DEATH BY FRENCH ROAST

A 30-year-old cold case heats up when an amateur sleuth becomes curious.

Krissy Hancock, owner of a bookstore/cafe in Pine Hills, Ohio, is no stranger to murder. When her grouchy neighbor Eleanor Winthrow dies, Krissy, who’s helping Eleanor's daughter pack up the house, learns that Eleanor had long been depressed over the unsolved murder of Wade, her brother. At the time he was killed, the town was up in arms over 30-something Wade’s dating a teenage girl. Wade made so many enemies that nobody was much interested in catching his murderer. That teen is now Krissy’s friend Rita Jablonski, who’s never married or mentioned her past. Krissy decides to investigate to honor Eleanor and help Rita. She learns that Wade had a group of friends who still meet for coffee every morning. Even the current police chief, Patricia Dalton, the mother of Krissy’s love interest, Paul, is reluctant to talk about the past, especially since a former colleague was a suspect. All of Wade’s friends were cleared, but most do not have kind thoughts about him or Krissy. When one of them is murdered just before he's about to reveal something to her, it becomes clear that the killer is still around and willing to strike again to hide his identity.

Erickson’s intrepid sleuth makes some reckless choices in her determined hunt for a surprising killer.