Cappuccinos, Cupcakes, and a Corpse by Harper Lin

From USA TODAY Bestselling Author Harper Lin: a dessert cozy mystery series set in a charming beach town! Francesca Amaro moves back to her hometown of Cape Bay, Massachusetts, 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. Includes two special recipes! This is the first novel in The Cape Bay Cafe mystery series. keywords: cozy mystery cozy mystery bestseller cozy mystery first in series Cafe cozy mystery cozy mystery with recipes cozy mystery with dogs cozy mystery series with romance small town cozy mystery beach town cozy mystery series cupcake cozy mystery

A very typical, light, cozy mystery. Nothing ground breaking, nothing shocking and no big twists. The mystery itself was on the weaker side, the red herrings were obvious and the ending didn't connect very well. The characters were for the most part likeable and fun - except when Fran was acting like she as the owner of coffee shop knew how to do an investigation better than the police. Seriously, she needed to binge watch a few episodes of Law and Order or Perry Mason or Columbo (or any other detective show out there) before going out and buying her cute little notebook. But other than that, the writing was good and it was nice to read a cozy mystery that isn't set in the some where in the south.

I liked it, too. Nice cozy.
I like that they are more and more telling the MCs to leave the sleuthing to the professionals and how nosy knowitalls are more a nuisance, and in some instances trouble to police to investigate crime. Seriously, well-meaning idiots have actually destroyed evidence.
I also like the main couple :-)
And the reader is amazing.

3.5 Rounded to a 3. I picked up the audio for this through my library to fulfill a book bingo prompt. For the most part it was enjoyable, quick and fun to listen to. There were times the narrator irked me but that happens to me a lot with audio anyway so that didn't play into my rating.

I know Cozies are supposed to be an amateur sleuth who takes on the mystery in hopes of solving it. However, the MC in this one doesn't really do any sleuthing .. she talks to people and makes wild guesses and accusations .. which are all wrong.

I am not giving up on this series just yet. It could be that the author is just opening it up and will develop the character in future books so I'm willing to give the 2nd one a try and see where it goes.