Latte Trouble (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 3)

Another 5 star rating for Cleo Coyle! At Clare Cosi’s coffee shop there is definitely NOT poison on the menu. However, it’s not a coincidence that people are dying after drinking the lattes from The Village Blend. Clare, being the intelligent woman she is, is going undercover to undiscovered a killer. She encounters some very scary twists and turns all the while trying to figure out her “relationship” with her ex husband Matteo. The Coffeehouse Mysteries get better and better with each book!

I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying this mystery series. In a sea of cozies, it is one of the best written I've come across. Latte Trouble is by turns entertaining, humorous, touching, and suspenseful. I adore Clare Cosi, the main character. She's a lovely combination of strength and tender-heartedness, self-consciousness and grit. I also love that she's closer to 40 than to 20 and so knowledgeable about coffee and running a coffeehouse (one of my fantasies is to open my own too!). The writing has an impressive realism to it with depth of character not usually seen in this genre. The humor is deftly handled, and I just adored reading about the three generations of women trying to get through their tumultuous lives (Clare Cosi; her college-age daughter, Joy; and Clare's elegant, elderly French-born mother-in-law). I also enjoyed the coffee trivia--I thought I already knew about making coffee, but this series is educating me quite a bit! I highly recommend anything written by Ms. Cleo Coyle!

You know what I like most about this delectable mystery series? I can never figure out whodunnit until the very end. The surefire mark of an excellent mystery. Not to mention the luscious coffee recipes & trivia and the intriguing recurring characters. You can practically smell the coffee brewing in the Village Blend coffee shop as you read the book, it's that good. I had no idea that Breakfast Blend coffee (which is a light roast) has more caffeine than the darker Espresso blend. That's just one tidbit of trivia I picked up in this story. If you love a good, fast-paced mystery with entertaining characters, then this is the series for you. I can't wait for the next one in August!!!!

Clare Cosi - manager and co-owner of the historic Village Blend located in the heart of Greenwich Village - has never had a problem dealing with hot drinks, but now she's got a mystery on her hands that just may be too hot to handle - and it has struck close to home. One of Clare's best customers for the past year, Lottie Harmon, has struck gold with her new line of designs, Java Jewelry - a collection of coffee-inspired accessories that blend all of the colors of the coffee rainbow together, and go perfectly with the new color of the season: brown. So, when Lottie wants the perfect backdrop to display her new line for Fall Fashion Week, she turns to Clare, and the Village Blend, in an attempt to give insiders...an inside look at her delectable designs. However, when Tucker - one of Clare's best baristas - serves up a cup of poison, in the form of a luscious latte, to one of fashions most prominent figures, Clare suspects that Lottie was the intended victim, and sets out to protect the often-nervous Lottie from further harm; while at the same time get Tucker out of prison and off of Riker's Island, as well as fend off the negative publicity that is sure to hit the Village Blend if word gets out about the poisoning. But the more detecting Clare does, the more she realizes that the fashion world is hiding some very nasty secrets. Secrets that could bring down the entire fashion industry - or at least expose it for what it truly is - while at the same time bringing Clare down with it...in a bodybag. As someone who prefers the taste of hot chocolate to an eight-dollar latte, it surprises me that Cleo Coyle's COFFEHOUSE MYSTERIES appeal to me so much. Clare is an enchanting character, whose descriptions of how to create the perfect "blend" make even a non-coffee drinker - like me - want to run out to the local Starbuck's and grab a cup of joe. Her sleuthing soul is also a big draw-in, as are the outstanding supporting characters found in each one of her cozy mysteries. While it was fairly easy to pinpoint the murderer from the beginning of the book, Coyle wrapped LATTE TROUBLE up in such a wonderful package, that you couldn't help but want to complete the novel - in one sitting - and will be ultimately shocked to discover the secrets that are revealed within this cozy little package. Another COFFEEHOUSE MYSTERY that will have you reaching for a latte and biscotti before you can say murder. Erika Sorocco Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Cleo Coyle writes an entertaining, well developed mystery in Latte Trouble. I have long wanted to read one of her books and this one became the first. It will not be the last. Her style is easy to read and the storyline moves right along. She provides enough detail to set each scene, but doesn't get lost in minutia. It's also easy to see where the next story can take off from the end of this one. Clare Cosi owns the Village Blend coffeehouse in downtown New York City. Throughout the book the reader is treated to glimpses of life in the Big Apple that add to the book's appeal. Clare's ex-husband, hunky Matteo (Matt) Allegro, is now partnered with her in the business. Matt's mother, Blanche Dreyfus Allegro Dubois, more commonly known as Madame, has made this arrangement. In her heart she would like nothing better than to see her son and her former daughter-in-law get back together. She and Clare are fast friends. Matt's roving eye was part of the reason for the breakup and Clare is skiddish about any rekindling of the embers that still burn inside her. They have a daughter, Joy, who, while mentioned here and there in the book is not a major player. However, that may change in another "episode." On the evening of an important pre-Fashion Week event at the Village Blend, two men are poisoned. One of them dies. But was he the intended victim? Several people seem to think so. One of Clare's baristas, Tucker Burton, is arrested for murder as he and the man who died had a previous relationship and Tucker is royally p____-off at his ex-lover's recent treatment of him. Clare, who has gotten herself involved in solving mysteries before, latches onto this one to clear Tucker and get him out of Rikers. Meanwhile, Lottie Harmon is making a comeback after twenty-plus years away from the fashion world. Her "Spangles" jewelry was a hit in the early eighties. There's something different about her now, and her life between her disappearance from the scene and her recent return is shrouded in mystery. Clare is determined to find out who did the deed and why on the night of the event at the Village Blend, believing Lottie was the intended victim (since the poisoned latte was on its way to her when the a man whisked it off the tray, took a drink and then handed it to his companion). Before she figures it out, someone else dies. This book is a good afternoon read and for coffee lovers and connoisseurs a real treat. There are several recipes from the Village Blend at the back of the book, including one for Clare's Foolproof Homemade Caramel-Chocolate Syrup. I'm not a connoisseur, but I do like a good cup of joe every now and then. Coyle's next mystery: Murder Most Frothy (August 1, 2006) Carolyn Rowe Hill