Brew or Die A Java Jive Mystery by Caroline Fardig

313 Pages
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Alibi, Alibi
Release Date: April 25, 2017

Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Women Sleuth, Private Detective

Juliet Langley has just received her private detective license. Now that she is legitimate, she has to follow the rules. Her friend and boss, Maya, is back in England visiting so Juliet is on her own to finish their warehouse theft case. This causes her to run into her old flame, Ryder Hamilton. Pete, her best friend, and owner of Java Jive asks her to investigate the death of an employee’s fiancé. The police wrote off her death as an accidental heroin overdose.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the first-person point of view. This is my favorite of all the Java Jive book in the series. Now that Juliet is not just a nosy person, she is more serious about investigating and feels more substantial. If you like mysteries with humor and some romance, you will enjoy this story.

If you're in need of a laugh Java Jive never lets you down! Another great installment to the Java Jive Mystery series!

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. The word building was phenomenal in this book. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

I was given this book by the author & publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.. THANK YOU!! Loved this book. Sassy & zany characters, along with a fun storyline make this a truly an enjoyable read. So far I've enjoyed all of Ms. Fardig's the books that I've read. Keep up the good work!!

Juliet is now a licensed PI, which means she can do more than just poke around. This is the fourth installment in a fun cozy series but it will be fine read as a standalone- and then you'll look for more from Fardig.

Carolyn Fardig’s delightful Java Jive mysteries finds the protagonist, Juliet Langley, getting herself into more than enough trouble in the fourth installment of the series, Brew or Die. Juliet, who manages her best friend’s coffee house, Java Jive, has, in the past, acted as an amateur sleuth to get herself or friends off the hook for murder. She has done so well, that she just obtained a license and is now an official Nashville Private Investigator. This certainly comes in handy when Shane, one of Java Jive’s Barristers needs help looking into the murder of his fiancé. Juliet goes undercover at a wedding, and takes her best friend, Pete Bennett with her to get to the bottom of what is going on in the party planning industry. Unfortunately, Juliet gets into plenty of trouble, may not actually solve the murder, and may set herself up to be one who is murdered.

Fardig does a good job of weaving a believable tale, and she also does well when developing her characters. Readers who have enjoyed the previous books in the series already know and love Juliet and Pete, and each book makes them even more believable and real. Fardig usually inserts some romance into her cozy mysteries, and this one includes one of Juliet’s ex-boyfriends; the relationship isn’t the best, and that adds some ups and downs while the suspense builds.

Readers who are familiar with Fardig and this Java Jive series, will want to pick up this novel. It’s a fun, fast read without any graphic violence, sex, and language.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

4.5 Stars

This is the fourth book in the Java Jive Mystery series by Caroline Fardig.

Juliet has finally received her PI (private investigator) license much to her boss, Pete’s dismay. Since trouble seems to know where Juliet lives, it is only natural that all sorts of bad guys seem to be drawn to her. One of the guys who works with them at Java Jive has Juliet and Pete look into the death of his girlfriend. In between investigating, Juliet finally commits to furthering her relationship with Detective John Stafford. But her old flame Detective Ryder Hamilton is still watching over her even though he has become enemy number one to her.

I don’t want to give too much away since the journey through this is what makes it so good. I enjoy how indecisive Juliet is in her love life and her investigation. And just when she thinks she has set herself in the right direction, it all goes horribly wrong.

I am now reading the fifth book in the series and wonder if there will be other books showing up after that. I really like this universe Fardig has created! This is definitely a good cozy series to dig into if you want to read something that is outstanding.

If you love a good cozy mystery, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

BOOK REVIEW⠀
BOOK: Brew or Die
AUTHOR: Caroline Fardig
@carolinefardigbooks

I actually read this book a few years ago, but for some reason the review never posted. So I am redoing it now.

I love this series and have actually read all of the ones before this. The heroine is very likeable and charming. The mystery is easy to follow and fun to figure out. It was one of my most looked forward to reads and it did not disappoint. If you like mystery series, you will LOVE this one.

Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Inspired by her past sleuthing successes, Juliet Langley has officially joined the ranks of Nashville’s licensed private investigators. Her 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.

