On What Grounds (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 1)
by Cleo Coyle
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Book Summary Information
Author: Cleo CoyleEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-09-02
ISBN: 042519213X
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Berkley
Book Reviews of On What Grounds (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 1)
Book Review: Savor the flavor...
Summary: 5 Stars
(Note: If you don't like coffee, then give this four stars instead of five, because you'll learn a lot about coffee in this book. But don't let the series theme dissuade you from reading this first-rate cozy mystery. I know a tea drinker who loves Ms. Coyle as much as I do.)
My frequent trips to the coffeehouse (be it latte, coffee of the day, or blended drink) have been a part of my life for years. Some people enjoy a glass of wine, a mug of beer, a ciggy...I indulge too...in that premium cuppa o' coffeehouse coffee, so sue me for taking an hour every so often to sit and watch the world go by.
Because of my love of the joe, I was giddy to find a mystery series set in an urban coffeehouse (in this case Greenwich Village, New York). This is the first book in the series (my edition says the paperback hit the #1 best-selling position on the Independent Mystery Booksellers list)...and I can see why.
This is a not only a clever, well-constructed mystery, it is delightful reading as fiction, mainly because the characterizations are so well drawn. Clare and the people in her life are much less shallow and more deeply realized than a lot of the cozy mysteries out there.
The reading is quick (in one sitting, easily) but it's not insubstantial by any stretch. I missed the characters (major and minor, including Esther and Tucker) when the last page was turned and I thought, thank heaven there are other books in the series.
The basic plotline: Clare Cosi loved her time managing the Village Blend Coffee house but was weary of her husband cheating on her. She divorced him and moved with her daughter to the New Jersey suburbs.
Now Joy is over eighteen, enrolled in chef's school in New York City. It gives Clare the perfect excuse to leave New Jersey once more and move back into Manhattan.
Enter: The owner of the village Blend, who also happens to be Clare's ex-mother-in law, a grand elderly lady with French origins (Madame Dreyfus Allegro-Dubois).
Madame offers Clare the job of managing the coffeehouse once again for her. And this time she is offered a deal where she will eventually co-own the coffeehouse. Clare takes the deal...and on the day she moves into the duplex above the city coffeehouse, she finds the body of Anabelle, the assistant manager, unconscious at the bottom of the basement stairs.
After Anabelle Hart is rushed to the hospital, the police take a look around the premises and believe Anabelle had an accident. Clare thinks she met with foul play based on the fact that the garbage can is out of place and coffee grinds are on the floor.
Clare has a wonderful sleuthing soul and a stubborn nature and starts making inquiries of people close to Anabelle. By the end, Clare has grilled a number of intriguing suspects around New York City (and the settings are wonderfully described). Eventually, she gets so close to solving the crime, Clare herself find she's on the wrong end of a gun!
The writing is clever and witty yet not so light that the characters don't stay with you after the last page is turned. I couldn't wait to read another in this series.
Clare's mother-in-law playing matchmaker makes for some humorous moments too--she really wants Clare to get back together with her son, even if she has to trick them into sharing the same living space.
The two-ex-spouses (Clear and her ex-husband Matt) end up hooking up in the sleuthing and they make an entertaining team. Since they've got so much history and know each other so well, there's a lot of funny bickering. It really does makes for some hilarious moments. At the same time, there are many touching moments, the ending is a page-turner and I was truly shocked by the revelation of the real killer.
As another reviewer has already said...Cleo Coyle is a bright new light in the mystery horizon.
Summary of On What Grounds (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 1)
"The perfect cup of coffee is a mystifying thing. To many of my customers, the entire process seems like some sort of alchemy they dare not try at home...."Ten years ago, Clare Cosi left an unhappy marriage along with a job she loved: managing the historic Village Blend coffeehouse in New York's Greenwich Village. For a decade, she was happy raising her daughter in the quiet suburbs of New Jersey; but now that Joy is grown and gone, life has gotten way too quiet for Clare. With a little cajoling from Madame, the Blend's flamboyant, elderly owner, Clare agrees to return to her old job, and right from the start she gets one heck of a jolt. On her first morning back as Village Blend manager, Clare unlocks the front door to find her beautiful, young assistant manager unconscious in the back of the store, coffee grounds strewn everywhere. As Anabelle is rushed to the hospital, police arrive to investigate, but Detective Mike Quinn finds no sign of forced entry or foul play, and he deems it an accident. Clare disagrees; and after Quinn leaves, there are a few questions she just can't get out of her mind, like why was the trash bin in the wrong place? If this wasn't an accident, are her other baristas in danger? And are all NYPD detectives this attractive?
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