Holiday Grind (Coffeehouse Mystery Series #8)

by Cleo Coyle

Overview

When Village Blend manager Clare Cosi finds a red-suited body in the snow, she adds solving Santa's slaying to her coffeehouse menu, only to discover the jolly old soul had a list that he was checking twice-and the folks on it were not very nice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425237885
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/02/2010
Series:	Coffeehouse Mystery Series , #8
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	130,536
Product dimensions:	4.20(w) x 6.60(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

CLEO COYLE is a pseudonym for Alice Alfonsi, writing in collaboration with her husband, Marc Cerasini. Both are New York Times bestselling authors of The Coffeehouse Mysteries, now celebrating over ten years in print. Alice and Marc are also bestselling media tie-in writers who have penned properties for Lucasfilm, NBC, Fox, Disney, Imagine, and MGM. They live and work in New York City, where they write independently and together, including the nationally bestselling Haunted Bookshop Mysteries.

Editorial Reviews

In the charming eighth coffeehouse mystery from the pseudonymous Coyle (the husband-wife writing team of Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi), Clare Cosi, owner of the Village Blend, is preoccupied with creating flavorful and memorable drinks for the upcoming holiday season. Then one snowy December day, Clare discovers a beloved customer, Alf Glockner, shot to death in a nearby alley. Doubtful of the police conclusion that Alf, a part-time comedian who was working as a charity Santa, was the victim of a random murder, Clare sets out to find out what really happened. To her peril, she must do so on her own because her boyfriend, NYPD Det. Mike Quinn, is busy with his own homicide investigation. This light cozy will keep readers guessing until the end, while the drink and accompanying treat recipes will send anyone to the kitchen in search of a candy cane brownie and a caffe mocha latte. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Santa is gunned down on his way to a coffee tasting at the Village Blend. Owner Claire Cosi is not happy with the way the NYPD is handling the case, so she launches her own investigation. This eighth caffeinated series title (after Espresso Shot) gives readers a rundown on coffee syrups and how to make them, roasting coffee, and many holiday recipes while throwing in a good plot and an in-your-face look at life in the Big Apple for good measure. VERDICT Fans of culinary cozies by Joanne Fluke and JoAnna Carl will want this. Coyle also writes the "Haunted Bookshop Mysteries" under the name Alice Kimberly. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 7/09; for more holiday mysteries, see Rebecca Vnuk's holiday fiction roundup, "Deck the Shelves," LJ 10/1/09.—Ed.]\

Library Journal

Amateur sleuth Clare Cosi investigates the murder of a Santa who gave her a tip on how to rev up coffee sales. The cops write off the shooting of charity Santa Alfred Glockner on the chilly streets of lower Manhattan as a mugging gone wrong. His daughter, claiming he owed big bucks to their tough next-door neighbor, begs Clare to investigate. Since the Village Blend manager and barista profited from Alf's advice about creating holiday lattes, she feels obligated. Clare's boyfriend, NYPD detective Mike Quinn, has no time to help; he's immersed in his own case and may be hiding other problems. The cop on Alf's case, who has an odd reputation, ignores Clare until she turns up some possible suspects, one of whom pushes her off the Staten Island ferry. Emerging from the waters, she assesses divorce, double dealing and drugs as potential motives in this complicated case. Though her former husband is afraid she'll be killed, stubborn Clare soldiers on until she and daughter Joy, home for the holidays, become the killer's next target. Coyle's coffeehouse mysteries (Espresso Shot, 2008, etc.) are packed with believable characters and topped with serious coffee lore and holiday recipes. This one will keep your cup piping hot.

Kirkus Reviews