krissy may be caught in a case that's far too hot to handle . . .
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJan 23, 2018
    ISBN9781541487130

    More audiobooks from Alex Erickson

    Related to Death by Vanilla Latte

    Titles in the series (12)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Amateur Sleuths For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Duplex

      Jun 9, 2020

      I moved to Los Angeles to sing. When was this? August? June? I was twenty-nine, and those were shapeless months, when the days blended together and I refused to pull them apart. My landlord was unusually close to her adult son. His name was Jeffrey,

      21 min read

    • Article

      A Good Samaritan

      Dec 6, 2022

      It was hot that day, hot for the morning and hot for April and with a stickiness in the air that suggested something had to break. I was headed up the street to ask my neighbor Meech to give me a jump when I heard a scream come from the fourplex next

      10 min read

    • Article

      Soul On Sale

      Aug 10, 2022

      I was waiting for the call at the telephone booth. I’d been waiting for fourteen or seventeen minutes and finally, I decided to leave. It was pointless. I only had a 20-dollar bill on me and no coins for the slot. Hard rain was coming, some type of s

      9 min read

    • Article

      Ice cream DREAMS

      Aug 4, 2021

      Ice cream DREAMS
      8 min read

    • Article

      Penny

      Jul 2, 2020

      Penny
      6 min read

    • Article

      Come with Me

      Dec 1, 2022

      Come with Me
      12 min read

    • Article

      The Open Door

      Mar 26, 2022

      The Open Door
      4 min read

    • Article

      Proverbs Of A Faceless Time

      Dec 1, 2023

      Proverbs Of A Faceless Time
      9 min read

    • Article

      A Temporary Arrangement

      Oct 2, 2023

      A Temporary Arrangement
      19 min read

    • Article

      A Nose For Trouble

      Apr 12, 2022

      A Nose For Trouble
      6 min read

    • Article

      Now That I’ve Arrived

      Dec 30, 2020

      Now That I’ve Arrived
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Leather Coat

      Apr 4, 2024

      The Leather Coat
      6 min read

    • Article

      Identity Crisis

      Feb 2, 2019

      Identity Crisis
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Man I Should Have Married

      Dec 29, 2019

      The Man I Should Have Married
      11 min read

    • Article

      Metaphors

      Mar 10, 2023

      I’m knitting on my front porch when a car roars to a stop in front of my house. It’s a red Mustang convertible, top down on this warm Thursday afternoon in June. Two girls sit in the front, two in the back. They smile and wave at me. I smile back tho

      8 min read

    • Article

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary

      Jun 17, 2020

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary
      7 min read

    • Article

      Meeting Eve Babitz

      Jan 7, 2019

      Meeting Eve Babitz
      7 min read

    • Article

      Klara

      May 21, 2020

      Klara
      28 min read

    • Article

      Good Bones

      Mar 19, 2020

      Good Bones
      18 min read

    • Article

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary

      Jun 17, 2020

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary
      7 min read

    • Article

      Out Of My TREE

      May 11, 2021

      Out Of My TREE
      3 min read

    • Article

      Mysterious Moments

      Jan 24, 2019

      It was a beautiful Sunday in Glenrothes, Scotland, where I’d traveled for business. But I was feeling blue. If I were home with my family in Arizona, I would’ve been at church singing hymns. Instead, I was all alone. Desperate for distraction, I got

      2 min read

    • Article

      Ode to Joy

      May 16, 2019

      Ode to Joy
      5 min read

    • Article

      Holiday Angels

      Oct 27, 2020

      Holiday Angels
      3 min read

    • Article

      A PRECIOUS Moment In Time

      Jun 17, 2019

      There’s something about Lambrook Hall that always draws me back and I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been here. I don’t really care if it’s hundreds, to be honest. I can’t resist it. I’m in the dining room again now. Not the ballroom or the lib

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Promise OF SPRING

      Feb 10, 2021

      The Promise OF SPRING
      7 min read

    • Article

      Desk Flowers

      May 6, 2021

      Desk Flowers
      11 min read

    • Article

      Lucky To Have You

      Mar 12, 2020

      Rushing around the house, I looked about for my keys and wallet, eventually finding them under a pile of laundry. Checking I had my shopping list, I popped my head into the living room to say goodbye. I’m off to Iceland for the food shop, see you bot

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Death by Vanilla Latte

    3/5

    22 ratings4 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Death by Vanilla Latte is the fourth book Alex Erickson’s "Bookstore Cafe Mystery" series. It can be read as a standalone book, but it will help with the character development if you read them in order.

