Nashville’s perkiest private eye—coffeehouse manager Juliet Langley—goes undercover in the party-planning industry to solve a suspicious death in this thrilling cozy mystery from USA Today bestselling author Caroline Fardig. Inspired by her past sleuthing successes, Juliet Langley has officially joined the ranks of Nashville’s licensed private investigators. Her best friend, Pete Bennett, … best friend, Pete Bennett, doesn’t worry that her detective work might interfere with her full-time job running his coffeehouse, Java Jive. He just wishes she would spend her free time rejoining the local music scene instead of tailing cheating spouses. But when one of Java Jive’s baristas, Shane, asks Juliet to look into the suspicious death of his fiancée, Pete encourages her to plow full steam ahead.
Since his fiancée died on the job, Shane suspects that her party-planning colleagues are up to something criminal—and will do anything to keep it quiet. After Juliet recruits Pete to go undercover with her at a wedding showcase, she discovers that white lace and black satin have a way of hiding big, fat secrets.
If that weren’t enough to fill her plate, her latest P.I. job has her crossing paths with her ex, Detective Ryder Hamilton. They’re barely on speaking terms, but to solve the case, they might have to cooperate. No matter where Juliet goes, she’s brewing up trouble.
Don’t miss any of Caroline Fardig’s thrilling Java Jive mysteries:
DEATH BEFORE DECAF | MUG SHOT | A WHOLE LATTE MURDER | BREW OR DIE
“I was hooked from the first page. I loved it!”—Dorothy Cannell, award-winning author of the Ellie Haskell mysteries, on Death Before Decaf
“This author comes up with some very interesting ways to kill someone, and her injection of humor at just the right time is perfect. On its own, Mug Shot is a really good read, but if you follow the series, it will be even better.”—Linda Thompson, host of The Authors Show
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Enjoyed it tremendously! I’m not a coffee drinker but information was good and characters truly realistic. Would like to read all in this series!
What seems like just another cozy is actually remarkably likable characters and a unique take on the “Insert career here” that also solves mysteries formula.
At first glance, the main character is another fiery redhead with mostly male friends and unresolved feelings for an ex. She has an artistic side and works in a coffee shop, but Juliet Langley was intensely likable. Genuinely someone I would want to get to know. She had realistic reactions to her situations, she feels strongly for her friends, and is hard pressed to write anyone completely off.
While the mystery itself wasn’t something I hadn’t seen before, Juliet’s personality kept me up late turning pages. And instead of being fraught with details of her singing aspirations, the songwriting was very subtle and readable.
The RedHeaded She Devil is the name
attributed to Juliet Langley. She is the
manager of the Java Jive coffeehouse,
a PI ( private investigator ) with singing
and song writing abilities. Juliet has been
pacified since dating MNPD John Stafford.
Is this too good to be true? Has she
become a boring person?
This story follows Juliet as she increases
her skills as a PI. The reader will go on an
undercover operations with Juliet as she
investigates two situations.
An co-owner of a company named
Wonder-Gen Fabrications hires Maya and
Juliet to check into dealings his partner
might be involved in that are shady. While
monitoring the company in an unmarked
van, Juliet unearths things that affect her
especially when Detective Ryder Hamilton
appears at her stakeout. Seems he is also
checking things out about this company.
But to solve the case they need to work
together putting their past behind them.
Will they be able to accomplish this or will
the RedHeaded She Devil reappear ???
One of the Java Jive employee’s fiancée is
found dead at her workplace. The case was
classified on drug overdose. But was it or was
sinister play involved??
Juliet with her boss and long time best friend,
Pete Bennett go undercover at a wedding
showcase given by the party-planning company
where the fiancée died. Will the RedHeaded She
Devil be able to remain subdued??
Many puzzle pieces with danger, suspense,
drugs, murder, intriguing twists, turns, stalking,
gunshots, new and old romantic ties plus
humorous escapades make this story a read in
one sitting.
The characters are well defined, colorful, zany and
feisty. They are very created.
This is book # 4 in A Java Jive Mystery series. It
can be read as a stand alone.
Fantastic read!!!
I volunteered to read this eBook. Thank you to
Alibi via Net Gallery for this opportunity. My opinion
is my own.
This was a good addition to the Java Jive Mystery series, but not the best in the series. I enjoyed the first three books more than this one.
It is book four in the series. Juliet has recently received her PI license and is working with a friend’s agency. She also maintains her job managing the coffee shop. She has a steady boyfriend, Pete has a steady girlfriend. And then Ryder shows up. Cue the awkward love triangles. I get that Juliet still has feelings for Ryder, but after the way he behaved in previous books, I don’t understand why she would want him anymore.
This book tries to solve two mysteries. Who killed Shane’s fiancée and also, what shady things are going on at Wonder-Gen Fabrications. The Wonder-Gen case is for the PI agency, but the murder case is personal.
I felt like this book tried to cover too much ground. It would have been better if there was only one mystery to focus on. Keeping everybody straight, remembering which suspect belonged to which case, it all began to get a little complicated. Juliet’s love life is a problem too. She is dating John, starting to have feelings again for Ryder, and still has an odd relationship with Pete. I think it is time for her to settle down with one guy.
I enjoyed the beginning of the book very much. It felt like reconnecting with old friends. By the end of the book, I was getting tired and ready to move on.
