Espresso Shot, Coffeehouse Mystery #7

     This series keeps getting better and better. Espresso Shot, so far, has been the most exciting and entertaining of the coffeehouse series. It has surprises and shock value in every chapter. This book was anything but boring.
     We start off the book in the killer’s point of view. He’s getting prepared to run down and kill Breanne. He steps on the gas and just as he’s about to hit her, someone steps in and pushes her out of harm’s way.
     We step into present time at the Village Blend, where Clare is working and Matt is moving back into the apartment above. He moved back in to give Breanne some space before the wedding. We find out Breanne doesn’t know Matt moved in with Clare. We also find out that Breanne told Matt he couldn’t have a bachelor party because the paparazzi might get pictures of it and it could embarrass them both.
     Instead, Matt decides to have dinner with Koa, a friend and one of the Blend’s Hawaiian coffee bean providers. He drags Clare along. When they get to the White Horse Tavern, however, they find out that Koa, gathered some of Matt’s friends for a bachelor party and the dinner was a cover. After having a few drinks and a little bit of fun, in walks Breanne and the room gets quiet. Suddenly, she starts stripping. It’s a Breanne stripper look alike!

     After rescuing the stripper, whose name is Hazel Boggs, they head toward the Village Blend. They hear what they think is a car backfiring, until they see lying on the ground bleeding. She was hit and killed. Detectives Soles and Bass are the detectives on the case. While Clare gives them the run down, Matt leaves in a rush. She soon finds him at the Blend drinking espressos and looking anxious. He drops a bombshell on Clare by saying that he thinks Breanne was the intended target.
     The next day they tell this to Detectives Soles and Bass, who don’t think its true. Mike on the other hand, thinks their claim has merit and suggests Clare be Breanne’s bodyguard for the day. If she gets nothing, then she can stop. Breanne says no but finally agrees when Roman, her friend and confidante talks her into it. That is as long as he finds out if Clare still loves Matt or not.  Soon after, Monica, Breanne’s old assistant enters and they talk, loudly, and Monica leaves. Clare follows and hears Monica tell someone that Matt and Breanne’s wedding rings arrive that day and pretty much insinuates that they are to be stolen. Before following Monica, Clare spots a weird man peering in the woman, but before she can do anything, he gets away.
     Clare follows Breanne to Trend headquarters where they are to meet Nunzio, who designed the rings for the wedding. Breanne hands the rings off to Roman, who swears he will protect them with his life. He soon invites Clare to an underground restaurant. Riding the subway there, Roman starts questioning Clare about her relationship with Matt. She lets him know there is nothing between them and there won’t be anything else between them. Once at the party, they get robbed at gunpoint. The robbers want the rings, but Roman refuses to give them up. They soon escape and catch the subway home. The robber catches them on the subway and begins shooting them. The robber ends up getting flung from the subway.               
     Fast forward to the bridal luncheon where Breanne’s ex-husband has been arrested and everyone thinks Breanne is safe. At the luncheon, Matt toasts Clare for saving Breanne. Breanne is shocked and doesn’t give her any accolades. While circling the room, in walks a woman who makes a show by embarrassing Matt for getting married to Breanne, when he said he didn’t want to get married. Before she leaves, she throws what appears to be one of the invitations at Matt. Turns out Breanne sent all the women in Matt’s PDA a fake invitation. Matt is so pissed, he practically calls off the wedding and storms out. Breanne heads to the bathroom and Clare soon follows.
     When Clare gets in the bathroom, she starts talking to Breanne but soon notices something is wrong. Breanne is being strangled by a masked man. Clare fights him off and calls the police. While they are waiting for the police, Clare and Breanne have a little heart to heart. Clare makes her understand that she can't get rid of Matt's past no matter what. The investigating detective thinks it was a robbery gone wrong and nothing else. Seeing it as something different, Clare calls Soles and Bass to investigate.
     After dropping off the fountain for the reception, Clare is dragged into the park by Breanne's ex-husband. he was going to kill her using a knife. She fought her way free and ran into the nearest cop, who arrested the crazy psycho. Clare soon finds out what poison killed Monica. With that information, she circles in on her suspect.
     In the end, the wedding went off without a hitch but the reception went off with a BANG! I won't tell you who did it, but I will tell you a bullet went off. The motive has to do with a suicide that was never mentioned in the book.
     Hands down, the best in the series. I was flabbergasted. I did not like how neither Matt nor Breanne had to pay for the consequences. I hope Matt learned that he can't just go around sleeping with other women and think that everything is going to go smoothly. Now onto Breanne, what that bitch did was low. I wish one of the women whom she sent the invitation to would have slapped the botox out of her face. All the elements came together in this book. The Alfonsis did a superb job with this book. Keep it up.

