ROAST MORTEM: Coffeehouse Mystery #9 - Cleo Coyle

From the back of the book: Clare Cosi, manager and head barista of the landmrk Village Blend coffeehouse, has perfected the pulling of steaming hot espresso. But can she keep New York's Bravest from getting burned?

When the firefighters of Ladder Company 189 pull Clare's friends out of a blazing cafe, she happily comes to their rescue. As a favor to the men, she visits their firehouse kitchen to teach them the finer points of operating their newly donated espresso machine. But more than their coffee turns out to be hot. Somebody's torching cafes around the city and firefighters are beginning to die in suspicious ways...

Believing the two events are related, Clare investigates, staking out a five-borough bake sale and sniffing out clues in the pizza joints of Brooklyn. When her detective boyfriend, Mike Quinn, is pulled into the fire of a false accusation, Clare is desperate to put out the flames. But will she be able to come to Mike's rescue before someone tries to extinguish her?

Includes recipes and coffee-making tips!

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Smokin'! This is the best Coffeehouse/Clare Cosi yet! Most times a series will start to head south with nine on the shelves, but not this one. Each book is better than the last.

The mixture of the coffeehouses being torched brings Clare into the picture with credibility, which not all cozies can do with any sense of veracity. My favorites are the ones that do it in aces, and this one does it nicely roasted spades.

Okay, enough of the playing card euphemisms...

I liked seeing plenty of Clare and Mike's growing relationship as much as I liked seeing how well Clare gets along with Matt, her ex-husband and still business partner..and friend. They help each other out and the tension seems to have dissipated that was always near the surface in past books. Probably helped that Breanna, Matt's current fashionista wife, wasn't in the book except as honorable mention. Don't like her...there..it's said...

Learning more of Mike's past was enlightening. There is a rivalry between Mike Quinn the cop and his cousin Michael Quinn the firefighter, a rivalry in all things, including the attentions of Clare.

Defnitely plenty of twists and turns through the story and the 'Whaaaa..?!' moments were priceless and believable.

I was honored to have an email from Cleo Coyle not long ago asking if I'd like an advanced copy of ROAST MORTEM before it comes out on 3 Aug 2010. I emailed right back with a very composed, "Yes,yes,yes,yes...please!!" Okay, I was a wee bit giddy....sigh...there it is...

Five the girl is giddy and the book is smokin' fab beans and five diamonds to go with....