Cappuccinos, Cupcakes, and a Corpse (A Cape Bay Cafe Mystery Book 1)

Worth reading once on a cosy afternoon for a light read. It's kind of suspenseful and doesn't drag the story.

The best thing thing is the suspect it s a surprise till end and it is well written to hold the suspense and curiosity pushes you on to read. Even if one is not a mystery novel reader, the book is nice enough to enjoy.

When choosing a book for my reading challenge category ‘a book by an author with your initials,’ I didn’t have much choice. I narrowed it down to Harper Lee ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ or one of Harper Lin’s books. So I had to choose between an old classic that could potentially bore me to death or one that has a ridiculous title and cover but could be interesting.I went with the latter, and I’m so glad I did. The title and cover do not do this justice. I really expected it to be cheesy and silly, but it wasn’t. Yes, it is a light read and has some fun moments, but it is so well written that you can get lost in the story and feel invested in the events.Francessca or ‘Franny’ has had to return to Cape Bay under tragic circumstances, and it looks like her life is falling apart. This is made so much worse when she finds her neighbour dead in his back yard. However, once she appoints herself, the local investigator into the crime, things ironically start to look up for her. She reacquaints herself with an old friend, and you can practically feel the chemistry between them bubbling off the page.The investigation is lighthearted and a little amateur, but this is intentional as she isn’t police nor a qualified detective. The only slightly confusing moment was the action scene with her on the stairs. I did get a little lost in the description of what was happening. This was only a slight moment of confusion, and I accepted what had happened and moved on.I was pleasantly surprised by this book, and it has left me wanting to reach for the follow-on books in the series. I also know my mum would love this author as she enjoys lighthearted crime novels where nothing is too gruesome nor anything that will make her too anxious. So I will definitely be recommending these to her.

I really loved this charming, sweet and totally believable book. It is a long time since I have read something so lovely. This was a recommendation from a site that sends me daily e book deals and so I hadn't invested too much in it, but I would now pay a lot more to get the next instalment.This is murder mystery about a small town girl Francesca who has been living in New York until her mother died leaving her the family home and business, a coffee shop as her inheritence. It is couple months into her return to the town when she finds the body of her next door neighbour Mr Cardosi on her way home from work, which also leads to her reaquatance with his son Matt, her childhood friend. It is is their friendship and the simpleness of her curiousity into his father's death that made me admire the skill and humanity this novel is written with.Getting to know these two characters was so realistic. There are no big action sequences, no big declarations of love, Francesca doesn't endless think about Matt and over objectify him the way so many authors seem to do. That's what I loved about this is so normal and real, Matty and Franny could be people anyone knows. I also loved the fact that their conversations were also so well thought out and I didn't feel like they were from the same person.I have read this in one sitting and really dreaded finishing it as it has been so enjoyable, Franny is such a nice character, so unlike all the other sequels I have listed but not got yet, I literally downloading immediately the next book in this series. Couldn't recommend this highly enough.Plus the author has very kindly added two cake recipes at the end of the book which I can't wait to try.

I really liked this book, it's a far cry from my usual choice of thrillers and murders but I enjoyed every page. Franny is a most likeable and engaging character. She has returned to her home town of Cape Bay after the death of her mother and takes over the running of the family coffee shop. Walking home one night she discovers the body of her elderly neighbour. Local barber Gino is a crotchety old man but no one deserves to be murdered and the township is shocked to learn that is exactly what has happened to Gino. Franny and her old friend Matty, who also happens to be Ginos son aim to investigate the murder and hopefully uncover the perpetrator. In doing so Franny mistakenly points the finger at the wrong man, gets injured herself, adopts a gorgeous scruffy dog she names Latte and saves the life of Matty who is about to become victim number two.It really is a most entertaining and enjoyable read and I can't wait to read the next book in the series. Highly recommended

Some books can be summed entirely by their titles: Cappuccinos, Cupcakes and a Corpse is one of them. It's a frothy and enjoyable tale, ably (and delicately) toeing the line between chicklit and mystery. Part of the charm is actually the lack of danger - that's 'Corpse', not 'Corpses' - so the greatest peril a character has is being tripped down some stairs. But because the author refuses descend into self-parody it all works; this is writing that's meant to be comfortable and entertaining, not thrilling or horrifying or even sexy. The writing's good, too - here's an indie author with the ability to craft passages without repeated words or excess adverbs, and without over-explaining the thoughts of characters, paired with discipline to check and present her work well. And if you turn pages because you're happy to do so, not because the book demands it, that's fine. That's the kind of book it is. So settle down with a frothy coffee and enjoy.

This is the story Francesca Amaro who returns to her hometown after her mother has passed away.She now works in the family cafe designing the froth on the cappuccinos and baking.On her way home after she has left early from work she sees Mr Cardosi sitting on the front porch, looking like he is alseep, but in fact she discovers he has actually died, he friend from high school Matthew “Matty” Cardosi is the son and is distraught when they both find that he was posioned, and go on their own investigation to find the killer.I really enjoyed this book by Harper Lin, but I found that Fran was a little too womens lib with the whole “I’m paying” thing. Other than that I enjoyed the attraction between Fran and Matt and how they worked together to catch a killer.