Brewed Awakening

Brewed Awakening is Coffeehouse Mystery #18. This installment of the series opens with a marriage proposal to main character and amateur sleuth Clare Cosi from her longtime boyfriend Mike Quinn. Claire's life suddenly takes a turn for the worse when two months later she finds herself waking up on a park bench in someone else's clothes. She is not sure why she is in New York City when she lives in New Jersey but decides to walk to the coffee shop her former mother-in-law owns, the Village Blend. When she arrives there, Clare is surprised to see her daughter Joy looking 11 years older and that coffeehouse staff whom she does not know seem to know her. Clare has amnesia!

A few pages later we find out that Clare witnessed a crime that she show more cannot remember.She had been missing for a week and when she woke up in the park her memory did not register anything that happened in her life in the past 11 years. Society wife and hotel owner Annette Brewster went missing alongside Clare when an armed and masked man forced them in a car but Brewster has never been found. Clare is the key to locating her, if she can remember.

I thought it was creative for the authors to use amnesia as a way to slowly reveal the clues to the crime. It certainly changes their usual method of telling a story and keeps the series fresh for loyal readers. Clare's friends at The Blend also commit a crime, removing her from a hospital against her psychiatrist's knowledge and must lay low from the police. The psychiatrist's plans for Clare included moving her to a private hospital in the north part of the state for treatment that he refused to describe to her family and for up to one year. We have the tension of the two crimes which made the plot more interesting.

Brewed Awakening may be the best book in the series! show less

This is pretty far into a long running series about Clare Cosi, her coffee shop The Village Blend and all the coffee roasting, brewing and barista fun. I didn't realize she was going to be the victim for the amnesia trope, but it was very well done as the mystery and solution played out. This is a good series with a bit more heft than a cozy, but not too gritty either.

The Coffeehouse Mystery series has been one of my favorites for years now. I like the main characters and the setting in and around a popular coffee shop in NYC. The plots are always good, and the coffee is always hot (or iced, or latte, or whatever new drink is all the rage at the Village Blend). I like the discussions the characters have about coffee -- preparing, roasting, buying beans, brewing, etc. Each book also includes recipes.

This newest book I devoured in one awesome bout of binge reading, only taking breaks to refill my coffee cup. This time the authors went for something a bit different. Loved it! Clare Cosi wakes up in Washington Square Park. She has no idea how she got there....and she's lost 15 years of memories. She show more thinks her daughter is still a child....that her ex is still a supreme rat.....and that she no longer works at Village Blend. Her disappearance and subsequent reappearance with memory loss coincide with another crime. The police start to suspect her....is her memory loss real, or a put on? And....she has no memory of her fiance. Will she regain her memories and help solve the disappearance of a wealthy heiress.....or will she be arrested and charged with the crime?

There are several yummy recipes at the back of this book, as usual. I can't wait to try the recipe for KFC-style chicken...I've always wanted to try making a homemade version!

Brewed Awakening is the 18th book in the Coffeehouse series. I highly recommend these books to coffee and cozy lovers. Even if you don't care for coffee, the mysteries are entertaining and the characters are interesting. This series always provides an enjoyable mystery!

**I voluntarily read an advanced review copy of this book from Berkley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** show less

I didn't really love this mystery. It was OK. I know it is part of a series and 18th from the beginning but that wasn't the problem What really bothered me was the prose. It seemed almost like it was written by someone who didn't speak English as a first language. I don't think that's the case - but it is just the best way I have of describing a certain lack of smoothness. Also, I found that I could skip chunks of the book -- paragraphs and sometimes pages (the book was slow) and not seem to be missing anything. However, I still rate the book acceptable. The plot was good and the coffee house and emphasis on coffee (roasting, tasting, etc.) seemed fresh enough and interesting.

Another coffee book winner! Claire wakes up on a park bench thinking it is 15 years prior. She thinks Joy is a little girl and her divorce from Matteo is fresh. And more importantly she has no recollection of her fiancé Mike. When Claire disappeared , Hotel Heiress, Annette Brewster was also abducted. Dr. Lorca is more than willing to help Claire recover her memories, but wants to move her upstate away from her friends. Claire's friends do not trust the doctor and a plan is hatched to save Claire. Bit by bit Claire's memories return. One memory emerges about Annette's asking Claire to look into the death of her husband. When the finger is pointed at Claire concerning Annette's abduction, Mike and Claire have to hurry to find Annette show more before the police catch Claire. show less

One of the WORST books I have read in a long time. The idea does not fly with Clare having amnesia. She is waaaay too passive throughout the book. Are we sure this book wasn't written in 2020???

I think this was the best one in the series. 4.5 ⭐️s.