Death by Latte by Linda Gerber

I rated this second book in the series as a 4 out of 5. Aphra sneaks away to the state of Washington to find the mother she hasn't seen for four years. Her mother unofficially works for the CIA, and Aphra stumbles into the middle of the case her mother has been working on. There are spies working within the CIA, led by The Mole, and they are trying to kill Aphra's friend, Seth, and his family. It is also revealed that the ring Seth gave to Aphra in book one contains an important secret. Seth needs it back from her to save his father's life.

This book has much more action than the first book in the series, Death by Bikini. Bad guys are chasing Seth, Aphra, and her mother through the town and into the wilderness. Some of the events are a bit far-fetched, but who cares that five people survive a plane crash into a mountainous forest without wearing seat belts? One guy has two fingers blown off before getting on the plane but still manages to climb down the mountain, survive a kayak ride through the rapids, and remain perfectly coherent for the climax of the story. Just like the first book, the reader is left trying to figure out who are the good guys and who are the bad? This problem was resolved in a surprising way during the falling action. The author has also left the door wide open for the third book in the series, Death by Denim.