I received this book for review purposes from NetGalley. ⠀

Another light, funny read from Caroline Fardig.
Juliet is manning her first PI job and also investigating the death of the fiancée of one of her employees. And yes, solving her complicated love life.

And the said love life truly gets old. this time there are three guys involved? Oh my.

Fortunately the light humour stays, and the certain warmness, too. But I truly could do with less promoting of "hot sex means the true relationship".

Another great Java Jive mystery. Juliet has gotten her PI license much to Pete’s dismay. Yet when Juliet goes on a job for her boss, Maya, Pete wants to be in the thick of things. What could go wrong with two of them on the job? EVERYTHING.

Between being hired to find out where an influx of money is coming from to finding out why the fiancé of a Java Jive employee is dead, there is never a dull moment for Juliet and Pete.

If that wasn’t enough, Juliet’s former boyfriend, Ryder, has been working on his attitude and they are becoming just friends, until Juliet realizes she wants to try again. Unfortunately, Maya and Ryder have asked for her blessing to become a couple. How can she say no after she told Ryder she only wanted to be friends? I see another book in the making.

Inspired by her past sleuthing successes, Juliet Langley has officially joined the ranks of Nashville’s licensed private investigators. Although her best friend, cafe owner, and boss Pete, does not mind her sleuthing, he wants her to get back to her music career, not spend her time working as a PI. Having said that, it doesn't stop him from jumping in with both feet to help Jules solve the cases she is working on. Juliet’s first official case is to collect evidence of a cheating husband - and that gets Juliet accused of stabbing him! There are two different cases happening in this book. When one of her staff, Shane, loses his fiancee to an overdose, he is adamant that she did not do drugs and that she was killed. He asks her to investigate and prove that it was murder before the police close the case. In her PI job, she is working for a partner in a small metal fabricating company. He wants to find out where the influx of money is coming from that his partner is infusing into the company. With two law enforcement officials in her life, her present boyfriend and her ex, she gets more information given to her than the normal PI. She is also still having feelings, even though she does not want to, for Ryder, her ex.

This is a fun series. The story has great characters, several of whom have secrets that will be uncovered as the story progresses. We don't see much of Gertie in this story and I missed her sarcasm and wit but I know she is still around and I look forward to seeing her again in the next story. This story is a crazy, fun, light, mystery packed with humour, murder, misdirection and romance! I recommend this one to any cozy mystery lover.

Not having read the first books in the series, I wish I had. Not that the story isn't a fun and charming story, there's just some background I wish I had. Despite that I enjoyed the book nonetheless.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

This is the fourth of the Java Jive books and I have loved them all. The characters are well developed and come to life. It feels like you are at the coffee shop with all of them. The book is just the right length to keep you wanting more. The plot has humor, romance, mystery and action. I have already started book 5 and it seems to be as good as the others. I received this ebook free from NetGalley for an honest review.

Another great installment to the Java Jive Mystery series! Really enjoyed it!

I've stuck with this four book series since the beginning and am enjoying each one. This is the best yet. Juliet now has her PI license, which means she's getting some training and has a reason to be investigating crimes. But she still manages to get her personal life twisted up into the mysteries and that complicates things in entertaining ways. This is a cozy mystery story, after all.

The writing is light and airy and smooth. The characters are likable, the situations are mostly believable and the mysteries are intriguing.

In this latest installment of the Java Jive mysteries, Juliet very reluctantly gets pulled in to work with Pete to find out about the death of one of the cafe worker's girlfriends. They go deep into the world of Nashville's party planners and their cutthroat competition. My that Pete looks good in a tux!. With stumbles along the way in both her personal and professional lives, Juliet does indeed figure out who is the murderer. The question is can she do it before she or Pete ends up dead?

Loved it - fits well in with the Java Jive series. The overall relationships that have been building over the course of the series do hit a bit of a lull.

This has been my favorite in this series so far. There is less "red headed she devil" and more level headed interesting interactions with Juliet. There is still the back and forth between her and Pete, but it seems less intrusive to the story in this one.

I love cozy mystery series and this is a great one to add to my collection! It's a fun quest to solve a mystery, has likeable characters, and a story that I'd like to continue. Thanks for the review copy!

Awesome book with a captivating plot, going to read the next one as soon as possible!