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Cleo Coyle

Author of On What Grounds

31+ Works 9,637 Members 422 Reviews 24 Favorited

About the Author

Cleo Coyle is the pen name for Alice Alfonsi, who writes with her husband, Marc Cerasini. This popular married writing team was born and raised in Pittsburgh, met in New York City, and married in Las Vegas. Together they've authored a number of bestselling books. As Cleo Coyle, they write The show more Coffeehouse Mysteries. As Alice Kimberly, they write The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Cleo Coyle

Series

Works by Cleo Coyle

On What Grounds (2003) 1,169 copies
Through the Grinder (2004) 780 copies
Latte Trouble (2005) 700 copies
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure (2004) 683 copies
Murder Most Frothy (2006) 654 copies
Decaffeinated Corpse (2007) 555 copies
French Pressed (2008) 506 copies
Espresso Shot (2008) 479 copies
Holiday Grind (2009) 448 copies
The Ghost and the Dead Deb (2005) 395 copies
Roast Mortem (2010) 392 copies
Murder by Mocha (2011) 290 copies

Associated Works

Prime Crime Holiday Bundle (2010) — Contributor — 24 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

I truly love this series. It always makes me want to drink coffee while reading. A movie is being made in and around the Village Blend. When Tucker is shot, Claire is concerned that the star Jerry is wanting to cover up the incident. She takes it upon herself to do her own investigating. Tucker being shot is not the only odd incident that has been happening. Someone is out to sabotage this production. Claire is determined to find out who.
Can't wait to try some of the recipes.
 
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travelgal | 2 other reviews | Jan 20, 2024 |
Entertaining mystery involving drug smugglers, street rap, city politics, and a Scooby-Doo ending, plus lots of food and good coffee, and recipes for baked goods, Italian food and Filipino food.
 
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JBarringer | 11 other reviews | Dec 15, 2023 |
Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse Mystery Series is my favorite cozy mystery series. I have read every book in the series and only have high accolades for each book. Bulletproof Barista , though, was not my favorite installment in the series. The authors have managed to maintain a quality level in their writing over the years but in this 20th novel they faltered.

Clare Cosi is the main character. She is the manager of the Village Blend coffeehouse. She agrees to shut down her business for a week for comedian Jerry Sullivan who is starring in a film that is being shot at the coffee shop. When the film crew’s location shoot delivers an actual shooting, Clare Cosi finds herself once again at the scene of a true crime. Only Murders in Gotham, the smash-hit streaming program, is famous for filming in authentic New York locations and using real New Yorkers as extras. For its second season, they’ve chosen to spotlight the century-old Village Blend and its quirky crew of baristas. Clare Cosi is beyond thrilled, especially when her superb bulletproof coffee lands her a craft services contract for the production.

Let me begin my review by saying that I was in a bad mood when I began reading this novel. I thought it would uplift me. There was something different about how it started out but I continued reading waiting for someone to get killed. It didn't happen until over 200 pages into the story. Usually, the murder happens in the first chapter. I remembered hearing the name of the person who died, Billy Saddler, but he was not central to the story thus far. I went back to the beginning searching for his name and did not it until page 99. There was something else that bothered me while I was reading. One of the characters, Tina Bird, was referred to over 10 times as "cockadoodledo." Again, I went back to the beginning trying to figure out why she gained this description. It turns out that one of Clare's baristas, Tucker, referred to Bird this way. When Clare didn't understand why Tucker said this, he said that she should remember the phrase that Kathy Bates used in her 1990 movie Misery. While I had seen this movie several times I did not remember the phrase. I then went to Google and found several You Tube videos where her character described a vehicle as a "cockadoodie car." She even referred to another character as a "cockadoodie." With my facts straight about the plot, I returned to reading but promising myself to watch the Misery movie again soon.

The Forward to the story talks about a movie being filmed near the authors' home in New York City. They decided to write this installment of the series based on a movie being filmed at Clare's Village Blend. I believe that this was a mistake. The plot was not anywhere near as exciting as the authors tried to make their mystery fit into a predesigned idea of what the plot should be. This affected their creativity. There were a lot of cliches used in the writing, which I have never seen before, and Clare's investigation was more about who was sabotaging Jerry Sullivan's TV show than solving a murder. The person who was shot in the beginning of the book survived.

If you have never read a book in this series, do not start with Bulletproof Barista. All of the earlier books were riveting and Bulletproof Barista is an anomaly in the series. I recommend, though, that you read this series. It has been enjoyable for me. When I finished this book I was planning on giving it a 4 star rating. However, as I was writing this review I realized all of the problems that I had with it. Consequently, I am rating it 2 stars. It was not up to par with the earlier novels.
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Violette62 | 2 other reviews | Nov 30, 2023 |
I recently finished reading Bulletproof Barista, and I must say, it was a well-written and delightful book. The book's engaging mystery, well-developed characters, and vivid New York City setting all added to its allure.

Although this is the first book in the series that I've read, I still found it to be a very entertaining read.

You're in for a treat with this short, entertaining mystery that will keep you guessing. If you're a fan of cozy mysteries, I highly recommend giving this book a read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for allowing me to read and review this book.
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JKJ94 | 2 other reviews | Oct 1, 2023 |

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Statistics

Works
31
Also by
1
Members
9,637
Popularity
#2,486
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
422
ISBNs
316
Languages
3
Favorited
24

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