Aphra decides to take a surprise trip to Seattle to visit her mother.  The problem is her mother doesn't know she's coming and she lies to her dad about where she is going.  Just a few weeks before leaving for Seattle, Aphra's boyfriend, Seth, gives her a ring which she wears faithfully on a chain around her neck.  His father gave this ring to Seth.

Once Aphra arrives in Seattle, she begins to experience cold feet but plows forward and seeks out her mother.  Once she finds her mother, she's hurt and disappointed that her mother doesn't appear be at all happy about her surprise visit.  Natalie insists Aphra take the next flight back to the resort where she lives with her father.  But before Aphra boards her plane, Joe, her mother's CIA partner, is poisoned by a latte at an outdoor cafe.  Shortly thereafter Seth shows up looking for the ring he had given to Aphra just weeks earlier.  Soon they are running for their very lives.  Aphra gets her wish and gets to spend time with her mother and learns more about her mother's very dangerous career as an agent.

Death by Latte is a fast-paced, entertaining young adult mystery.  I look forward to the next in the series: Death by Denim, which picks up where Death by Latte leaves off, so I can find out what happens next to Aphra and Seth.