Some Mystery with Your Coffee?

I’ve been on a role lately with my mystery reading of all sorts, but now I’m stuck on the Coffee House Mystery series by Cleo Coyle. The first book, entitled On What Grounds, lays the framework for the rest, featuring coffee-house-manager-come-amateur-detective Clare Cosi. She’s a forty-something divorcée, lured back from a suburban New Jersey life to work once again at The Village Blend, a Greenwich Village institution. The deal, cut by its owner “Madame,” is that she gets to live in Manhattan above the shop and get a stake in the business if she resumes managing it.

All is promising except for the fact she discovers that Madame, also her ex-mother-in-law, has permitted her son Matt, the coffee-house’s buyer/still charming ex-husband, to stay there for the ten days a month when he’s in town. Then there is the issue of those pesky murders that crop up each book…

The New York City setting is perfect for this series, and you wish you could be a regular when you read the books. I like Clare herself, who’s sharp and has high standards, but Madame’s character alone is worth reading the books for; she’s French, she’s classy, and she does what she wants. There’s a bit of romance, a bit of suspense, but mostly these are fast, enjoyable reads.

We don’t have all of the series just yet, though we have ordered the ones we’re missing. Start at the beginning, and by all means, have a cup of joe at your side when you curl up to these cozy mysteries.

Book 1 - On What Grounds
Book 2 – Through the Grinder
Book 3 – Latte Trouble
Book 4 – Murder Most Frothy
Book 5 – Decaffeinated Corpse
Book 6 – French Pressed
Book 7 – Espresso Shot