Murder Most Frothy

Murder Most Frothy was a fun, kicky read and while I guessed whodunit there is always a few loose ends that I needed to tie the knots together, and have a great time living vicariously through Cleo and Marc’s adventuress Clare and her friends & family former and current as well as love interests. Lots of grudges abound when this cast of characters have either benefited or lost out on a chance to make millions in the luxurious boroughs of the Hamptons on New York’s Southern tip of Long Island-was the first victim really the intended target, or was it really Clare’s friend and now temporary boss David really the object of someone’s disaffection. Both Clare and her daughter with ex husband Matteo have more not so wise choices in being heat seeking missiles for unavailable men- for a plethora of reasons. But there is always hope…and there are always doubting Thomas’s in the line of police detecting who should know better than to tangle with Clare. If you are looking for great insights and recipes for coffee from around third world Countries, with a mix of amore…latch onto this series, it will certainly arouse your senses.

Good and bad as the series continues. On the bad side, Clare’s whiny daughter Joy continues the mother/daughter relationship angst….on the good side, the delightful Madame gets a little more face time. Again bad, Clare flounders around in her investigation and does some incredibly stupid things….on the good, she meets up with yet another hunk who’s hot for her.

(I have to say, my single Gen X friends would find it impossible to believe Clare has these intelligent, mentally stable, emotionally adult, hunky, (mostly) eligible guys falling all over her. When you hit 40, the ratio of available men to women feels something like 1:3, according to them.)

Still, it’s a nice ending – very adult, which is a refreshing change and a landmark of sorts for Clare. She clears up the mystery before the police can (of course), and ends her summer fling in a civilized and mature manner.

Looking forward to the next book.

Since May 2007, I’ve become addicted to the Coffeehouse Mystery series by Cleo Coyle. (Incidentally, “Cleo Coyle” is really the husband and wife writing team of Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini. They are also “Alice Kimberly”, who writes the Haunted Bookshop Mysteries.)

I savored the first book,

On What Grounds

, and also enjoyed

Through the Grinder

(although it was suprisingly sad and dark at the end). I’ve recently finished

Latte Trouble

, and just finished reading (minutes ago!) the fourth book of the series, Murder Most Frothy.

Unlike the previous three novels in this series, Murder Most Frothy takes place in the Hamptons rather than The Village Blend, the coffeehouse managed by the protagonist, Clare Cosi.

A character from Latte Trouble, David Mintzer, figures prominently in this book, but you don’t have to read Latte Trouble to “get” this particular book (although it will add some richness to the reading, in my opinion).

David lives in the Hamptons and has opened up a new restaurant, Cuppa J. He’s asked Clare to train his baristas in the fine art of coffee making, as well as set up dessert/coffee pairings for the menu.

At a large fete held at David’s mansion, a young man is murdered by a sniper. Was the young man the intended victim–or was it actually the host, David Mintzer? Who was the mysterious frogman lurking at the beach the night of the murder? Is the bitter neighbor, Marjorie Bright, to blame…or perhaps the famous TV chef? Or could it be the housekeeper…or Jacques Papas, the manager of Cuppa J? Or what about the handsome paparazzi and ex-Navy SEAL in the boat?

Featuring a few characters from Latte Trouble (including Chef Vogel and Breanne Summour), Murder Most Frothy still has some focus on snobby rich people–but the plot is much better than Latte Trouble, in my opinion. Madame and Matteo make an appearance, but Tucker and Esther aren’t seen much–but hey! they figured prominently in previous novels.

At first, I didn’t think Murder Most Frothy was all that interesting (perhaps because it wasn’t set at the beloved Village Blend?), but after a few chapters, I couldn’t put it down! It’s not my favorite book in the Coffee House Mysteries, but it was certainly worth my time and money!

The recipes in the back of Murder Most Frothy are FANTASTIC! I can’t wait to try the Flourless Chocolate-Kahlua Cake, as well as the Almond Torte and Clare’s Chocolate-Walnut-Espresso Brownies!

If you’re a fan of the Coffee House Mysteries, you’ll no doubt enjoy this book. If you’re new to the series, I recommend starting with book one,

On What Grounds

.

And now, I’ll begin reading the most recent release in this series,

Decaffeinated Corpse

…

Clare Cosi has struck a deal with her friend David Mintzer: in exchange for an all-expenses-paid summer at his exclusive Hamptons beach house, Clare will teach the staff at his new restaurant how to best serve coffee. So Clare packs up her daughter Joy and ex-mother-in-law Madame and heads off for a relaxing beach-front summer. That is until an employee ends up dead in David’s bathroom and Clare becomes convinced that David himself was the target. Soon she’s off trying to solve a murder, and prevent another.

I was looking forward to this after reading the first three books in the Coffeehouse Mysteries series (

On What Grounds

,

Through the Grinder

and

Latte Trouble

) and I found it to be a surprisingly summery read. It is a little lighter than the others in the series (although they aren’t necessarily dark – they are cozy mysteries after all), and I think I’ll most likely reread this in the summer with a large iced coffee.

This time the action is relocated from the Village Blend in Manhattan’s trendy Greenwich Village to the elite Hamptons area. Full of mansions and snobby multimillionaires, Clare doesn’t really fit in but as she’s there for work I wouldn’t expect her to. Her friend David was introduced briefly in the last book, and doesn’t get much more development here. Clare is determined to track down the killer, and this time she doesn’t get much help or support from her friends and family. Joy is still rebelling in every way possible, and Madame is off having a summer fling.

The mystery itself is well developed with a surprising ending, although part of the mystery became clear early on. I liked that most of my favourite characters returned, although Matt’s presence in the Hamptons seemed a bit of a stretch. I also loved the new character Jim, but I don’t think he’ll be returning any time soon.

As usual the book includes a selection of gorgeous sounding recipes, this time for The Village Blend’s Chilly Choco Latte, Tropical Coffee Frappe (Rum and Coconut Coffee Smoothie), Frothy Seafoam Frappe (Cocoa-Mint Espresso Smoothie), Old Fashioned Iced Coffee, Simple Sugar Syrup, Clare’s Cafe Pousson (8 layered chocolate-almond espresso), Clare’s Chocolate-Walnut-Espresso Brownies, Almond Torte and Flourless Chocolate-Kahlua Cake.

All in all, this is a great summery read and I’m looking forward to reading

Decaffeinated Corpse

next.

Plot: 9/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 9/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Cover: 10/10

Overall: 46/50

I have read and enjoyed all of the earlier Coffeehouse releases. This next book in the series was a huge disappointment. I found myself skimming through the last half of the book just to finish. I personally enjoy the leading woman, Clare, and how murders seem to be all around her. I can admire she’s now a forty-something divorced woman who after raising her daughter as a single mother, is now trying to live her life to the fullest. Especially in this story, I think the daughter comes off like a spoiled brat throwing baby-style tantrums everytime her mother makes a negative comment to her. Even though I’m quite disappointed with this particular installment, I shall continue on with the series.