by Cleo Coyle
First published 2012
Clare Cosi manages the Village Blend coffeehouse and serves her signature Fa-la-la-la Lattes at the Great New York Cookie Swap. The charity event brings together the city's best pastry chefs for a festive cause. Clare's cheerful mood shatters when she discovers the beaten body of a baker's assistant. The police think a serial attacker called "The Christmas Stalkings" killer is responsible. Clare's boyfriend Mike Quinn works as an NYPD detective. He suspects darker motives behind the crime. Clare disagrees with his theory until she finds a second murdered baker. Now she becomes the killer's next target. Clare spends her holiday season hunting for clues instead of celebrating. She refuses to stop until she catches the murderer and serves justice.
Genres: american-fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary, adult-fiction, thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, festive, gritty, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, found-family, romantic-subplot, serial-killer-hunt
Setting: New York, Village Blend
Period: Christmas, Holiday Season
569 pages · Paperback · Wheeler Publishing
Content warnings: murder, violence