Murder by Coffee (Mitch & Al Mysteries)

Glenn Ickler
Sterling House Publisher, Inc. (2006)
ISBN 1563153319
Reviewed by Kelli Glesige for Reader Views (3/07)

Newspaper reporter Warren “Mitch” Mitchell and photographer Alan Jeffrey have been called by their boss at the St. Paul Daily Dispatch to cover a story in the suburban city of Afton at the Unitarian Universalist Church where seven of the ten members of the board of directors have become brutally ill after drinking coffee from the pot in the basement of the church.  It seems someone spiked the coffee with arsenic, and now Erik Peterson has died from his illness.

Upon investigating, Mitch and Al learn the Reverend Margaret Harris, who made the coffee, did not get sick.  Neither did Karen Brewster, a pharmacist, nor Derek Schmidt who is a chemist.  The investigators learn the church board has recently voted to become a Welcoming Congregation which is a program to welcome gays and lesbians into UU churches.  Derek was the only holdout voting no, and he disliked Erik because he was gay.  Mitch and Al visit all the possible suspects until one of them is driven to suicide.  The two friends devise a way to bring the true culprit into the open, and they almost become the next victims.  Visiting Al’s voluptuous, sensual, and widowed Aunt Diana on the boat “The Eager Beaver;” the pair, along with Mitch’s girlfriend Martha, lures the killer aboard and themselves into a harrowing situation.

“Murder by Coffee” was great fun to read.  The humorous personalities of Mitch and Al are quite entertaining, and their talent at making puns on words throughout the whole book is quite amusing.  And Mitch’s cat by the name of Sherlock Holmes is a special pet that saves some lives, unbeknownst to the fat cat.  He even wins an award in a pet show.

This work by Glenn Ickler is a mystery, but it is also a comedy.  For me, this book has all the elements that make it enjoyable and a great pleasure to read.  I hated to see it end.  I found myself laughing as Mitch and Al went about their investigations.  If you enjoy humorous mysteries, I recommend reading “Murder by Coffee.”  Due to the mature themes, I recommend this book to adult readers.  I am anxious to read the three previous books in the Mitch and Al series and hope Mr. Ickler continues to write more adventures of Al and Mitch.

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