Murder by Mocha (A Coffeehouse Mystery)

Often when an author has written a series for a quite a while, the stories get a little, well, tired. This isn't true for Cleo Coyle. Murder by Mocha continues to keep the series' spark with another great story. It's a fun cozy mystery with all the trimmings. There's mystery, of course, friendship, family, twists and turns, everything needed for a completely satisfying cozy read.

The book is well written and, as usual, filled with a great, colorful cast and a solid mystery. To get the most out of this series, though, you want to start at the beginning, so you can see how the coffee house mystery characters grow and change. For sure, Murder by Mocha will hit just the right spot with fans of the series. Overall, good, fun cozy mystery!

If it's late summer/early fall, then I know it's time for a new installment in the Coffeehouse Mystery series by Cleo Coyle. I am a huge fan of the cozy mystery genre but sometimes they cross the line into "too silly" for me and just too fluffy. This series has been wonderful from the start, the quality has remained exceptional throughout, and none of the books have crossed my personal "silliness" line.

My first exposure to the series came in 2006 when I read the first three books in a two week period and LOVED them! Now, I eagerly look forward to the next installment, waiting to get my coffeehouse fix. I have to say that I open each new novel with a moment of hesitation, afraid that my love affair with the series may be about to end since it won't meet my hopes and expectations; it has yet to happen. As with all books, some I like better than others largely based upon the subject matter but they are all well-written and I rate them from very good to great. The quality is consistently high which is pretty amazing for a series ten books long. To cut to the chase, I was pleased again and impressed that this writing team has been able to keep it fresh and interesting over the years.

As with all the Coffeehouse mysteries, our main character is Clare Cosi, the manager and operator of The Village Blend, an independent coffee shop in the heart of Greenwich Village. Clare is a character with a bit more maturity (she has an adult daughter named Joy who is one of the characters) and it really helps keep these out of the silly arena. The time out, The Village Blend is providing coffee beans to be used in creating Mocha Magic Coffee which is being launched as an effective aphrodisiac. Blended with chocolate and herbs, not only does it taste very good, the impact on the love life have the developers convinced it will bring in huge amounts of money. It's going to be sold on-line as part of Aphrodite's Village, a web community catering to women. As in all murder mysteries, not everything is as it seems on the surface and people are being attacked and killed. Exactly who is committing the murders and why are important to Clare as the reputation and future of The Village Blend could suffer.

Each installment seems to be written with a slightly different twist (which is part of the success I am sure) and this one is a bit edgier and moves a bit more toward the Janet Evanovich style. The product that starts all this mess is an aphrodisiac so I will leave it at that for you to figure out my meaning. It also is interesting how periodically we are in the mind of the murderer to see how he/she is feeling and reacting to what is taking place. The identity remains a secret until the very end, but it is a helpful tool in adding some dimension to a genre that is often very linear. Also, the murders are a bit more graphic and happen "on screen" so to speak which is different from traditional cozies but it works well and adds action and variety. For folks who have complained before about the novels containing too much information on coffee, it is handled more lightly this time and there isn't as much in this book.

Bottom line: A great mystery with a plausible motive for the murder. A cast of characters that are evolving and growing. A strong sense of place and setting. In my opinion, another winner and remains the best series out there.

Murder by Mocha
By Cleo Coyle
Copyright August 2011
Publisher Berkeley

Clare's Village Blend coffee beans are being used to create a new java love potion: a "Mocha Magic Coffee," billed as an aphrodisiac. The product, expected to rake in millions, will be sold exclusively on Aphrodite's Village, one of the most popular online communities for women.

But at its launch, one of the website's editors is murdered. Clare is convinced a bitter killer wants the secret formula. Can she catch who's gone loco for mocha?

Clare is not happy about the contract with Aphrodite's Village, not one bit. Unfortunately there's nothing she can do about it since it was Madame who signed it. She has a feeling that this could destroy the Blend if anything goes wrong.
With the death of one of the Aphrodite "Sisters" Clare has to bring out all the big guns and find out who the actual killer is, the real motive and make sure that none of her "extended family" are hurt in the process. With the help of Matt, Mike, Franco, Madame and her staff of baristas Clare will winnow out the answers to each level of the mystery and come out smelling like a rose.
This is the tenth book in the Coffeehouse Mystery series, and to my mind, the most complex storyline to date. In this book Cleo Coyle has fully shown the depth of her ability as a mystery author, not just a cozy one. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series with baited breath.
Writing as Alice Kimberly she is also the author of the "Haunted Bookshop Mysteries". Cleo Coyle can be found hanging out at [...]... and also at [...]

FTC Full Disclosure: I received this book from the author, who hoped I would consider if for review.

I've read most of Cleo Coyle's Coffee House Mysteries...and really loved the characters, the storyline and the recipes she shares. This book, however, is too long, too confusing, too weird. Coyle should stick with what she knows...not to try to go off on some other tangent that was very hard to follow. I almost didn't finish the book; I really didn't want to, but I did want to discover where it was headed. Ok, been there, done that. Cleo, go on to something else.

I would really enjoy these Coffeehouse Mysteries if it weren't for the typos that seem to multiply in each book in the series.

Is it ironic that in this book's Acknowledgments the author thanks -- by name -- five members of the Berkley Prime Crime publishers, including one "copyeditor", at the same time that typos appear throughout the book?

For example (page references are to the 2011 hardcover edition):
"I'm and actress/model" (p. 193)
"She sunk to her knees" (p. 227)
"Mom, I can't reach, Franco" (p. 254)
"empty storefronts and crumbing property facades" (p. 280)
"her black brassier and slacks" (p. 312)

We readers pay a lot of money for these books. Is it too much to expect publishers to hire human proofreaders, instead of using the unreliable electronic spell-checkers which let these kinds of typos go through?