French Pressed, Coffehouse Mystery #6

Well this book was phenomenal! There were all sorts of twists and turns. This book reintroduces us to Chef Tommy Keitel, whom is both Joy’s boss and lover. He just also happens to be married. We are also introduced to two new characters, both detectives, Detective Sue Ellen Bass and Detective Lori Soles

            We start off with a thrilling beginning in Chef Keitel’s restaurant with Madame and Clare. They have just finished eating and Clare decides she wants to see Joy. While in the kitchen, she sees her daughter get berated and attacked by the sous chef, Brigitte. Clare steps in and saves her. Afterwards a grateful Joy thanks her mother.    

            We soon step into a hot scene with Clare and her hunky boyfriend, Detective Quinn. And just when we think their relationship is going to go to the next level, who should want to walk in after a month long absence? That’s right, Matt Allegro.

            The night ends with a bang when Clare and Matt get a phone call from a distraught Joy, who enters a friend’s apartment to find him dead from a stab wound. They rush over and Clare goes into detective mode, helping out the leading detective. The police release Joy after questioning her and Clare and they then return home.

            To keep an eye on Joy, Clare sells Keitel on her coffee menu for his restaurant. After Keitel gets her signed up, he takes her to his cheese cave and makes a pass at her, which is witnessed by Joy. She storms out and disappears. We later found out she went to her grandmother and told her everything. Joy then returns for work where Tommy breaks up with her publicly and then fires her. After the restaurant closes, Joy returns to collect her things and Clare finds her in the kitchen with Tommy’s body, who just happens to have one of Joy’s knives buried in him. After the police question them, Joy is arrested and charged with the murder of Tommy Keitel.

            Clare gets Mike to help her solve the case.  Along the way to solving the investigation, Clare inadvertently helped Mike solve his case of the May-September gang and they also across more bodies.

            The ending was a little different than in the previous book because the murderer was kind of obvious before the climax, but there were still some surprises that could only be revealed in the Cleo Coyle way. The motive was surprising, though.

            In the epilogue, we meet up with Clare in the hospital. We see Mike Quinn try to convince Clare to go after her PI license, to which she pretty much says maybe too. He just wants her to get comfortable with a gun if she’s always going to get herself into sticky situations all the time. I'm glad to see Joy leaving because she was working my last nerve. She was an annoying daughter. I'm glad this happen to her because she needed a reality check.

Murder Most Frothy, Coffeehouse Mystery #4

OK. So this book was decent but was a long way away from being the best in the series. I mean I'm glad Clare got back on the sex horse again, but there were some things that pissed me off.     Let's start with the fact that David didn't think he was the target. Even though he and the victim looked just alike. So here's how it went down. There was a fourth of July party that was going down at David's Hampton's house. Clare and David's coffee staff were serving, including Joy, and the guests were admiring the fireworks. While the fireworks were going off, someone got off 3 shots and luckily 1 hit its target. Joy really liked the barista who was shot and so did everyone else. Thinking she can find some clues, Clare goes outside. She finds the shell casings and some strange footprints. She leads the police to the shell casings and the footprints, but the footprints have been washed away.
    Along for the Hamptons ride is Joy, Clare's daughter, and Madame, Clare's ex mother-in-law. Joy works for David so Clare can keep an eye on her and Madame is looking for a summer fling.
     While out walking one night, Clare spots someone with those weird shaped footprints and follows them into the water. She spots the boats name and then swims back to shore. She wanders into the neighbor's party looking for David, to make sure he is ok. Before she can find him, she is yanked by security and is being forced out. He is stopped by Matt, who says she is with him.
    When she gets back to David's, she finds him poisoned and they rush him to the hospital. turns out he was poisoned by MSG. He stays in the hospital and Clare is more determined than ever to find the killer. The suspect list consists of a rich heiress, a maitre'd, and a maid.
    The killer wasn't who I thought it was. He didn't even have anything to do with the story. Then again, Coyle did keep the surprise factor that I love oh so much. All I can say is the ending will keep you on the edge of your seat, but at the same time, its funny.

