by Kathleen Costa

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Scene of the Grind & a swag bag from Tonya, and a link to purchase it from Amazon.

Roxanne Bloom, Roxy to her friends, found herself at a crossroads leaving a law practice and ex-husband behind. Her Aunt Maxine, with whom she spent many a wonderful summer, told her about the plans to revitalize the Honey Springs boardwalk prompting Roxy to follow one of her dreams. She attends barista school and cooking classes, rents one of Aunt Maxi’s buildings on the boardwalk, and opens ‘The Bean Hive,’ the area’s first coffeehouse. Prepping for the grand opening during the Honey Festival, Roxy heads over to the Crooked Cat Bookstore to deliver coffee and doughnuts to ease a recent misunderstanding, but instead she finds the owner dead with one of Roxy’s doughnuts in her hand. She learns that her aunt had a recent public argument with the victim, and now she is a ‘person of interest’ not only to the police, but gossip as well.

Roxy, joined by her new Schnauzer Pepper, is confronted with conflicting feelings between a former heartthrob, now a popular hometown bachelor, and the very handsome deputy who is investigating the murder. However, none of that can cause her to overlook the fact that her aunt and the victim had a contentious relationship, one the police is making key to their inquiry. She decides her aunt needs an advocate and begins to investigate on her own a few interesting revelations: the victim’s relationship with her daughter, a possible secret, a mysterious boat, and the bookshop itself.

Tonya Kappes has served up another engaging and entertaining series. Scene of the Grind, the first book in her new Killer Coffee Mystery, provides a strong main character to admire, quirky sidekicks and family for comic relief, a hint of a romantic triangle for fun, and a clever mystery to unravel. The journey leads readers through several possible scenarios making the mystery accessible to everyone’s point of view: an antagonistic friend, an estranged daughter, the town council, the disregarded marina owner, an employee of the National Library Association—it was a fun mix for answering, “Who is the killer?” Tonya’s signature descriptive style brings Honey Springs, Kentucky, to life—a colorful map of the Boardwalk is included. Her dialogue style, too, brings out the individual characters, their tone and mood, along with some very engaging back and forth, yelling and whispering, thinking and out spoken. I didn’t skip one word!

Tonya once again treats us to several of the mouthwatering recipes directly from Roxy’s kitchen at The Bean Hive. Perfect for your Sunday brunch or Wednesday night book club we can enjoy Roxanne Bloom’s Famous Chai Tea along with Roxy’s Favorite Breakfast Casserole, Coffee Soufflé, Scones with a Flavor Twist, and Stuffed Pepper Soup. For the dog lovers, we have the Peanut Butter Dog Treats. Everyone can enjoy!

Scene of the Grind earns 5/5 Black Eyes with a Bag of Doughnuts!

Be A Tonya Kappes Fan!
Facebook – Author Tonya Kappes
Join the “Cozy Krew”
Become a Member at the Website – Tonya Kappes

Check out this fun map of Honey Springs Boardwalk –

To enter to win a copy of Scene of the Grind & a swag bag from Tonya, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “grind,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen March 1, 2017. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & short stories in our mystery section.

You can use this link to purchase this book from Amazon. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the link:

Kathleen Costa is a long-time resident of the Central Valley, and although born in Idaho, she considers herself a “California Girl.” Graduating from CSU-Sacramento, she is a 35+ year veteran teacher having taught in grades 1-8 in schools from Sacramento to Los Angeles to Stockton to Lodi. Currently Kathleen is enjoying her retirement revitalizing hobbies along with exploring writing, reading for pleasure, and spending 24/7 with her husband.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.