Book Review: Cold Brew Corpse by Tara Lush

A Coffee Lover´s Mystery Book 2

Espresso bar owner Lana Lewis returns in Tara Lush's second Coffee Lover's mystery, a stimulating read that fans of Cleo Coyle and Laura Childs will savor to the last drop.

It's a steamy September, and business is brisk at Perkatory, the hottest coffee shop in Devil's Beach, FL. Much of the clientele pours in from Dante's Inferno, the hot yoga studio next door. But the bright, sunny Gulf Coast days turn decidedly dark-roast when the body of the studio's owner turns up in a nearby swamp.

Between running Perkatory and training Stanley, her golden Shih Tzu puppy, reporter-turned-barista Lana Lewis is too busy to go sleuthing. But when the editor of the local paper asks her to write about the murder, Lana's dreams of getting back into journalism start to percolate.

Lana discovers that the yogi has a nefarious past and her share of mug shots, so grinding her way through the suspect list is a large task. She learns that the victim was fatally beaned by an SUV before she was dumped in the swamp. But was the killer one of her students? An envious yoga teacher? Or a local photographer who seems to know too much?

But no one tells Lana Lewis what to do. Hunting the caf-fiend who killed the yogi puts Lana and Chief Noah's relationship--and Lana's life--in very hot coffee.

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My Review:

Let me start by saying that I am not enough of an aficionado of coffee to understand the vast majority of conversations about the beverage in this book. But that’s okay, because coffee is part of the setting and not an integral part of the mystery itself. So, simply being able to accept that Lana’s other love is coffee is enough. I loved this book even more than the one before it. The Keystone Cops frenetic-ness was toned down and it all felt like it was following a logical plan. At no point while reading this was I able to point to a character and say” “that’s the villain!” and I consider that essential to my enjoyment of a good mystery. The author keeps ratcheting up the romantic tension between Lana and Chief Noah and I adored every second of it. It also provides lots of opportunities to mine for comedy gold. I’m not sure what Lana’s next adventure will be, but I want to go on it with her and her quirky band of sidekicks.

I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book through NetGalley.

Other books in the series