Roast Mortem

I normally prefer hard-core mysteries, but every once in a great while my discount e-book service manages to serve up an author (in this case, actually a husband/wife team using the pseudomym Cleo Coyle) I find enjoyable. Most “cozies” are terrible, to be honest – full of worn-out cliches and heroines who insist upon doing stupid things.

The Coffeehouse Mysteries have their weak points, but there’s lots of positives that have kept me loyal to buying the series. No small amount of this is the coffee lore, which I absolutely love to read even though I’m not as fanatical about my morning cuppa. It’s thoroughly researched and very educational.

I like the character development in the series. The author(s) do a good enough job on fleshing out the main cast – Clare, Mike, Matt, Breanna, Joy, Madame, and the small cast of baristas) over the course of the series that the verbal give-and-take, the inevitable tiffs and misunderstandings, all sound “real”. As Shakespeare said, “The course of true love never did run smooth”.

The sub-plot of Mike’s identically named cousin provides a mystery about his family. The arson plot is complex and a neat puzzle for Clare to solve – which she does, in the nick of time. There’s tragedy shading the triumph, giving this book a touch of pathos. Who is the real villain? The ending is a bit facile, but believable.

A series of suspicious fires have destroyed several coffeehouses throughout the city. The FDNY suspects arson, and Clare suspects that certain members of New York’s Finest are hiding something. Clare’s efforts to uncover the truth are complicated by the unwanted attentions of an overbearing FDNY Captain, who just happens to be related to Clare’s boyfriend, Det. Mike Quinn. With the men in her life at odds and her beloved `Village Blend’ at risk, Clare is definitely feeling the heat – and she’s not happy about it!

This 9th installment proves that this series still has a lot of life left in it. The characters have grown and developed as the series has progressed, and their relationships have taken some interesting turns. As always with this series, New York is treated as a character in its own right, and the authors make good use of the setting. The mystery itself was quite engaging, with plenty of viable suspects and motives floating about. A good, solid “cozy” – great location, endearing characters, and coffee…what more could you ask for?

Series Brief: Clare Cosi is a 40ish single mom who manages an iconic coffeehouse in historic Greenwich Village. She lives in a to-die-for duplex apartment (courtesy of her former mother-in-law), and is dating a NYPD detective. Her ex-husband (a charming womanizer) is never completely out of the picture. In addition to whipping up a mean latte, Clare has a talent for solving mysteries.

Little (if any) strong language. Some sexual innuendo, but no explicit content. The story can be read as a standalone, but I’d strongly recommend starting with the first book:

On What Grounds (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 1) (Coffeehouse Mystery)

When Clare Cosi, barista for the Village Blend, travels to Queens with her boss and former mother-in-law, Madame Dreyfus Allegro Dubois (known as Madame), she thinks it will be a simple evening get-together for the old friends, Madame and Enzo. In addition, Enzo’s Caffe Lucia has an interesting piece that Clare is hoping to get for her shop.

What none of them could have foreseen was the blast that took out the Caffe Lucia and sealed Madame and Enzo in the basement. Clare and her friend Dante had gone upstairs, and thus escaped after the fire.

A whole series of intriguing events unfold over the rest of

Roast Mortem (A Coffeehouse Mystery)

, beginning with another fire the same day in Queens, and one a few days later in Long Island.

Clare begins to suspect an assorted cast of characters, including Lucia, Enzo’s belligerent daughter. Could she have had something to do with the arson? And what about some of the firefighters, one of whom was a former lover of Lucia’s? And what does a spike device have to do with the death of one of the firefighters in the Long Island blaze?

As Clare and her associates try to find clues and follow them, they are threatened and endangered before they finally solve the case. There were many twists and turns, and while I suspected several of the more obnoxious characters, I was surprised by what eventually developed. Along the way, it was delightful to get to know the characters and enjoy the various lessons about coffee roasting and brewing. After the end of the book, there are also recipes and tips about coffee roasting, grinding, and brewing.

This book is part of a series, so I am looking forward to more adventures with these characters. Four stars.

Cleo Coyle pays tribute to the FDNY in this latest book in her best-selling Coffee House Mystery series. Roast Mortem takes Clare Cosi from Greenwich Village to Queens and Brooklyn in search of an arsonist who is torching coffee houses, and The Village Blend could be next if she doesn’t find the culprit. Clare doesn’t believe the theory held by law enforcement that the arsonist is an eco-terrorist making a statement against coffee production, instead, she thinks that the culprit lives closer to home and that the fires may be a foil for something more sinister. When New York’s bravest start dying, and it looks like her beloved Mike Quinn is going to take the fall for the killings, Clare digs in to find the real murderer or murderers, but not without placing her life, and that of her ex-husband Matt (Matteo) in danger. Will Clare solve the mystery before it is too late?

Coyle’s Coffee House Mysteries just keep getting better, and this is one of my favorites in the series! I can’t wait to read the next one. If you love Laura Childs, Sheila Connolly and Krista Davis, you will love Cleo Coyle!

As good as the others in this series.

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