Never had I heard of or read a ‘cozy murder’ story. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I was curious and downloaded Spells and Spiced Latte onto my Kindle. I am so glad that I did!
Maddie Goodwell is a twenty-six-year-old who lives with her Persian cat, Trixie, and runs a coffee truck with her friend Suzanne Taylor in a small town outside of Seattle. Maddie is a witch who can only cast one spell – a vision spell that she can only see in a freshly brewed cup of coffee. She is hopeful that when she turns twenty-seven, her powers will mature and she will be able to cast more spells. But for now, she occasionally casts her Coffee Vision Spell to see what the next 24-hours has in store. One day she casts her spell on a regular customer’s spiced latte and she sees her lying dead on the kitchen floor! She tries to warn her customer, Joan, but is too late. Now Maddie, Suzanne, and even Trixie are on a mission to discover who could murder such a pleasant woman. Could it be Joan’s best friend? Or her husband’s saucy assistant? Grab a cup of coffee and read this story to find out!
I must admit that I am now fan of Jinty James. I am so curious to see what Maddie and her crew are going to get into in the next book, Visions and Vanilla Cappuccino.
This book was formerly called Lethal Latte. I’m glad that the title changed; it comes across as a cozier murder mystery as Spells and Spiced Latte. This is a short book, taking me about two hours to read the less than 200 pages, but is full of clean and innocent action. My only criticism is that the characters act a little to juvenile for twenty-something year old ladies. This book is great for young teenage or tween readers – possibly a great gift for the young reader in your life!