      Krissy Hancock and her best friend, Vickie Patterson, own Death by Coffee, a combination coffee shop and bookstore, in Pine Hills, Ohio. Krissy’s father, James Hancock, is a successful author of Mystery novels. He shows up at the store with his agent Rick Wiseman and Rick's assisstant Cameron Little, for an unannounced book signing. With a new book coming out, Rick thought it would be a good idea to get some publicity for the upcoming book. The town has an author's group and the president, Rita Jablonski invited James to speak to the group. Little does he know they all have manuscripts they want him to read. Because it is never a good idea for an author to read unsolicited manuscripts, he passes them all off to the miserable, unlikable Rick. Meanwhile, Rick makes rude remarks and advances to Krissy. When James finds out, he and Rick get into a shouting match and he fires him on the spot. This is not good, because the next morning, Rick is found dead in his room and James is the main suspect. Krissy tries to restrain herself from investigating but, despite Officer Paul Dalton’s warnings to stay out of the case, she can’t resist a good mystery, especially when her father is a suspect.

      This story is pretty much about Krissy and her dad. The secondary characters do not have much involvement except for an occasional comment that gives Krissy a good idea. It is nice to see Krissy and her dad work together. He seems to enjoy investigating a real crime, especially working with his daughter. Krissy does not hesitate to admit she loves to solve mysteries and she does not fall into the investigation by mistake. She is quite well known by the townspeople for solving mysteries, in fact most of the town think the police are rather inept. The story is a bit slower than the others I have read in the series and I did not enjoy this one as much as the others. I am still going to continue to read this series as I have enjoyed others immensely. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.
    • 3/5
      Death by Vanilla Latte: A Bookstore Cafe Mystery
      Author: Alex Erickson
      Publisher: Kensington


      Krissy Hancock has a way of getting involved with murder. Ever since she moved to Pine Hills and opened her cafe, Death by Coffee, she has come across too many killers. Sooner or later, no matter how hard she tries, she steps right in the middle of trouble. When her father, famed mystery writer James Hancock, decides to pay a visit there is no way murder is not going to follow.

      Krissy is surprised by her father's sudden visit, she'd missed him and although elated to see him she is worried that with a new book, and a book signing tour he might be endangering his health. The fact that he brought his longtime agent with him, a man Krissy has never liked or trusted worry’s her even more. But in her wildest nightmares, she never thought that her father would become the main suspect in the agent's death.

      --
      Krissy Hancock is always sticking her nose where is doesn’t belong, she keeps stepping into murder investigations and stepping on the local police officers toes in the process. Many people in the small town are not fond of her and fear that whenever she shows up, murder is soon to follow. So when her father comes to town with his literary agent, there is bound to be trouble. The agent ends up dead, and her father may be the killer. It becomes apparent that the police are at a loss, they have no clues and no other suspects. Krissy tells herself to stay out of it, let the cops figure it out but… their suspect is her father, and she uses this fact to justify getting involved and solving the murder before the police blow the investigation and arrest her dad.

      Although this is a cute, fast-paced cozy with nice characters and settings, it is more of a romance based story than an actual mystery. The main character, Krissy is supposed to be a business owner, yet she acts and is treated more as an employee. She seems to be needy when she is meant to be a strong independent woman. The other characters in this story are unremarkable and lack any depth, except Krissy’s father. James Hancock is an excellent character that deserves far more attention and should be more involved in the plot and investigation. The ending is almost predictable. However, the character revealed as the killer is not plausible in the sense that the character is barely mentioned in the book at all.

      The agent is a colorful and unlikeable character which is the perfect victim that no one will actually mourn. Readers may be disappointed with the love triangle in this story as it plays a bigger part than is warranted. Overall this book has some good qualities and is well written and will appeal to those readers who are looking for something lite and easy to read.

      I received an ARC of this book.


