French Pressed

A Coffeehouse Mystery, Book 6

By: Cleo Coyle

Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel

Clare’s daughter, Joy, is immersing herself in the foodie culture with an internship at Solange, one of New York’s hottest French restaurants - and she’s getting pretty intimate with the older, married Chef Tommy Keitel as well. Clare’s not buzzed about the relationship, but what twenty-something takes romantic advice from her mother? Resolved to keep a closer eye on Joy, Clare makes a deal to micro-roast and French press exclusive coffee blends for Tommy, a man she wouldn’t mind seeing roasted and pressed.

Then the competitive kitchen turns cutthroat, and Joy’s a suspect. To clear her daughter of the crime, Clare knows she must catch the real killer…even if it lands her in the hottest water of her life.

©2008 Berkley Publishing Group. All rights reserved. (P)2012 AudioGO

Murder in coffee house and restsurants!!

The sixth Village Coffeehouse mystery has Clare delving into the world of high class restaurants in Manhatten. She's been engrossed in running the Village Blend Coffeehouse but, Joy, her "20 something" daughter's relationship with an executive chef thirty years her senior, sends Clare out to check on this relationship. Clare's able to use her marketing skills of paring particular excellent coffees with exquisite deserts to talk with the chef. But soon there after one of his line cooks is found dead---then the executive chef himself is murdered. When Joy becomes the chief suspect, Clare goes on the search for the real killer.

Clare's relationship with her sexy detective friend is also warming up. He knows about Clare's skill in finding previous murderers, so he has her volunteer herself as bait for the killers. Perhaps this is the only way to save her daughter, so Clare is up for this trickery.

This series is always top notch excitement mixed with lots of thrilling information about coffee, and in this book, inside information about the restaurant business. Romantic relationships cause a bit of confusion between the characters, but some of these pairings are heating up nicely. This series never fails to be enjoyable!

Best book yet in the series!!!

I love the progression of the storyline with Mike the detective and the inclusion of more 'foodie' stories in addition to the coffee explanations. This is by far my favorite book in the series and just when I was getting luke warm on them I'm revived and can't wait for Book 7!

Good story

Lots of suspense and surprises. It kept me interested and listening until the end. I love the whole series so far!

Excellent story!

These mysteries are so much fun to follow along with. Another great read in the series.

enjoyable

good book. easy to stay engaged in story.held my interest but was easy to listen to for a short period then come back later

Good series!

I am enjoying this series. It is a nice reprieve from heavy topics in lots of novels today. Interesting twist having the main character own a coffee shop!

Fabulous narration of great mystery

It’s a good thing Village Blend manager Clare Cosi and her ex-mother-in-law Madame visit Solange, a hot New York French restaurant. Clare’s daughter Joy is interning there. But on this particular night when Clare goes back to the kitchen to see Joy, she stops one of the chefs wielding a knife at her co-workers. Joy had been loving her job as well as loving executive chef Tommy Keitel, a married man whose restaurant just might be owned by the Russian mob. Clare and her ex, Joy’s father Matteo Allegro, disapprove of the romance but do their best to let Joy make her own choices.

Clare returns to the Village Blend where her current beau, New York City detective Mike Quinn is waiting. Things are heating up when Matt turns up on her doorstep. Initially angry, Clare is glad Matt is with her when Joy calls from a friend’s place where she has found his dead body killed by a chef’s knife. The NYPD considers Joy a prime suspect, so Clare is determined to clear her name. First she finds a way into Solange by convincing Chef Keitel to try her coffee services. As always, Clare impresses with her knowledge of fine coffees and the growing and brewing processes. While at Solange, Joy catches a glimpse of her mother and Tommy Keitel and misunderstands, fleeing from the restaurant mid-service. Joy must return later to clean up her station, but there is more of a mess than she imagined. Chef Tommy Keitel is dead with one of her knives in his neck!

The police arrive at Solange along with Clare, briefly questioning them both. Their decision is quick and decisive: Joy is their prime suspect, and she is arrested and charged with both murders. It is now up to Clare to investigate with some help from Detective Mike Quinn. Clare journeys around New York from the drug-ridden slum lived in by the knife-wielding chef to a Russian restaurant with her barista and her rapping Russian boyfriend. She plays decoy for Mike when she catches his perp’s eye at a fancy new club. She follows the blackmail trail. She attend’s Tommy’s wake and a dinner in his honor, gathering crucial clues.

This was a delightful sixth entry in the Coffeehouse mystery series. As usual with a book by Cleo Coyle (husband and wife team Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini), we are given a trip around New York you’ll never find in a tourist guide. They challenged the notion of the person finding a dead body is the killer. The ubiquitous talk of coffee had me brewing my own, just to keep up.

Special mention must be given to the narrator, Rebecca Gibel. Her various voices were fabulous. The Russian rapper, rapping in both English and Russian, detectives from various boroughs of New York, and especially the elderly Madame were among the fantastic voices of the many characters she brought to life.

Excellent Mystery

This was an excellent book. Well written and excellent performance.

Characters were described with great detail as well as the scenes.

Getting better

Many times in a series (of books or movies) the plot and character building deteriorates with each new entry. The main coffeehouse characters are well known at this point but a deeper look into one of the supporting characters is offered here. The extras lacked some fleshing out but these books are entertainment not Nobel material. What I found worth noting was the twist and turns and layered aspects of the plot. A great read, definitely one of her best to date.

too naive

claire is way too naive and dense, sometimes to the point of dim witted, to be a forty year old business woman in new york, with all she’s been through you would think she would be a lot smarter about certain things instead of taking things literally and having to have things explained to her like she was a child. story wise I like the books, just wish the heroine was smarter.