Latte Trouble

This is the third book in the Coffeehouse Mystery Series, but the first that I have read. I picked this book up because I needed a book with Latte in the title for a challenge I am in. I am not sure how I feel about this book. I liked it, but parts of it were not what I expected from a cozy. There was way too much information about how to make coffee and how beans are processed. The descriptions in the book were excellent and made you feel like you were there. Parts of the story were almost like a police procedural, a little dull, but part of the protaganists investigation. The series takes place in New York, hence the topic of Fashion Week.

It is fashion week, where the coffee shop is hosting an event for a designer of accessories. The show more accessory and clothing line that the murder revolves around are designed around coffee, the colour, the swirls etc. Clare is the protagonist and manager of the The Blend, where the first murder takes place. Clare's amusing and loyal barrista is the one who made and served the deadly latte, therefore he is arrested for the crime. Clare must do all she can to find out who the real culprit is. Her investigation is not easy. First she must determine who the actual target really was, who would want to kill him/her, what are the motives and how did they do it. The plot is intricately laid out with lots of twists, turns and some red herring thrown in.

Despite the clever mystery plotting, this one is only a 3 star for me. Clare is sometimes a bit too careless, but she's still an enjoyable heroine. I like the realistic situations she faces with her independent daughter Joy and the back-and-forth strange relationship with her ex husband, Matteo. There is also a police detective, Quinn, that is mentioned early but does not make an appearance until the end, that might be a romantic interest. Madame as the mother-in-law is fun and often surprises everyone throughout the story. The one thing that is not included in this book but is often in cozy mysteries is the help of local police. They do not really seem to be involved in the story at all which is very different.

The ending brings out a creative culprit and not someone I would have suspected, this was a definite well crafted twist to the story. The characters were not very complex with the exception of Clare and the immediate family. I wonder if there was more to them in previous books. Not sure if I will read another, there was just something I can't put my finger on. show less

Latte Trouble is the third in the oh-so-delightful Coffeehouse mystery series.

Clare Cosi is part-owner/manager of the Village Blend, a funky, historic New York coffeehouse. This time, The Blend is caught up in the excitement, hubbub and drama of Fall Fashion Week. When fashionista Lottie Harmon is poisoned by a cup of latte, and barista Tucker Burton is arrested for Lottie's murder, Clare swings into action, putting her investigative skills to work in order to nab the real murderer and free Tucker from prison.

I really love these coffeehouse mysteries! They're so fun! It was hard to know how many stars to give this, because I'd just finished reading Eliot's masterpiece Middlemarch before I read Latte Trouble. The vast contrast between show more the two was the diffiulty, of course. I ended up giving Latte Trouble 4 stars, because even though it is a light, fluffy read, even light, fluffy reads have their place, and compared with other cozy easy reads, this series is among the best. show less

3rd in the Coffeehouse Mystery series.

It seems that New Yorkers have an infallible way to tell when summer has ended and fall arrives that has nothing to do with the weather or calendar--Fall Fashion Week takes over Bryant Park in the back of the New York Public Library. Fashionistas of every description descend on New York from all over the world. The Village Blend is right in the middle, serving as the host for Lottie Harmon’s Fashion Week party. Harmon, a fantastically successful accessory designer in the 80s, dropped out of the fashion scene for 20 years, but this year she is staging a comeback with her line inspired by--you guessed it, coffee! More specifically, the coffee drinks served up by the Village Blend.

But of course, show more nothing ever stays merely frantic in Clare Cosi’s life. In the middle of the party, one of the attendees drops very dead--poisoned. One of Clare’s baristas, Tucker Burton, is accused of the murder. Naturally Clare is not going to stand by and see infamous injustice take place, so...

Thus the plot of the 3rd in this very entertaining series. All of the characters who populated and brought to life the first two books are back and better than ever, especially Madame Dubois, Clare’s ex-mother-in-law and one of my favorite people in the series.

As usual, Coyle teaches us about coffee--how to buy it, store it, prepare it, and coffee drinks. She also provides fascinating bits of the history of New York neighborhoods and buildings: Bryant Park itself, the arch in Washington Square, Rikers Island prison (the largest prison in the US and the only US penal colony), Bellevue Hospital and more.

Because this is a fashionable murder, we’re treated to theories of fashion cycles, a look at what constitutes timelessness in fashion, and insight into the profound superficiality of the entire fashion industry.

And last but not least, we’re provided with nuggets of insight into high society:

Madame Dubois: You must wear light colors to blend in with the rich and powerful..
Clare: Light colors?
Madame Dubois: If for no other reason than to demonstrate that you can afford the cleaning bills.

“They’re all so quiet,” I whispered to Madame.
“Yes, my dear. Well, some people are just used to letting their money speak for them, and in my opinion, money alone has absolutely nothing to say.”

Given great characterizations, snappy writing, and adequate plotting, this is another marvelously entertaining installment in a delightful series. Highly recommended.
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After being out of the public eye for several years, fashion designer Lottie Harmon is staging a comeback with a collection of coffee-inspired fashion accessories and chooses the Village Blend Coffeehouse as the perfect place to launch the collection. Claire Cosi, manager of the Village Blend, feels a bit out of place in the fashion world, but is thrilled with the turnout for the event. Thrilled that is, until one of the guests is killed by a poisonous latte and one of her baristas, Tucker, is arrested for the murder. The police think that Tucker is the murderer because the victim was his ex-boyfriend, but Clare thinks the poison was actually intended for Lottie. Clare has a hard time convincing anyone else of this, even Matteo, her show more ex-husband, thinks Tucker is guilty. Clare could let things go, she has other worries - she is afraid her daughter Joy is using drugs - but when Lottie becomes ill, Clare thinks the poisoner is at it again. As Clare searches for the killer she encounters blackmail, kidnapping, and the mob and discovers that not everyone is who they seem to be.