Decaffeinated Corpse, Coffeehouse Mystery #5

This was was not my favorite in the series at all. I mean I loved the plot but one of the murderers was predictable. As for the other, that came out of nowhere. Ok so let me fill you in.

            This story revolves around one of Matt’s friends, Ric, who is a coffee grower in Brazil. Back in Brazil, he’s cultivated the world’s first perfect decaffeinated coffee bean. He smuggled the bean into the county so that he could showcase the bean at the international coffee convention. He’s also come to the US to get a patent for his plant. Clare and her baristas are the first to try the coffee and love it. The Village Blend is going to be the only coffee house to sell it. Things are going well until the creator shows up beaten up behind the Village Blend and his keycard stolen.

            Clare, being the crime solver she is, decides to figure out why he was beaten up and mugged. A few days later, she ends up investigating two murders. She enlists her typical round of detectives, including Detective Mike Quinn and Matt.

            You would think that since Clare has gotten some of her friends out of some serious jams, Matt would appreciate her snooping a little more. He even went as far as calling her Nancy Drew. He didn’t have a problem with her snooping until Breanne came along. What a jackass. You know since she is good at it and all. He doesn’t start to appreciate it in the slightest until he’s arrested. He deserved it anyway.

The plot wasn’t the problem in this book. It was actually decent. My problem was the side plot. Newsflash: Breanne is a bitch! I do not like the person Matt has become since he’s been with her. She is so possessive with him, its ridiculous. Also, Joy is working my absolute last nerve. It’s like she’s trying to see how far she can push her mother’s buttons. If I was Clare, I would slap the sane back in her. What the hell was she thinking coming to the decaffeinated coffee affair with her new boyfriend, who happens to be her much older, very married, BOSS. That girl has lost it. Clare had every right to be pissed. Her daughter has gone from snorting crack to doing a married man. She’s lost it.

All in all, near the end, the murders became evident and so did the motives. The shock factor that Coyle is known for was still there. Still a good read. The characters are really starting to develop and we're starting to understand who they really are and why they act the way they do.

Latte Trouble, Coffehouse Mystery #3

     The third book in the Coffeehouse series revolves around New York's Fashion Week. Lottie Harmon, a village regular, has decided to host a party to show her new collection, Java Jewelry. She's hosting it at the Blend because her collection is based on coffee. Everything seems to be going well. The place is packed, the people are loving the drinks, and people are talking about the jewelry line. As for the staff, everyone is doing good, including the new girl Moira, except Tucker, who seems to have problems with men. Things go from bad to worse for Tucker, when his ex-boyfriend, Ricki Flatt, shows up with his new beau. As Tucker walks to deliver an espresso to Lottie Harmon, Ricki, takes the drink and downs half, the other half is drunk my his date. Not long afterwards both men start having problems breathing and Ricki soon dies. In this book we meet 2 new detectives nicknamed Starksy and Hut. Tucker starts to talk and is arrested for the crime and taken to Rikers.
     With the suspect being Tucker, Clare decides to take it upon herself to solve the crime, since Detective Mike Quinn is out on leave. She ropes her mother-in-law Madame into the investigation and her ex-husband. Who, since he's met Breanne Summour, has decided that Clare's investigations are just her way of meddling.
     The investigation progresses and soon Clare learns things about Lottie that may put her in danger. She also gains a list of suspects, one of who is killed. During the investigation, Clare is kidnapped and taken to Fen's nightclub where he gives her grain alcohol. After he is done with her, she stumbles into the club bathroom where she finds none other than her daughter, Joy, getting ready to do cocaine.
    In the end, Clare gets her killer, right before a fashion show, but not before it cost another person their life. I knew who the killing
    This wasn't my favorite book of the 3 in the series. For one, Joy is working my nerves. She acts like she doesn't have a problem and she is soo naive about life. Another character I don't much care for is Breanne Summour. Her character is so superfical. Perhaps if she was more comfortable in those expensive clothes and her own moisturized skin, she wouldn't be pulling on Matteo the way she did in the book. The third thing I didn't like about this book, was the fact that the murderer was kind of obvious. I predicted the murderer after the first murder took place. but the motive became apparent after Lottie Harmon told about her past. Nonetheless, the story was good, but it could have been great.

