A Whole Latte Murder

I stayed up until 1 am to finish this book and only gave it 3 stars. That might seem a little contradictory and that is a pretty good summary of the book. There are parts of the book that I am completely in love with and there are parts of the book that I detest. The plot is great. The murderer is super evil and not wholly unexpected. Some of the characters are amazing! And some I want to strangle.

The amount of hate I have for some parts of the book makes me think that the author is a genius to get me so emotionally invested in a cozy mystery.

I'm going to get into detail in the next part, so be warned this next part has spoilers.

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What I hate ..... Juliet, Pete, the hatred toward Ryder, the constant love quadrangle, and the term “Red Headed She Devil.”
I hate how Juliet pushes Ryder away and then gets upset when he acts distant. I hate how Juliet gets injured and then gets upset when people worry about her. I hate the relationship that she and Pete pretend they don't have. They make out and admit they want to be together and then decide the time isn't right, so they push one another to date other people. I hate that Pete is made to be this epic person and just comes off so unsure of everything. He can't make a decision about if he should date, who he should date, how he should treat people, who he should be friends with, etc. I get Ryder isn't liked by everyone and has this dark place that worries people, but seriously everyone hates him and Juliet together? They have their own agendas. It isn't like they are unbiased observers. Show me more of why Ryder is a bad person before you start crucifying him. Juliet needs to stop dating. She doesn't need a man to be valid. She says stuff like that, but doesn't actually do that. It isn't enough to have her pining for Pete, and confused about Ryder, but now she has to be involved with a 3rd guy. It is ridiculous. Please don't introduce any more guys. I hate the term “Red Headed She Devil”. Can she please just be angry?

What I love .... Ryder, Stafford, the tie in to book one, and the psychopath killer.
Ryder's character is getting deeper and darker. He is chasing after Amanda's killer, who is a psychopath, and the rest of the world be damned. This is a character that is worth reading about, even if all the other people in the book are awful. I do love the character of Stafford. I think he is being misused because he is a horrid pairing for Juliet. I want to see how things develop for him, but I honestly don't have much hope that things will end happily for him. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it when an author can tie up loose ends from a previous book. I don't mind having loose ends in a book, especially when they serve to further the plot of the entire series. So the fact that this murderer is Amanda's murderer makes me so happy. (Not the murder, but the plot ties.) It gives me so much hope that all the stuff that I hate in this book will get better in the next one. The killer is totally evil, a bit of a mastermind (not quite Moriarty though), and someone you want to see dead, which makes his escape a genius move for the series.

Maybe I'm supposed to be more horrified that Ryder ran off after the murder instead of tending to Juliet. I'm not and maybe that's because I'm so in love with Ryder. At first, I expected him to have back up coming, so he ran off after the murderer and back up would get Juliet. He had no way to know that there were more people hidden in the other room. But then I find out he didn't have back up coming. So I'm a little more horrified, but still not bothered to the amount I probably should be.

I think I'm looking forward to book 4, but a part of me is worried that there will be more of what I hate and less of what I love.