Having read and enjoyed the entire series, I offer these pros and cons.
Pros:
1) the plot is more intricate than previous stories,
2) the characters continue to be interesting, and
3) there is a lot of information about chocolate.
Cons:
1) this book doesn't know whether to be a smart cozy or cheap romance novel,
2) at times I thought it may have been written by someone other than the stated author, and
3) there is a LOT of information about chocolate.
All in all, I will most likely not continue reading this series. So many books, so little time.

I've read all the previous coffeeshop books, and been moderately entertained (though I could certainly do without the recipes... wasted filler, in my opinion). I just can't get myself to pay the current kindle price for an electronic book. The price will have to drop for me to push the buy button.

Cleo Coyle's Coffee Shop Mysteries never disappoint! In Murder by Mocha, Clare Cosi gets wrapped up in a new business venture - Mocha Magic, via her mother-in-law Madame Dubois, that could mean the end of The Village Blend, if she doesn't get to the bottom of why this "magical" drinks is having an extreme effect on all who drink it.

Clare doesn't want to hurt her mother-in-law's feelings, but there is something strange about the dear old friend of Madame Dubois' who drew into the business venture with a group of women who call themselves Aphrodite's Village. When Aphrodite's "sisters" start dropping dead, Clare smells trouble in the Greek goddess' empire and starts sniffing around. With the help of her detective boyfriend, her loyal baristas and ex-husband who is getting more and more drawn in to her sleuthing, Clare traces these crimes back many years to find out that it is not magic, but revenge that is on the murderer's agenda.

Murder by Mocha keeps the reader guessing until the very end, and almost on the edge of your seat, turning the pages of the last chapter to make sure that Clare's latest escapade is not her undoing.

What I loved most about Murder by Mocha, is that Cleo is moving more and more beyond the standard cozy with an edgy writing style that shows the true grit and personality of New York City, its police force, and its residents. I can't wait for the next Coffee House Mystery!

One of the main reasons that I enjoy this 'Coffeehouse Mystery' series is the complexity of every individual novel within it. This latest publication, "Murder By Mocha" is a fine example of layers upon layers of mysteries that blend a fine cup of coffee reading.

Our heroes, Clare and Mike are joined in this episode by Joy and Matteo. To my continued delight is Madame and the Village Blend's crew,joined by a new member, Nancy. Finally, we have our additional cast of NYPD's finest.

Madame has entered the "Village Blend" into a new contract with a Chocolate maker and a corporation,Aphrodite to make an instant coffee that contains an aphrodisiac. Clare and Matt are shocked and dismayed as they are coffee perfectionists and can not approve of any 'instant' no matter how well made, what is Madame thinking.

This was only the second mystery inside this finely crafted book. We already knew someone has faked their own death, are the stories mixed? And, what is inside Madame's past that is considered a police cold case file that Mike is ordered to re-open?

Humor, as is to be expected is present. This book has witches, and munchkins and flying monkeys galore to keep you on your toes.

Treat yourself to some excellent writing, storytelling, and recipes! Welsh Rarebit was my personal instant favorite. I can barely wait for the next book.

I've been a fan of Clare Cosi since I first met her in the first of Cleo Coyle's cozy mystery series, [[ASIN:B000Q360CI On What Grounds]], set in a coffee-house in present day Greenwich Village. I like the characters (Claire, her extended family, and the barristas who work for her), the setting (cosmopolitan New York), and of course the yummy mysteries, which manage to hit the sweet spot between "light fiction for when my brain is so tired that it hurts" and "a whodunnit puzzle worth chewing over."

I'm so much of a fan, in fact, that the author offered me an advanced reading copy of Murder by Mocha. I said YES YES YES even before I realized how much of the book was about another one of my passions: chocolate.

This time, our heroine is involved in a business deal that, from the start, she's less than thrilled about. As a favor to her ex-mother-in-law (who is the actual owner of the coffeehouse), the Village Blend has become a partner in an e-commerce product: a mocha beverage that promises to be an aphrodisiac. It's made with high quality ingredients -- the Village Blend's own coffee and chocolate from an up-and-coming choclatier from Brooklyn -- but the website sponsor is a little flaky, like a tacky version of iVillage glued together with a Greek Goddesses theme. And that's *before* the dead body...

Murder by Mocha is a little slow at the start, as I didn't warm up to the new characters very fast. Clare's motivation for getting involved in this investigation was... not implausible, exactly, but I had to consciously suspend my disbelief. But I stopped tapping my foot after the first couple of chapters, because this is still darned fine storytelling. I didn't guess the murderer's identity (even though I was *positive* it must be... well, *that* character), and I like how the various romances are proceeding.

There's a bit less education about coffee than in the first few books, but... did I mention that this has chocolate as a key ingredient to the story? Did I? Because I *do* like chocolate. While this isn't a "how chocolate is made" exposition, both chocolate and coffee *are* very much involved in the tale, rather than having an "it could happen anywhere" mystery that just so happens to be set in a coffee house. As usual, the book also includes recipes that you might actually want to cook. I do have my eye on the "mole" recipe, even though its relationship to a true Mexican mole is the same as "Cincinnati chili" is to a serious Tex-Mex bowl'o'red. No matter; it still looks delicious.

If you have liked earlier books in the series -- and how could you NOT? -- then you need not fear: You absolutely will like Murder by Mocha. Newcomers really should start with the first book, since all the interpersonal relationships (like the romance for Clare's daughter Joy) are set up in earlier novels. That's no hardship; it just means that you have a lot of good reading to catch up on.