Genre: Cozy mystery

Synopsis: Portland is famous for its rain, hipsters, craft beers...and coffee. Sage Caplin has high hopes for her coffee truck, Ground Rules, which she runs with her business partner, Harley--a genius at roasting beans and devising new blends. That's essential in a city where locals have intensely strong opinions about cappuccino versus macchiato--especially in the case of one of Sage's very first customers... 

Sage finds the man's body in front of her truck, a fatal slash across his neck. There's been plenty of anger in the air, from long-time vendors annoyed at Ground Rules taking a coveted spot in the food truck lot, to protestors demonstrating against a new high-rise. But who was mad enough to commit murder? Sage is already fending off trouble in the form of her estranged, con-artist mother, who's trying to trickle back into her life. But when Sage's very own box cutter is discovered to be the murder weapon, she needs to focus on finding the killer fast--before her business, and her life, come to a bitter end...

Content/Trigger Warnings: Death/murder, classism, homelessness, abuse/neglect

There's always been this goofy stigma around cozy mysteries. They're like the Lifetime movies of murder mysteries, but they're still enjoyable. Fresh Brewed Murder is pretty much the epitome of the cozy mystery genre. It's a bit corny, but also deals with sociological issues. Unfortunately, there were certainly issues with the book that I just didn't love. I liked the premise of the book, but probably won't finish the series because this one just wasn't great.

As mentioned, I liked the premise of the book and the main character, Sage, was likeable enough. But the flow of the book is really off. The chapters end so abruptly and are never really at a stopping point. Throughout the entire book, so many situations hop from one point to the next and often characters just appear with no entrance into the scene. I often found myself rereading sentences or flipping back a few pages because I thought I misread something or actually skipped a page completely.

The book got quite a bit punnier at the end, but it also almost seemed like a different book. At least, the tone of the book was much different between the beginning and the end. Then the book wrapped up way too quickly. The big reveal was very short and then the book basically ended. It was just over. It was all too rushed. I will say that the killer wasn't who I expected though - there were so many different suspects it really could've been anybody. 

I wish I could've enjoyed the book more, but it really just fell short. But all the coffee knowledge was really fun - plus there are some recipes at the end to give a try.