Holiday
Grind
A
Coffeehouse Mystery with Clare Cosi
Cleo
Coyle
Berkley
Prime Crime (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-425-23005-8 (0425230058)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-23005-3 (9780425230053)
Publication Date: November 2009
List Price: $23.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): There's nothing cozier than a winter evening in
Greenwich Village. Streetlights shimmer through icy flakes,
cafés glow with welcoming warmth, and a layer of snow dusts
historic townhouses like powdered sugar on holiday confections. Murder
has no place in such a pretty picture, until now ...
Coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi has grown very fond of Alfred Glockner,
the part-time comic and genuinely jolly charity Santa who's been using
her Village Blend as a place to warm his mittens. When she finds him
brutally gunned down in a nearby alley, a few subtle clues convince her
that Alfred's death was something more than the tragic result of a
random mugging--the conclusion of the police. With Clare's boyfriend,
NYPD Detective Mike Quinn, distracted by a cold case of his own, and
ex-husband Matt investigating this year's holiday lingerie catalogs (an
annual event), Clare charges ahead solo to solve her beloved Santa's
slaying. Then someone tries to ice Clare, and she really gets steamed.
But she'd better watch out, because if she fails to stop this stone
cold killer, she may just get the biggest chill of her life.
Review:
Greenwich Village coffeeshop owner Clare Cosi discovers the murdered
body of the father of one of her baristas, who acts as a local Santa
during the holiday season, in Holiday
Grind,
the 8th mystery in this series by Cleo Coyle.
Clare is hosting a small gathering of family and friends to try out
some new holiday-themed recipes the night she finds Alf Glockner shot
to death. The police believe the murder to be a random mugging, someone
out for the money "Santa" was collecting from donors. Clare isn't so
sure, but her boyfriend, homicide detective Mike Quinn, is preoccupied
with his own high-profile murder investigation. So she starts her own
line of inquiry into the life of a man she thought she knew, but really
didn't, and that quickly includes two other murders and ultimately a
threat to her own family.
Holiday
Grind is a charming addition
to this cozy series, incorporating elements of the holiday season into
its mystery storyline. Though it is far too long to support the
relatively thin plot, the delightful characters and Manhattan setting
tend to compensate. The book also includes a generous collection of
enticing coffee drink and holiday recipes for readers to try at home,
and tips from the (fictional) Village Blend coffeeshop.
Special thanks to Penguin Group for providing a copy of Holiday Grind for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Holiday Grind? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
On
What
Grounds
Berkley Prime Crime (Hardcover), September 2003
ISBN-10: 0-425-19213-X (042519213X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-19213-9 (9780425192133)
Through
the
Grinder
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), October 2004
ISBN-10: 0-425-19714-X (042519714X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-19714-1 (9780425197141)
Latte
Trouble
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), August 2005
ISBN-10: 0-425-20445-6 (0425204456)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-20445-0 (9780425204450)
Murder
Most
Frothy
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), August 2006
ISBN-10: 0-425-21113-4 (0425211134)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-21113-7 (9780425211137)
Decaffeinated
Corpse
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), July 2007
ISBN-10: 0-425-21638-1 (0425216381)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-21638-5 (9780425216385)
French
Pressed
Berkley Prime Crime (Mass Market Paperback), April 2008
ISBN-10: 0-425-22049-4 (0425220494)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-22049-8 (9780425220498)
Espresso Shot
Berkley Prime Crime (Hardcover), September 2008
ISBN-10: 0-425-22177-6 (0425221776)
ISBN-13: 978-1-425-22177-8 (9781425221778)
Holiday Grind
Berkley Prime Crime (Hardcover), November 2009
ISBN-10: 0-425-23005-8 (0425230058)
ISBN-13: 978-0-425-23005-3 (9780425230053)
Omnimystery
keywords for Holiday Grind
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Location(s) referenced: New York City.
