Roast Mortem (Coffee House Mystery) [Hardcover]

Cleo Coyle (Author)

Book Description

Series: Coffee House Mystery | Publication Date: August 3, 2010

The national bestselling author brews up another mystery-and this time, it's New York's Bravest that get burned

After local firefighters pull Clare out of a blazing café, she happily comes to their rescue by teaching them the finer points of operating their newly donated espresso machine. But matters really heat up when somebody is torching cafes around the city and firefighters begin 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 ovens 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?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The pseudonymous Coyle's strong 9th coffeehouse mystery (after 2009's Holiday Grind) pays tribute to New York City firefighters. Clare Cosi, the head barista at Village Blend; Blend owner Madame Dreyfus Allegro Dubois (who's Clare's ex-mother-in-law); and Blend employee Dante Silva narrowly escape death in the bomb-activated blaze that destroys Enzo Testa's Caffe Lucia in Queens and seriously injures Enzo. Clare informs the irritating, overly flirtatious FDNY captain, Michael Quinn, a cousin of her NYPD detective boyfriend, Mike Quinn, that she suspects arson. As fire marshal Stuart Rossi swings into action, Clare is eager to help catch the firebug (aka the Coffee Shop Arsonist), but Rossi is less than enthusiastic about her getting involved. Later, the arsonist torches a Long Island coffeehouse, killing a firefighter, as a warning. While the media worry that a terrorist is loose, new, even more horrible crimes surface. Coyle (the wife-husband writing team of Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini) provides an appendix of useful tips and tempting recipes.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"The pseudonymous Coyle''s strong 9th coffeehouse mystery (after 2009''s Holiday Grind) pays tribute to New York City firefighters. Clare Cosi, the head barista at Village Blend; Blend owner Madame Dreyfus Allegro Dubois (who''s Clare''s ex-mother-in-law); and Blend employee Dante Silva narrowly escape death in the bomb-activated blaze that destroys Enzo Testa''s Caffe Lucia in Queens and seriously injures Enzo. Clare informs the irritating, overly flirtatious FDNY captain, Michael Quinn, a cousin of her NYPD detective boyfriend, Mike Quinn, that she suspects arson. As fire marshal Stuart Rossi swings into action, Clare is eager to help catch the firebug (aka the Coffee Shop Arsonist), but Rossi is less than enthusiastic about her getting involved. Later, the arsonist torches a Long Island coffeehouse, killing a firefighter, as a warning. While the media worry that a terrorist is loose, new, even more horrible crimes surface. Coyle (the wife-husband writing team of Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini) provides an appendix of useful tips and tempting recipes."
-Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover; 1 edition (August 3, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425234592
• ISBN-13: 978-0425234594
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #614,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Visit Cleo Coyle at her *virtual* coffeehouse: www.CoffeehouseMystery.com where she posts coffee picks, bonus recipes, and maintains a message board.

CLEO COYLE grew up in a small town on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After earning scholarships to study writing at Carnegie Mellon and American Universities, she began her career as a cub reporter for The New York Times. Now an author of popular fiction as well as a New York Times bestselling media tie-in writer, Cleo lives and works in New York City, where she collaborates with her husband (also a bestselling author) to pen the Coffeehouse Mysteries. Together they also write the Haunted Bookshop Mysteries under the name Alice Kimberly. In their spare time they cook like crazy, rescue stray cats, drink a lot of java, and hunt ghosts. You can learn more about Cleo, her husband, and the books they write by visiting www.CoffeehouseMystery.com. Scroll down the left column of the site's Home Page and you will see links to a number of online interviews that Cleo has given.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another really good entry in a wonderful series, August 3, 2010

By 

Holly Kincaid "Book addict" (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roast Mortem (Coffee House Mystery) (Hardcover)

I first discovered this mystery series in early 2006 and at that point, three books had been published in the series so I read all of them in about two weeks. Since then, I have read each book as it becomes available and have yet to be disappointed. I read several other mystery series and only two come to mind as holding up much past book 7 - this one and the Tea Shop Series by Laura Childs. The others just seem to start out strong and then something happens. The author runs out of ideas or becomes bored and doesn't put forth the effort? Whatever the problem is, they start dropping in quality around that point and I either hang in there hoping for better (and being disappointed) or sadly give up and no longer invest the time and effort as new books are released. This series has beaten the odds in my estimation and the quality has remained at a level beyond my expectations, especially for a series that has now run nine books long.

This particular novel again features Clare Cosi, manager of The Village Blend, an independent coffee shop in the heart of Greenwich Village. This installment has a slightly different twist as the main focus of the mystery is that coffee shops around the city are being set on fire and people are being hurt or killed in the process. Clare happens to be in one of the cafes when the first fire starts so she is immediately caught up in trying to understand what is happening and trying to ensure nothing happens to her own, much-loved, Village Blend. Much of the story line revolves around the NYFD and when you read the afterward you will better understand why. While I miss the Village Blend and the baristas located there, they do make appearances which made me happy. Also, the characters of Mike Quinn and his cousin Michael Quinn are both further developed throughout the story.

A good mystery with a heavy emphasis on both fire-fighting and coffee brewing, this latest effort continues with snappy dialogue, humor, and a cast of characters that are evolving and developing over time. I think one of strengths of the novels is the setting of New York. It allows the author to continue to add fresh characters, an incredibly strong sense of place, and more "realistic" situations than many other books. Some of the stories will resonate more than others, based upon your interest and personal preferences, but the series is wonderful and this is another solid installment that the author should be proud of.

An interesting primer on coffee roasting is included in the back as well as recipes which will make your mouth water !

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clare & Firemen how can you go wrong?, August 3, 2010

By 

Barbara Hightower "BabsBookBistro" (Taylors, SC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roast Mortem (Coffee House Mystery) (Hardcover)

Roast Mortem I have to say, is my favorite book by Cleo so far. This book hit close to home for me as my dad is a retired Fire Chief after 48 years of service and I could totally relate to what was happening through out the book. Clare out does herself this time. It was nice to see more of Mike's Cousin Michael Quinn and the big secrets between the two. I also enjoyed Clare coming to Mike's rescue for a change. Clare does her best work when she is at the firehouse trying to teach a few of the guys how to use the Espresso machine. Matt also surprised me this go around. Each character is getting stronger and even more interesting as the time goes. There are a few hilarious parts in the book that make it all come together nicely. I look forward to the next book and so glad I got to read this one.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great Coffee House mystery..., August 8, 2010

By 

NY Bookster (New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Roast Mortem (Coffee House Mystery) (Hardcover)

I have liked all of the books in this series and I was very happy with this latest installment. All of the New York details have always been an essential backdrop to all of the Coffee House stories, and this book is no exception. I loved that the author found a way to bring the FDNY into this story, as they are a key part of the New York landscape. We've had the NYPD represented with Clare's boyfriend Mike, and it was great to see the FDNY and Mike's cousin Michael play such a big part of the book. All of my favorite characters were well represented here, particularly Madame and Clare's ex-husband Matt. Thankfully Matt's wife Breanne was only mentioned in passing. I really do like the Clare and Matt scenes and Matt's wife tends to get in the way of that.

There were so many red herrings scattered throughout the book that the mystery really doesn't get unraveled until the end. You'll think (along with Clare) that you've got the mystery solved several times, but chances are you haven't. This was another great cozy to curl up with!