    • 1/5
      Here it is again – the sign of something I think is either a really good or a really bad book: I made 140 highlights and comments on this book. Hint: I didn't love it. There were so many cozy mystery tropes done less than well… Like shops with punny names: Ted and Bettfast for a bed & breakfast run by Ted and Betty. Phantastic Candies for a candy shop run by a guy named Phan. Et cetera. Such things really do exist. There's a shop around the last page of the corner from me called "Lucky Ewe". But not every single shop has to be punny. And it all just points up the fact that the name of the shop owned by the heroine of the story, "Death by Coffee" is hardly original or clever. Which leads me to the next trope: said heroine does indeed own a shop, and has employees (plural). I've said it before – I have never seen a small business-type shop like this which was able to support even one full-time employee. My mother and aunt owned a craft supply shop for a while when I was a kid, and they certainly could never have hired anyone. I briefly worked for two independently owned bookshops, and in one was paid in books, in the other less than minimum wage, and in neither could I ever expect more than a few hours a week. As I'm sure I've also said before – I get why cozy heroines have to be self-employed (because otherwise they'd be fired). But it's always so wildly improbable. Third: quirky and unreliable employees (upon whom shop owner relies entirely while she's off playing Nancy Drew). There's a line between "quirky" and "weird". "Weird" can be really annoying. (So can quirky, honestly.) Trope the Fourth: "I mean, how many people could die near me before it started to become a fatal pattern doomed to repeat over and over again until I packed my bags and left?" First off, that's a terrible sentence – and it's representative. Secondly: You know that it's implausible that a book shop owner will encounter corpses on a regular basis. That doesn't mean that you ought to have her comment on how implausible it is – unless you can find a more original way to do so. Fifth Trope: Obviously, a book seller and coffee-vendor has absolutely no business going anywhere near a murder – but she does, of course (or there would be no book. Books.) And then she spends a great deal of time fretting about this and making excuses for it. "I was going to be a good girl this time. I swear I heard someone snicker on my left shoulder". This alternates with a deluded smug cockiness over how magnificent an investigator she is. "… My special brand of investigative genius" indeed. " My usual method of investigation was to walk up to someone and bluntly ask them whatever I wanted to know." Yup. Poirot's got nothing on you, honey. I have absolutely zero patience for a civilian who is specifically told to butt out by the authorities, and who comes up with wildly creative justifications to ignore the orders. Even better, everyone around her waits with bated breath for her investigation to turn things up, even when she claims to be trying to obey the law and butt out. Well – she can't let her fans down, can she? And – and – her father! Yes, he father wants to see her solve a mystery! Yes, that's another great excuse. She can't let him down!And I have even less patience (we're in the negatives now) for someone who not only ignores direct orders from the police, but actively breaks into a crime scene and touches everything. If there were any justice in the world, or at least the book, crime scene investigators would go back for a second look, find her hair and fingerprints and epithelial all over the place, and get her locked up. Things like "What harm could a few minutes of poking around really do?" just make me growl softly, under my breath. (The fact that the door to the room of the crime scene was left unlocked comes under the next paragraph's umbrella.) I had issues with the storytelling. An author signing is advertised the day it's happening, and not before. Someone at the B&B claims it was much too busy for them to have noticed what was going on the night of the murder – but from the sound of it two customers would make for a busy night in this place – how could there be such a hectic rush that night that the desk person couldn't give an answer? How could it be that "The door to [the murder victim's] room was unlocked"? "I screamed as I tripped, falling hard on the floor" – how can you trip over a single sheet of paper on the floor, and how do you not control yourself when you're supposed to be being stealthy? It didn't take long for me to start making snarky comments on the Kindle. The main character, a first-person narrator, was whingeing from the very beginning. She had a sleepless night. "My life always seemed to revolve around someone dying, and my having to deal with it. This kind of thing didn't happen to normal people, so why me?" "Of course, when was the last time something happened just like I wanted?" Stop whining. "But darn it, it wasn't my fault!" Whatever. And again "Why did this kind of thing always happen to me?" *slap* Nobody likes a whiny narrator, stop it. The writing … it was coherent, but sometimes I wished it wasn't. The narrator's crush is nauseating – "He had that creamer-rich coffee skin tone that made me want to lap him right up." The hard copy of the book should be packaged with air-sickness bags. In the same queasy-making vein, the whole chipped mug thing was absurd. It was supposed to be a sweet moment for the main character and her father – but all I could think was that anyone who purposely chips her coffee mugs is a moron. Not only is a chipped mug uncomfortable to drink from if it's damaged in an awkward place, but it makes it a lot more likely you'll find yourself holding a former mug one day, with hot coffee all down your front. And it's unsanitary. (Well, that's what I was always taught.)There was the ... coincidence? that the murder involves a guy being stabbed with a pen … and then a little while later the narrator has to snatch a pen away from a cat "Before he could stab himself in the roof of the mouth". No comment about the connection there is made. And honestly, I got tired of the narrator's father kissing her on the forehead or the top of her head. I'm not sure how you can write something that repetitive without it being noticed by someone. And why on earth is the fact that someone is exactly three minutes late cause for deep terror? A dog barks up a storm; someone talks a million miles a minute; someone's mouth was running nonstop; lots of people babble (another annoying repetition); someone "elect[s]" an article of clothing (for what office?)… One more incredibly obnoxious cozy trope this indulged in to the hilt: surrounding the main character with morons. (To make her look smarter without actually making her smart, I suppose?) Here, a friend of the narrator tries (unsuccessfully) to hide a new romance – but it was so obvious that it took her explaining that she was trying to keep it on the down-low for me to know that. Most unbearable, though, was "Rita", a fan of the narrator's father who makes Kathy Bates's character in "Misery" look sane and tranquil. It was actually hard to read the last scene she was in.I gave this book two stars initially, but I'm looking at the sheer number of times I actually swore at the book, its characters, and/or its author in my notes, and … yeah. One star is more reasonable. I wouldn't read anything else from this series at gunpoint.The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
    • 3/5
      Book received from NetGalley.This fourth book in the series starts out with a surprise visit by the main character's father and ends up with both Krissy Hancock and her father involved in a murder investigation. It was a fun quick read, I did have some issues keeping up with backstories due to it being the fourth book in the series. I figured out "whodunnit" a little over half way through the book. So it was very well plotted out and it kept me interested to the end. It was a quick read and a good way to escape for a few hours.