Written by husband and wife team Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi under the pen name Cleo Coyle, "Latte Trouble" is a well done mystery. Set in New York, the city makes a nice backdrop for the mystery and the city itself is like a character in the book. The fashion aspects in the book are well done and the descriptions of what the characters are wearing help the reader picture each character. Clare is a well written and real character - in her 40's, divorced but still attracted to her ex-husband, trying to run a busy business, and worried about her daughter. The supporting characters are equally well written, especially Matteo, Clare's ex-husband who is finally starting to grow up and his mother "Madame". The coffee making aspects are deftly weaved into the story, although much of it was over my head as I drink tea. The murder is well plotted, with plenty of suspects and the murderer is the last person I would have thought of. There are lots of surprises in the book, but careful reading shows the authors left plenty of subtle clues as to what was going on.

"Latte Trouble" is a great cozy mystery. show less

The third in the Coffeehouse mysteries series starts with Clare Cosi getting herself in the middle of another big crisis - this time one of her baristas (Tucker) is accused in poisoning his ex-boyfriend. Clare disagrees of course, Matteo is a better help than usually and Madame is around much more and is being a much better shown character than in the first book. Who is missing is Mike Quinn who is on some type of a leave (although he will show up before the end of the book and the chemistry between him and Clare will still be there. The book is about Fashion this time - an old celebrity designer is back with a line of coffee-inspired jewelery and not surprisingly she picks up the Village Blend coffeehouse for her party.

If you had not show more read the previous two books, some of the conversations may sound a bit strange but the important things are mentioned again when it is relevant.

In the book someone manages to take a bath in the Hudson river, someone else to reveal that they had been in prison once, two people to get in bed together and a lot of coffee recipes to be shared and explained. Add to this someone being caught with drugs and another character being kidnapped and a very old secret to be revealed after a long string of consequences. And of course there will be more than one corpse and enough red herrings to throw anyone in the wrong direction. And the end will be as surprising as an end can come even if something starts ticking at the back of your mind much earlier even if it makes no real sense.

I am not sure I would drink my coffee in a place where so many murders had happened but I love coffee and the whole series is just delicious. And even if it is not great literature, it is amusing and fun to read. Which is more important than anything else.

3 and a half stars out of 5. show less

Clare Cosi is the manager of the Village Blend, an upscale coffee house in Manhattan. She's hosting a party for Lottie Harmon, who's a loyal customer and also a fashion designer who has recently come out of retirement to launch a new line of jewelry - "Java Jewelry." On the evening of the party, the place is packed, and Clare and her employees are rushing to keep up. Unfortunately, her employee Tucker's ex-boyfriend Ricky shows up, and when Tucker is bringing a drink to Lottie, Ricky grabs it off the tray and drinks it, along with his new boyfriend. When both men fall to the floor, Clare calls 911. But it's too late for Ricky, who's already dead. When the police investigate, they arrest Tucker for murder, figuring the breakup gives him show more a good motive.

Clare refuses to believe Tucker is capable of murder, and decides to investigate on her own. With her friend Detective Mike Quinn out of town, she needs to enlist the reluctant help of her ex-husband, Matteo, who sometimes shares the apartment above the blend with her (long story), and also the help of her ex-mother-in-law, Madame, who treats it like a grand adventure. Clare's determined to find out who's framing Tucker, even if it puts her own life in danger...

This is the third book in the series, and it's not a bad one. What disappointed me is that more attention is given to the surrounding landmarks (if you're really interested in how Riker's Island got its name, you can probably find it on Google or Wikipedia); and not enough attention is given to fleshing out characters. Instead of Clare thinking about her or Matt's libidos (which we get, anyway), I'd rather see a little background - how and where Clare grew up, etc. From previous books we know how she met Matt, but very little about her upbringing, which makes people who they are. We do get plenty on why the two broke up, but we've known that from previous books. I also don't like the fact that Matt takes advantage of her (yes, he does), and she's worried about hurting his feelings? He cheated on you, woman. More than once. Get a grip.

I also find it sad that Clare's entire life is the coffee shop. She never goes anywhere, never even goes shopping or out to lunch with friends (if she has any), just takes care of the shop. It's very sad there's no outside life for her (unless she's investigating, and that's hardly relaxing).

Saying that, I enjoyed the mystery and trying to discover the identity of the killer. There were a few red herrings thrown about, which led in a couple of different directions. I did like the twist to the ending, and discovered who the murderer was a little bit before Clare did, but that's fine with me. I would have liked to have rated this higher, but Clare needs to completely (physically, emotionally) push Matt out of her life unless it's necessary to see him. I honestly enjoyed the ending of the book, and will continue to read this series. show less

It's Fashion Week in New York, and Clare and her Village Blend employees have been selected to cater events for the jewelry designer Lottie Harmon. At the first one which is held in the shop itself, one of the guests is murdered and another hospitalized after drink a cyanide-laced latte. Detective Quinn is on leave, and Detectives Starkey and Hut arrest the most obvious suspect, Clare's barista. Clare knows that if justice is to be served, she must find the killer herself. There are lots of twists and turns, and I found myself wondering fairly early if the person who ended up being the killer might have done it. I'm not sure that it was all that obvious until the last couple of chapters. I love the humor that the author put into the show more plot based on old television programs and well-known figures from the 1970s. I wasn't quite so much a fan of the fashion scene or of one plot incident that could have probably been handled differently. Still, it's a good installment in an enjoyable series. show less