Through The Grinder, Coffeehouse Mystery #2

     Clare Cosi is back into her snooping ways in the second book in the coffeehouse series. Female customers of the Village Blend begin dying in what appears to be suicides. Clare has a little trouble believing the victims would commit suicide and when Detective Mike Quinn shows up, she believes her intuition is right on the money. Clare has to navigate the online/speed dating world to get her killer, while all the while putting herself in harm’s way.
     The book starts off in the coffeehouse as usual with the first victim encouraging Joy to try the online/speed dating world. Joy agrees and signs up for SinglesNYC. Since Clare thinks online dating is dangerous, she signs up as well and meets Brooks Newman, who is a weasel. Not long after that the first victim “commits suicide”. The Village Blend hosts a church sponsored speed dating event. Since two of the members didn’t show up, Clare convinces one of the blend patrons to participate while she takes the other spot. In this event, she meets up again with Brooks Newman, who is still a weasel. Close to the end of the event, she meets Bruce Bowman, who she nicknames Mr. Right, and gives him her number to set up a future date.
     Once Detective Quinn finds out she’s dating Bruce, he tells her that he’s a person of interest in the deaths of the 3 victims because he’s tied to all them. Clare refuses to believe it and sets out to prove Detective Quinn is wrong by proving Bruce innocent. The deeper she dives into the mystery, the more her life is in danger.
     In the end, Clare found out who the murderer was, after detective Quinn told her and me, the reader. Let me just say that after reading 90% of the book, I didn’t have a clue who the murderer was. When I found out whom it was, my jaw dropped and I was speechless (and if you know me, you know that’s a feat). Cleo Coyle did an awesome job keeping this murderer under lock and key.
     In summary, the coffee talk was kept to a minimum, the characters are developing their own unique personalities, and the murderers and motives are pretty much a secret until the very end. The author is getting better and better. I can’t wait until the next book.  

On What Grounds, Coffeehouse Mystery #1

The series revolves around Clare Cosi, the old manager of The Village Blend Coffeehouse, who comes back after 10 years of raising her now grown daughter. As we enter the series, Clare is moving the last of her things into the apartment above the coffeehouse, when she finds her Assistant manager, Anabelle, lying at the foot of the stairs, in what appears to be an accident.  Clare then calls the police. Two police officers, Demetrios and Langley, show up to get the story.  After giving them the story, and excellent coffee to boot, Detective Mike Quinn steps into the picture. After Clare again tells her story, Detective Quinn thinks it was an accident because there is no evidence to prove foul play. Clare, however, thinks otherwise and decides to snoop around to get the truth. Helping her out with the truth is her ex-husband Matteo/Matt, who’s recently come back into the picture after trekking across the country for coffee beans. While digging deeper into Anabelle’s life, Clare begins to uncover some shady secrets from Anabelle’s past and brings plenty of suspects to light.

This book was a good read. The only problem I had with the book was the coffee talk. I can live without knowing that Blue Mountain is richer than the average Maxwell House blend. I know coffee makes up the series because it takes place inside a coffeehouse but the coffee references could be lessen a lot. The ending was a great surprise and didn’t see it coming. I also didn’t see the motive coming. This husband and wife team did a tremendous job keeping the reader on their toes while also giving us a little glimpse into romance for Clare. I hope the series continues to be this good, this suspenseful, and this jaw-dropping because if they are, we are all in for a treat.

