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.