A whole latte fun!

It’s time to cleanse our palate after the scary vampire entry.  I read Derek’s entry and thought to myself, think about puppies or bunnies or hmm… maybe coffee. So I hopped onto Novelist and did a search under coffee shops. Wow – 226 entries came up.  Looking through the list I noticed somewhat of a theme. There’s more than one mystery series that revolves around a coffee shop.  I’ve generally found them safe places to be but authors Sandra Balzo and Cleo Coyle don’t seem to think so. I haven’t read any of the series listed, due to the fact that I actually don’t like mysteries. There…I said it out loud. Here’s a look at two of the series listed. You can find the full list of titles in the series, by typing in the name of the series and clicking on series title.

Coffeehouse mysteries series by Cleo Coyle. There are 8 titles in this series, starting with “On What Grounds” and ending with “Holiday Grind”. Coming this summer is the latest title in the series “Roast Mortem”. Library Journal has this to say about the series – “Coyle’s Coffeehouse books are superb examples of the cozy genre because of their intelligent cast of characters, their subtle wit, and their knowledge of the coffee industry used to add depth and flavor to the stories…Highly recommended for all mystery collections.” The series follows Clare Cosi, manager of The Village Blend Coffeehouse.  When Clare is around there seems to be all sorts of trouble brewing and it usually involves a murder. The books contain a recipe section from The Village Blend Coffeehouse. For even more recipes check out the virtual version of The Village Blend at http://www.CoffeehouseMystery.com It should satisfy your sweet tooth and cravings for all things coffee. You might want to make yourself a treat before you sit down to read. Enjoy!

Maggy Thorsen mysteries series by Sandra Balzo.  This should help quench your thirst for a good coffee shop mystery. There are 5 titles in this series with catchy titles such as “Bean There, Done That” and “Brewed, Crude And Tattooed”. The series begins with “Uncommon Grounds”, which is the name of the coffee shop that Maggy and two friends open in a Wisconsin town.  I’ve been known to visit a coffee shop or two in Wisconsin (ok, maybe more than two), but I’ve never seen the kind of activities that Maggy has.  Like Clare Cosi, Maggy Thorsen seems to be surrounded by murders and uses her amateur sleuthing abilities to try to solve them.

Well that’s all that’s brewing here this week.  Hope you enjoy these coffee shop mysteries.