Murder By Mocha was one of the better books in the Coffeehouse series. It’s the tenth in the series and it has the reader anticipating the eleventh book. There were twists and turns everywhere. I can honestly say I didn’t know who the killer was this time around. Then again I never know. This book not only centered on murder, but also on love. We see two couples each take their relationships to new levels and we find out about a lost love.
The book starts off focusing on Clare, Madame, and The Blend inking a deal with Alicia, an old friend of Madame’s. The deal is for the blend to provide the coffee that is going to be in an herbal aphrodisiac that is to be sold exclusively by Aphrodite Village. However they hit a snag when Clare gets an urgent phone call from Madame telling her to come to Alicia’s hotel room immediately. Clare gets there and inside finds what looks to be a man stabbed in the chest with a knife. Clare leaves the room to question Alicia and Madame. After questioning them, she heads back to the room and sees that the body is missing and that someone is running from the room. Clare chases them and ends up nabbing the elusive hotel thief. After working with the fish squad, they realize the murder was a fake and planned to make Alicia look bad. At the launch party, Matt shows up and with a grand surprise, their daughter Joy. Mike also shows up and drinks some of the aphrodisiac and all of sudden gets the hots for Clare. They disappear and start making out but are forced to stop because duty calls for Mike. There’s a yelling match and then in typical fashion, soon after, there’s a murder. She was an Aphrodite employee.
After that murder, things go from bad to worse. Matt discovers that the potion has more in it than Alicia is telling everyone. He thinks it has a drug in it. And he should know since he’s a past drug user. Clare has Mike tested to find out what exactly is in it. Enter the second launch party at night on a boat. Clare helps nab a long-awaited rogue police officer and someone goes overboard.
As if the book couldn’t get any more interesting, Clare finds the so-called “murdered man” with Sergeant Franco’s help. She also gains a few bruises in the process. There is another murder of a Aphrodite employee and a murder attempt on Clare’s life. The murderer was a shocker and its definitely going to have some people scratching their heads in amazement. We also learn that Madame Dubois was once arrested and sat in a jail cell for refusing to talk to a grand jury.
As for the love aspect, we see Clare and Mike’s relationship head in a new direction. Her daughter Joy’s relationship with Emmanuel Franco starts to get hot and heavy. They are pretty much an exclusive couple now, and Madame’s love from the past comes back and rekindles a flame that she thought was long ago put out.
I loved this book. I loved that she not only focused on murder and intrigue in this book but also more on love. I’m glad that we get to see Clare happy for a change.
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