Paul O’Connor recommends a debut mystery novel that should  go well with your morning (or any time of day) cup of coffee. He hopes the author will keep writing.

Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor

THE REGULARS OF AMANDA LEXIE. By J.J. Hanna. Torchflame Books. 161 pages. $16.99, softcover.

 

Amanda Lexie is the star barista stationed at the drive-thru window of a Denver coffee shop. She knows two things about her clients: Their first names and their regular drinks. Cheerful and polite, she’s everyone’s favorite.

When two law enforcement agencies detect a pattern of cybercrime activity in the area around the coffee shop, Amanda gets dragged into custody for questioning, not as a suspect but as someone who might know something about the perpetrators.

Why? Because both the law enforcement officers on the case are among her regulars, and it’s very likely that the criminals are, too. Heck, unbeknownst to each other, they are all probably in the same 6 a.m. line waiting for their mochas, lattes or espressos when Amanda starts taking orders.

For those of us who brew with K-cups in our own kitchens every morning, this connection between barista and customer might sound a bit farfetched. But J.J. Hanna was a barista once, and she’s the type who sits in coffee shops for hours – using the Wi-Fi and taking up a table. She knows the culture. And, yes, she claims, a star barista really does occupy a special place in their honor in the life of a caffeine junkie.

So when Amanda fails to show for work one morning, after having been grabbed by the federal agent, it gets the city detective and the two criminal hackers to worrying: They all know this has something to do with them, but they don’t know what. The four having rival interests, they all plot against each other, at least for a while.

What follows is a thrilling ride through the world of cybercrime, hacking and law enforcement efforts to fight it. Unlike the movies, in which we’re asked to believe that some good guy hacker can appear and miraculously hack into all the right answers, this book has the miracle workers – not all good guys – take us through their steps to find all the right answers. (Makes you wonder how Hanna really makes a living.)

The book is outright fun. It’s lively, fast-paced and easy to follow. And it’s wonderfully short. Even I got through it in a day. (Maybe two. There was football on Saturday.)

This is Hanna’s first mystery, but I don’t think it will be her last. Hell, if we can have priests, ministers and bartenders solving crimes on Masterpiece Mystery, why not baristas?

• Paul T. O’Connor is a retired journalist and author of The Missing Child: The Life She Lived and The Life She Missed.