Till Death Do Us Bark

I have got to give Judi McCoy credit. This was the best of the dog walker mystery series yet.  The characters have developed over the series and the story flows better. I am happy to announce that there was almost no errors in the book.
     In Till Death Do Us Bark,  Ellie and Viv travel to the Hamptons to attend Viv's older sister, Arlene's,  wedding. Things don't go as planned and the weekend of the wedding Arlene's fiance, Martin, is found dead. Ellie being Ellie, she decides to investigate the crime, with a little goading from Viv. As Ellie and Viv start investigating the murder, they find out more and more incriminating things about Marty. The first being that he is a drug dealer. He supplies customers with prescriptions, who have no medical problems. As the investigation continues, more secrets come out and Ellie even gets hurt during the investigation. There was even a new guy who flirted with Ellie. In the end, the murderer was captured in the usual Ellie way, full of misconceptions and drama. Even Sam got to show up in the end.
     I'm still not happy with Rudy's dislike for Sam. He hasn't even given him a chance. At least Sam is willing to give it a try. I also don't like how Ellie is so willing to pick her dog over her man. One of these days/books, its going to backfire. I hope it does, so that Rudy will learn his lesson.
     All in all, the best book in the series. Some things really pissed me off about it. Then again I'm not the author, even though I would love to rewrite a few of the scenes.

Review of Begging For Trouble

     First off, let me say that whoever edited this book should be fired. Words were misplaced and jumbled together, it was awful.
     Other than the awful editting, this book was a delight to read. It took me 2 days to read and I didn't know who the murderer was until well after halfway through the book. The motive for the killer was a little hard to grasp after the author divulged it, but then again, its fiction. The book kept you turning the pages just to see what would happen next. It had shock value and entertainment.
     The characters in the book haven't really developed since the last book. Ellie is still nosy and insist on sticking her nose in business that has nothing to do with her. However, if it wasn't for her, the cops would be concentrating on just one suspect. They need to learn Ellie is going to be nosy no matter what. I understand that she is devoted to her friends and tries to help them as much as possible, but she needs to learn to let go. She's been poisoned, tied up, and nearly shot. She's never going to learn her lesson. I'm sick of her getting mad at Sam, her boyfriend, because he can't divulge information about an open case. He could lose his job. I feel sorry for Sam sometimes because he tries to get Ellie to see the dangers in the world, but she doesn't and probably never will. Then again, if he would just shut up and listen to her sometimes, he wouldn't have to deal with her going behind his back. Her mother is still a high society witch. I think Ellie should stand up to her. I love her stepfather. He's a delight compared to his wife.
    I also wish that she would just tell her dear friend, Viv, that she can speak to dogs. I get sick of Ellie talking to herself and people watching and judging. At least telling Viv, she can have someone to talk to about her ability.
     All in all, its a great book and the series continues to get better. The characters are developing, slowly but surely. If looking for an easy read, can't beat this series.

The Mystery Shopping Series

So I just finished reading book 6 of Elaine Viets Mystery Shopper Series. It was a good book. It was well written and I had no idea who the murderer was until the end of the book and I didn't know the motive. As I anticipate the 7th book that comes on in November, I find myself getting mad at the protagonist of the books, Josie Marcus. She's a little weak willed when it comes to standing up for herself. For one, she needs to stop backing down to her mother, she has paid for her so-called "sins" and then some. Her boyfriend is great and seems to a great catch compared to the other ones. Her best friend Alyce is stilll shining and is a great Watson to Josie's accidental Sherlock. In book 6, I'm glad Mrs. Mueller got what was coming to her by Jane. She's stuck her nose into the Marcus' family business for why too long. She's the last person to throw stones considering her daughter is a grambler and her son-in-law murdered two people. But that's just me speaking.
     For the auhor, Elaine Viets has a knack for having somewhat weak protagonists when it comes to dealing with their families and the law. When the law steps in to scold the main character because of their meddling, the main character reacts like a deer caught in the headlight. When the scolding is over, the protagonist continues to meddle and snoop. She gives the police to much power. She needs to fix this and hopefully by the next book.
      All in all, good books but needs a little more to make them great books.