My Fair Latte by Vickie Fee is the first book in the NEW “Cafe Cinema” cozy mystery series. Publisher: Henery Press, coming March 3, 2020.

Broke, unemployed barista Halley Greer is shocked when she inherits an Art Deco movie palace from the great uncle, she remembers meeting once as a child. She moves to the charming tourist town of Utopia Springs, Arkansas to claim her legacy.

In addition to the timeworn theater, she discovers she’s also inherited a trash-heaped apartment, family secrets, her uncle’s friends, a stealthy calico kitty—and an adversary.

With a whole latte help from her new friends, the feisty barista fixes up and re-opens the theater as a coffee and wine bar, showing classic films. She generates some steam with a hunky local—and risks getting burned. The opening night of My Fair Lady looks like a big hit, and her new life feels like a bit of movie magic, until a customer turns up dead during intermission.

With the cops eyeing her as a suspect, Halley digs into the victim’s life and runs into a tangle of blackmail and secrets. Can Halley and her friends unmask a killer before the curtain comes down for keeps?

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This was a fun book to read. I love the comfortable tone and the pacing which was on par with how well this drama was being told. The mystery was well-crafted with a tightly woven plot that included a small pool of suspects and a protagonist who was determined to remove herself from being a prime suspect and find a killer hiding in plain sight. I like how each character was introduced with the right amount of backstory to keep me engrossed in all that was happening.

The author did a great job in setting this up with visually descriptive narrative with engaging dialogue and I enjoyed the camaraderie between this eclectic cast of characters. There were plenty of clues and a few strategically placed twists that enhanced my reading pleasure. I had a good time following along with Halley and then that aha moment set the stage to a climatic ending where the killer’s identity was revealed and the aftermath of that discovery.

When all was said and done, I enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to read the next book in this wonderfully appealing new series.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss.