Espresso Shot (A Coffeehouse Mystery)

OK I admit it I like "chick lit" including the food and mystery genre. I found "Espresso Shot" by Cleo Coyle fun to read and have put her earlier books on order to read as well. Mystery Lit is about characters and milieu and I like coffee and I like romance. In this episode our heroine locks in her relationship with her current beau AND lets go of her "ex" as he locks in his relationship with HIS current beau. There's Greenwich Village; New York, New York; fine cuisine and coffee, and fun and mystery enough to keep us all engaged. Kudos to author Cleo, kudos to heroine/detective Claire, and kudos to a great new series doing great work!

You'd think that running a coffeehouse would be a relaxing, quaint experience full of café romances, soothing music, and the smell of French roast in the morning. Village Blend co-owner and proprietor, Clare Cosi, however, knows better. After finding herself the lead detective on numerous murders all revolving around her little Greenwich Village Coffeehouse, including one that left her twenty-something college student daughter, Joy, the prime suspect, Clare has come to realize that running a coffee joint is anything but peaceful. In fact, much of the time it's downright dangerous. Over the years, coffee connoisseur Clare Cosi has made quite an impression on the coffee drinkers of New York City, so much so that her input is frequently asked for when new coffee hot spots open up. When she's asked to create a gourmet coffee and dessert bar for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, just in time for an illustrious New York City wedding, Clare can't help but jump at the opportunity. She'll have the opportunity to make some new business contacts, while showcasing her coffee making talent all in one shot. But her smile quickly turns into a frown when she realizes that the New York wedding she'll be catering to is for none other than her ex-husband and Village Blend business partner, Matteo Allegro, along with his leggy, buxom, successful Trend Magazine editor fiancé, Breanne Summour. It's not that Clare is pining over Matteo, or the passion they once shared...far from it. But she is concerned for his well-being, and in her mind, Matteo is making a huge mistake by saying "I do" to Breanne. Breanne may be model gorgeous, and savvy, but she's also a devil in disguise, and now that she's planning a wedding she's in ultimate bridezilla mode. Clare would be spending more time throwing death glares at the bride-to-be, but she finds herself more preoccupied with the fact that people close to Breanne keep turning up dead. Clare isn't sure if it's just a coincidence, or if someone is definitely out to sabotage the wedding of the season; but she's determined to crack the case - before someone else is stuck six-feet under...like the bride herself! Over the years Cleo Coyle has become a personal favorite of mine with her COFFEEHOUSE MYSTERIES, and the release of ESPRESSO SHOT only strengthens those feelings. As always, Clare is a character after my own heart. She may be pint sized, but she has a heart of gold, and enough street smarts to take care of herself. The relationship she shares with Matteo is intricate and interesting - if not slightly confusing at times - and truly piques the reader's interest, keeping them on the edge of their seat as they try to figure out what will happen next. Due to the fact that Breanne is a magazine editor, I found that this particular installment took a more fashion-forward turn, reminding me much of Kate White's BAILEY WEGGINS MYSTERIES - which is a good thing. But I loved the fact that Coyle never lost the coffee-side of things, still

Her ex-husband Matteo Allegro is getting married and Clare Cosi, head barista of The Village Blend coffeehouse, is responsible for the desserts and coffee bar. Clare dislikes Matteo's soon to be bride, Trend magazine editor Breanne Summour because the woman is mean and nasty; lacking any kindness in her personality. A car almost hits Breanne; Matteo pulls her to safety. At his bachelor party a stripper who looks like the bride to be is murdered by a sniper while she walked on the street with Matteo and Clare. Matteo asks Clare, who has conducted several successful investigations, to look into the stripper's death; he believes someone wants Breanne dead. Clare knows Breanne has many enemies and few if any friends; however she doubts anyone would loath the woman enough to kill her even the wedding help dealing with this odious Bridezilla. Her opinion changes after spending a day with Breanne; besides Clare wanting to kill Ms. Mean, Clare overhears Monica, a worker, talking suspiciously on a phone and not much later Monica is found dead in her office. Although the world wants Breanne dead, Clare has to figure out who is willing to actually kill her. ESPRESSO SHOT is one of the best whodunits in the Coffeehouse Mysteries. Matteo comes across as a caring person who has given up his hope that one day soon Clare will remarry him; he has found another woman to love. His feelings for both women affirm he is a tender compassionate man with a big heart even if his request places his beloved in danger as he is confident of her skills. The mystery is a wonderful amateur sleuth tale filled with chilling incidents (besides spending a day with Bridezilla); Clare is almost robbed, shot at and attacked. Cleo Coyle creates mysteries that fans will appreciate while drinking coffee. Harriet Klausner

"The way I see it, a wedding is a new beginning, full of hope and possibility. Death is an ending -- black, dark, final. Flowers are involved with both and tasteful music selections, but for the most part, brides and corpses have nothing in common, unless you're talking about the bride of Frankenstein, in which case the bride IS a corpse. This particular wedding story involved a bride and several corpses... --Opening Chapter of Espresso Shot by Cleo Coyle Another highly entertaining entry from Coyle - fun and funny with an excellent mystery plot. If you have not read any of the previous Coffeehouse Mystery books, don't worry about it. Coyle does a good job filling you in on who every character is and what their relationships are, so you won't be lost. As to the plot...Clare Cosi, manager and head barista of the Village Blend coffeehouse in Greenwich Village is about to get the chance to shine. She's been hired to create a gourmet coffee-and-dessert bar for a swanky wedding to be held at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. There's only a FEW problems: Her EX-husband is the groom. He's marrying bridezilla. And someone badly wants bridezilla dead... As an amateur sleuth who's solved 6 perplexing crimes thus far (titles listed below), Clare is persuaded to help protect the beautiful bridezilla until her wedding day and -- Oh, yeah -- if she isn't TOO busy while she's creating that spectacular coffee-and-dessert bar, can she please also find out WHO is trying to kill the bride? Espresso Shot is a very enjoyable read, at times even laugh out loud funny. Witty dialog, an excellent mystery plot with lots of twists and turns, lots of extremely plausible red herrings, and a murderer whose (shocking and sad) story falls into place perfectly when it's finally revealed. The culinary writing is delicious, too. Clare follows a lead to an underground restaurant in Queens where she eats some amazingly exotic cuisine. Chapters later she's in the penthouse of a plush hotel, fending off the advances of an Italian sculptor with boxes and boxes of mouth-watering wedding pastries. Coyle's previous book in the series, French Pressed (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 6), was a super read, but I think this was even better. The recipes include two types of Italian wedding cookies - a lemon glazed cookie and one called "Romeo's Kisses" - an almond cookie sandwich with chocolate ganache in the middle. I plan to make both. Other books in the Coffeehouse Mystery series (read them in order to get the whole story of all the characters - things change in their lives from book to book...) On What Grounds (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 1) Through the Grinder (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 2) Latte Trouble (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 3) Murder Most Frothy (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 4) Decaffeinated Corpse (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 5) French Pressed (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 6) P.S. (Possible Spoiler) Among the loyal readers of this series, a debate is going on. Some reader

I have read all the books in the Coffehouse mysteries and I am pleased to say Cleo Coyle does not disappoint with her newest book. I couldn't put it down. I always come away from these stories with a new bit of coffee trivia that I like to pass along to my other coffee loving friends. The book centers around the wedding plans of Clare Cosi's ex-husband Matt to Breanne, who appears to be in danger. This book seemed to be a bit more drawn out than some of her previous books but I never felt like the book bogged down anywhere. Clare is doing her signature snooping as a wedding present to Matt despite her intense lack of love for his bride to be, for which the feeling is mutual. Coyle does a fabulous job of painting Breanne as a character you love to hate and you never stop rooting for Clare. If you have read all the other Coffeehouse mysteries, I assure you this one is just as good as all the rest and in some ways even better. My only complaint is that we hardly got enough of Madame in this book. She is always such a delight. Coyle has an excellent, easy to read and wonderfully descriptive writing style that makes you feel like you are really in the story and I very much look forward to the next book.