CAppuccios, cupcakes and a corpse



Author: Harper Lin
Pages: 286
Genre: Crime mystery thriller
First Published: May 2015
Book description (from Good Reads): Francesca Amaro moves back to her hometown of Cape Bay, Massachussetts, and takes over the family business, Antonia's Italian Café. She spends her days making delicious artisan cappuccinos, until she stumbles upon her neighbor's dead body. When the police discover Mr. Cardosi was poisoned, Francesca becomes a suspect.
The Victim's son Matty happens to be Francesca's old high school friend. Together, they uncover the secrets of the locals in order to find the killer in their idyllic beach town.

Things to consider:
  1. Characters 8.0 
    1. The characters are captivating, Francesca and Matty are awesome and you start to discover and explore them as an acquaintance and then as friends but there is no real growth in either of them. They get close to each other due the to circumstance and that's it. Separately I personally have issues with Francesca, she's very noisy and lacks tact. She definitely does not know how to put herself in other people's place. Most of the time I felt her insensible towards Matt, he had just lost his father and she was just looking at a mystery to solve. The least she could have done is try to approach the subject a bit more subtle. It felt like either she's not empathic at all or just a way to move the story along where the plot needed it. 
    2. Mr Cardosi, along with his lady friend and the other friend, are an interesting couple of acquaintances as well, very open-minded and still realistic in their style of life and life choices. 
    3. Other characters make an appearance but nothing too remarkable, this book does not have too many characters just a few and from there the exploring of the mystery issues. 
  2. Logic 7.5 
    1. The mystery was not great, mainly you liked the characters and that was it. It looked a bit all over the place as Francesca was trying to solve it. I guess it makes kind of sense because she was an amateur investigator if that. The big reveal was not great, the main focus was not really the mystery it was the characters and the way they come together. 
    2. It did make sense that Francesca was a suspect but she was not really treated like one. It also makes perfect sense that she became close to the victim's son or that they grow close together during those turbulent times. What doesn't make sense is her sudden and abrupt wish to own a pet and then suddenly one appearing to save her the trouble, it was a bit forced, it was a bit too well orchestrated. 
    3. Many points of the mystery solving involved a whole lot of luck, makes sense she did not solve anything by being extremely talented investigator but because slowly but surely all the pieces fall into place. 
  3. Writing Style: 8.0 
    1. It is a romance with a bit of some mystery aspect that gives a perfect excuse for people to meet. The mystery part of this you can skim over it is simply ok. The main focus is on the romance and the characters moving on from their grief. It is fast paced in every aspect the mystery and the romance, you know where it is going very early on. 
    2. It is a nice fluffy read to get through very fast. It has its advances of not having love triangles or cheating in a relationship as something to be simply ignored. I like that it does not fall in either of those two things. 
  4. Intention: 8.0
    1. It meets its intention for the most part. What do I mean? 
    2. Mystery Thriller: Unless you are very new or you don't like that genre this is a very weak example of who did it mystery thriller. But it is a great choice if you look for a nice contemporary romance novel to enjoy, the mystery is a "big" part of the story and without it there would be no story but it is not the thing that grips you mostly. 
    3. Gives love another perspective: The relationships here are well done, it is not exactly insta-love because people have known each other for a very long time even if in the time frame that the relationship develops is fairly small: but the people involved are older (not 15-16 year-olds) most of the time you already know what you are looking for in a partner and they both felt something for the other and decide to act on it soon. It still brings a good love story, no classical love triangle and no law enforcement love interest like in many overly romantic mystery-crime thrillers. 
  5. Enjoyment 8.5 
    1. I liked the story as I was reading it even if it was not exactly the storyline I had imagined it to be. It was proposed as a crime mystery thriller, from my P.O.V. and it was not as heavily focused on the investigation, at least not from the law enforcement so the investigating taken place here left a lot to be desired, but it was done by a few amateurs I could really not expect excellence from it, it would not make sense if it were. 
  6. Plot: 7.5 
    1. Was a good start, the story starts strong with a dramatic mystery but then it wanes and it is more focused on the character's relationships. It felt a bit forced, the ending and the way things lined up perfectly but overall it made an ok read. 
  7. Intrigue 6.5 
    1. Nothing too surprising, just an entertaining read, helps to get through a book quickly. 
Total Score: 54.0
Average: 7.0
Star Rating 3.0

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