Only a rare few crime-suspense novels possess a perfect blend of mystery, thrill, comedy, and passion all boxed up in one neat package. Kyra Davis’ “Sex, Murder, and a Double Latte” is one such piece; so perfectly blended that you may want to enjoy reading it over a Grande Caramel Brownie Frappuccino at the nearest Starbuck’s.
“Sex, Murder, and a Double Latte” kicked off when Sophie Katz, a hard-boiled mystery novel scribe, gets convinced that some psycho whacko reader sneaks into her apartment to reenact scenes from her book. Her hardly-suppressed jitters and alleged caffeine-induced paranoia prove to have logical bases however, when precedent murder incidents rev up her befuddlement. A filmmaker friend was brutally murdered in exactly the same manner reminiscent to one of his movies; not to mention a gangsta rapper’s murder as a reenactment of one of his songs. If she doesn’t solve the riddle of all these serial killings, she might as well find herself getting hacked up with a rusty hatchet by some crazed, copycat serial killer, just as how she has designed her fictional character’s murder in her book.
So Sophie, backed-up with the most unlikely detective squad (her gay hairstylist, a sex-shop-owner friend, some exaggeratedly naïve but funny dimwit friend, her friend’s aspiring vampire weirdo boy toy, and Mr. Katz, Sophie’s slothful cat), engages in a serious sleuth extraordinaire detective work, running across all possible suspects along the way, and thus pointing them towards Anatoly Darinsky – unfortunately Sophie’s new love interest – as the prime suspect.
I personally loved the book in the way that Kyra Davis wittily juiced out and squeezed every snippet of the story. Since the novel is mostly plot-driven, the story’s development depended primarily on Davis’ story-telling whiz. It’s also a commendable plus factor how she successfully developed each character in the novel. The lines and conversations were fantastically written as much as how the story arc has been fruitfully developed. Davis really is a promising story-teller as she sends me through inevitable grins and roll-over-the-floor laughs through her punch lines and witty attacks. It’s amazing how she manages to tickle some funny bone and make a normal talkies scene so hilarious that you’d laugh by yourself and would definitely make the people around you to look intently puzzled at you. I guess Kyra Davis is Bob Ong’s female American counterpart (that’s if she’s American).
One downside of the story though, is how the novel seemed to be predictable on the mid-part of the book. Though she seemed to have successfully veered off the reader’s attention from this lingering predictability for a fleeting while, I’m pretty sure you’d find yourself in an “I knew it! I told you it was him!” squeal after going through that part. (Well, at least for me, it had been unpredictable.) Also, the story’s climax didn’t come for like after the 18th chapter, which was a bit off for me since I’ve been kept hanging for it for a relatively long time. (But Davis – in all fairness to her – managed to offset the delay through her witty punch lines however.)
Another thing is that the author could have chosen a more fitting title for the novel. First off, the story didn’t disclose as many gory details on the novel’s relatively few murder incidents as you would expect from a thriller novel (ala Stephen King). Notwithstanding the fact that only a single murder did take place during the novel (since the filmmaker’s and the rapper’s murders were merely flashbacks in the story). Second off, the novel’s title includes SEX, Murder, and a blah, blah, blah… But Davis’ never did include even a single steamy whoohoo moment in the story (which I so patiently anticipated in vain and in false hopes because of the rather misleading title. Hehe!) And third off, double latte was mentioned in the title, but I honestly don’t find any relevant connection with that and the story. Although Sophie Katz is a caffeine-addicted writer, I didn’t note any noteworthy event in the book that transpired in Starbuck’s or over a venti-sized double latte beverage. But then again, in fairness to the author, her title was a bit catchy and has rather had me intrigued; that’s why I found myself buying this book.
Another minor blow on the masterpiece which I find rather off is the oversight of spelling typos and other noticeable blunders and slip-ups (i.e. “while” in place of “whole” in “through this while thing,” and “accept” in lieu of “except”.) Kyra’s copy editors had better be blamed on this.
All in all, “Sex, Murder and a Double Latte” is an exceptionally hilarious thriller novel, not what you’d expect from a (supposedly) mystery novel (which was supposed to get you to the edge of your seat all throughout.) Kyra Davis’ way of thinking so out of the box will compensate it all though. And I guarantee that you’d find it hard to put this li’l fancy-hot-pink-girlie-covered book down. If I had to, I’d rate it with a four-star. And I recommend reading this book to everyone who enjoys reading fancy stories. I think anyone – as in practically anyone who loves a latte and otherwise – who just wants to let time fly by while reading a good book will enjoy it. But if you’re a mortido-filled die-hard mystery series fan who is up and about for some hardcore, mind-boggling, tummy-turning murder story, I’m sorry, this isn’t it. Go buy some Stephen King book instead. He’s even more violent, you know. But who knows? Even you might secretly enjoy it.
I bought my copy from Book Sale so I honestly have no idea how much it actually costs. I don’t think it’s too pricey anyway. It cost me just about the price of a venti-sized Starbuck’s Mocha Frappe, though, and I must say that it’s all worth it. Buying it won’t hurt at all anyway. Tell you what, this book is worth shelving for another good read in case you find yourself bored and is in need of a worthy read in the future.
