by Cleo Coyle
Part of Coffeehouse Mystery
First published 2004
Clare Cosi runs the Village Blend in Greenwich Village, and business has never been better. Then her female customers start turning up dead. Lieutenant Quinn works the case and lands on a suspect fast: the new man in Clare's life. Clare knows something is wrong with that picture. She starts pulling on threads herself, tracing connections between the victims, the coffee shop, and whoever is doing the killing. The deeper she digs, the clearer it becomes that the killer knows she is asking questions. Clare is not a detective. She is a coffeehouse manager with a personal stake and no backup. Quinn warns her off. She keeps going anyway. The investigation puts her relationship on the line and her safety in real danger. Cleo Coyle keeps the setting grounded in the rhythms of a working café, the regulars who come in every morning, the routines that make a neighborhood feel safe until they suddenly do not. This is a mystery where the stakes are domestic and immediate, and the threat arrives through the front door like any other customer.
Genres: domestic-fiction, mystery, crime, contemporary, adult-fiction, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, fast-paced, grounded, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, domestic-threat, personal-stake, warned-off-investigation
Setting: Village Blend, Greenwich Village, New York
270 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Berkley Books
Content warnings: murder, violence