I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
3 stars to Caroline Fardig’s Brew or Die: A Java Jive Mystery, the fourth book in her “Java Jive” mystery series. When I first began reading this book, it reminded me of either Sue Grafton’s “Kinsey Millhone Alphabet” series or Janet Evanovich’s “Stephanie Plum” series, given they are about independent PIs or bail bonds women… and then when this book covered running a coffee shop, I thought of all the food related cozies. By the end, I struggled a little bit as it didn’t quite fit into either type of series, but grew on me more as I went along. That said…
Cause I wasn’t quite sure I had enough to be able to keep up with some of the character’s perkiness! Truth be told, I think I may have been a victim of that disease we all suffer from occasionally “OuttaOrderRead.” I rarely contract it, but on occasion, I’m weak, and it happens. It did because NetGalley offered it as an easy request, and I am new to NetGalley, and I had to increase my %… so I caused it all myself. When I went back to read the summaries of Books 1 thru 3, I thought… “oh, these sound good.” End result: Read this series in order, I suspect it may be better than I am thinking.
Story
Juliet and Pete are best friends and they run a coffee cafe in Nashville. They are probably in love but keep dating other people. Pete’s previous girlfriend was killed and he’s now dating someone who was impacted by her murder (happened in last book, not sure). Juliet was dating a detective who worked on the last murder case, but he left her (unknown reasons again) and she’s now dating another cop (who seems a bit boring). Juliet’s also just gotten her PI license and is working for Maya on “lighter” cases to get her situated in the biz. Two plots in this book (all for the price of one):
1. Shane works for Pete. His girlfriend was just found dead of an overdose at her desk at work, where she was a party planner for a well-known paparazzi family. He begs Juliet to prove she was murdered, and Pete wants to help. As she investigates, Juliet realizes that Shane’s girlfriend, Josie, had a bit of an unknown past; however, she also was caught up in a bizarre land of parties where the hosts bring in Hollywood-type entertainment, drugs and lots of booze. Juliet and Pete get close to Josie’s colleagues, quickly learning everyone stabbed each other in the back. But which one was after Josie?
2. Juliet gets her first PI case from Maya: to help Gentry figure out what his partner is doing in their shared warehouse business, as suddenly there is an influx of cash and a lot of confusing deliveries. Juliet goes undercover with Maya as the cleaning staff and infiltrates the organization from the inside out. When Maya has to visit her sister who just had a baby, she asks Ryder, the detective who hurt Juliet in the last book, to help watch over Juliet. Ryder and Juliet are forced to spend time together, re-living their old relationship and sparks fly again, despite that Juliet’s now with the new boring cop. When Juliet realizes it is drugs being smuggled in the warehouse organization, and finds her new boss at the warehouse dead from some weird powder, her two cases collide.
How do drugs cross both cases? Who is the supplier and who is really buying them? Which new friends should she trust? You gotta read to figure that out! 🙂
Strengths
The setting for this series works. You’ve got a good way Juliet can connect with her clients and cases, given she works at a PI firm, is a musician, runs a coffee shop and has a close relationship with the local police.
Juliet’s a cool character. She’s funny, has some substance, a good head on her shoulders and has an analytical mind. Pete’s a nice guy, too, and I’m curious if something will ever occur between them.
The plot of both primary mysteries was interesting and held my attention. It was mid-level complexity, which meant I had to work a little to think about who could be the culprits; however, it was an easy read that didn’t require me to stop and think well into overtime about all the options.
Suggestions
While I like the approach of having two big mysteries, it brought in such a large cast of characters, it was hard to keep track of who was important. Each story line had 12 to 15 suspects or supporting characters, plus the various romances going on… at some point, there were 40 people to keep track of and when the stories collided, I was a little frustrated. If the series sticks with 2 primary cases in each book, the suspect list needs to be a little smaller in each one.
Parts were a little too perky and too romance-driven. Parts were just silly. It was like eating too much candy at some point.
Final Thoughts
If you want to try this series, start with Book 1 — even tho I haven’t read it yet. It’ll make more sense from the beginning, and then you can decide if you like the characters to stick with it. The more I read it, the better it got (going from 2.5 to a 3ish rating). I put it down 2 or 3 times the first few days and barely squeaked out 50% over those few days (rare, but slow for me). But then the last night, I buckled down and finished the last 50% in one sitting… I mean bedding. I was laying in bed. Do you call that bedding? Eh… I think I’m done here.
*This review is kind of short because I don’t want to give anything away by book #4* If you like a quirky main female character who is a bad ass, pick this up. I must say that the covers are not my favorite but it’s the words that you care about
My heart kind of hurt reading this one. I am completely team Ryder at this point and his team goes down at the end of this book, without giving away too many details.
Caroline Fardig did another great job in creating another story that keeps the reader invested in the characters lives and keeping an interesting story line going. The sort of pickles that Juliet gets into keeps getting better in this book.
Book #5 is coming right back up!
Sorry, didn’t meet my expectations for this type of book. Other authors have done this much better.
Predictable
I enjoyed it, it had all of the above@
Formulaic Cozy.
Fun to read
Too informative. I found myself skipping parts because it was too drawn out. I enjoyed the characters and setting though.
I love ALL of these books about Juliet, the coffee house manager/ Private eye! It is like coming home to old friends to read these books with the cast of characters who remain true friends through some outrageous events! Great way to escape into fun fiction!
The characters are fun and the story has a nice flow. I just didn’t like the ending!
I totally enjoyed it. What I found different was the ending. Wasnt what I expected at all yet left me kind of wanting more. Try it. Its worth reading
Enjoyable. Fun to read about hometown and where you went to college.