Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As Enjoyable as a Good Cuppa Joe, June 30, 2006
You know what I like most about this delectable mystery series? I can never figure out whodunnit until the very end. The surefire mark of an excellent mystery.
Not to mention the luscious coffee recipes & trivia and the intriguing recurring characters. You can practically smell the coffee brewing in the Village Blend coffee shop as you read the book, it's that good. I had no idea that Breakfast Blend coffee (which is a light roast) has more caffeine than the darker Espresso blend. That's just one tidbit of trivia I picked up in this story.
If you love a good, fast-paced mystery with entertaining characters, then this is the series for you. I can't wait for the next one in August!!!!
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another 'Coffeehouse Mystery' that will have you reaching for a latte and biscotti before you can say murder..., April 27, 2006
Clare Cosi - manager and co-owner of the historic Village Blend located in the heart of Greenwich Village - has never had a problem dealing with hot drinks, but now she's got a mystery on her hands that just may be too hot to handle - and it has struck close to home. One of Clare's best customers for the past year, Lottie Harmon, has struck gold with her new line of designs, Java Jewelry - a collection of coffee-inspired accessories that blend all of the colors of the coffee rainbow together, and go perfectly with the new color of the season: brown. So, when Lottie wants the perfect backdrop to display her new line for Fall Fashion Week, she turns to Clare, and the Village Blend, in an attempt to give insiders...an inside look at her delectable designs. However, when Tucker - one of Clare's best baristas - serves up a cup of poison, in the form of a luscious latte, to one of fashions most prominent figures, Clare suspects that Lottie was the intended victim, and sets out to protect the often-nervous Lottie from further harm; while at the same time get Tucker out of prison and off of Riker's Island, as well as fend off the negative publicity that is sure to hit the Village Blend if word gets out about the poisoning. But the more detecting Clare does, the more she realizes that the fashion world is hiding some very nasty secrets. Secrets that could bring down the entire fashion industry - or at least expose it for what it truly is - while at the same time bringing Clare down with it...in a bodybag.
As someone who prefers the taste of hot chocolate to an eight-dollar latte, it surprises me that Cleo Coyle's COFFEHOUSE MYSTERIES appeal to me so much. Clare is an enchanting character, whose descriptions of how to create the perfect "blend" make even a non-coffee drinker - like me - want to run out to the local Starbuck's and grab a cup of joe. Her sleuthing soul is also a big draw-in, as are the outstanding supporting characters found in each one of her cozy mysteries. While it was fairly easy to pinpoint the murderer from the beginning of the book, Coyle wrapped LATTE TROUBLE up in such a wonderful package, that you couldn't help but want to complete the novel - in one sitting - and will be ultimately shocked to discover the secrets that are revealed within this cozy little package. Another COFFEEHOUSE MYSTERY that will have you reaching for a latte and biscotti before you can say murder.
Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best written cozy series on the shelves, July 26, 2006
I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying this mystery series. In a sea of cozies, it is one of the best written I've come across.
Latte Trouble is by turns entertaining, humorous, touching, and suspenseful.
I adore Clare Cosi, the main character. She's a lovely combination of strength and tender-heartedness, self-consciousness and grit. I also love that she's closer to 40 than to 20 and so knowledgeable about coffee and running a coffeehouse (one of my fantasies is to open my own too!).
The writing has an impressive realism to it with depth of character not usually seen in this genre. The humor is deftly handled, and I just adored reading about the three generations of women trying to get through their tumultuous lives (Clare Cosi; her college-age daughter, Joy; and Clare's elegant, elderly French-born mother-in-law).
I also enjoyed the coffee trivia--I thought I already knew about making coffee, but this series is educating me quite a bit!
I highly recommend anything written by Ms. Cleo Coyle!
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