"Coffee lovers & mystery buffs will savor the latest addition to this mystery series."

Coffee aficionados have long thought of the beverage as a gift from the gods and if anyone in New York can lay claim to the title of high priestess, it's Claire Cosi. Manager of the Village Blend, she lives, breaths, concocts and drinks coffee. One morning before her brain can possibly percolate moving her body, let alone process cognitive thought, her ex-mother-in-law, who owns the coffeehouse, notifies Claire that a travesty has splashed itself across the morning papers. The media chooses to base their lurid headlines about a young woman's apparent suicide on the subway's tracks on the coffee cup lying beside the body, a cup bearing the coffeehouse's name. When handsome Det. Mike Quinn, a regular devotee of the coffee shop, turns an investigative eye toward them for answers, Claire finds herself somewhat involved.

Meanwhile, Claire's daughter, Joy, has decided to chance the online dating community via Cappuccino Connection, a "power meet" event hosted at the Village Blend for singles looking for love. Claire, being a devoted and caring mother, decides to join in, if only to screen her daughter's would-be suitors in an attempt to separate the good beans from the bad. Unintentionally, Claire finds herself falling for the dashing Bruce Bowman as they make a connection all their own. However, when more patrons of the coffeehouse turn up dead, and they all have connections to Bruce, the brave Barista finds herself enlisting the aid of her ex-husband, Matteo. She wants his help to solve the murders and get Det. Quinn's accusing eye away from the man with whom she's falling in love.

A Turkish proverb states: "Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and as sweet as love." Taking up where her first book, ON WHAT GROUNDS, left off, this saying definitely applies to Ms. Coyle's coffeehouse mystery series. Coffee connoisseurs and mystery buffs alike will more than enjoy this hearty blend, and for those who like both, it's a guaranteed "Red Eye." You can smell and taste the coffee as her characters come to life before your eyes. Fast-paced action, coffee lore and incredible culinary recipes, brewed together with some dark robust mystery, establish beyond a doubt that this one certainly isn't decaf. I can't wait for her next book in the series, LATTE TROUBLE. All hail the goddess Caffina!

Reviewed by Anne Barringer
Posted September 20, 2004

Summary

Business is booming at Clare Cosi's Village Blend, until her female customers start to die. Lieutenant Quinn is convinced that someone has an axe to grind, and, unfortunately, his prime suspect is the new man in Clare's life. Now Clare will risk her heart--and her life--to follow the killer's trail to the bitter end.