by Lorie Lewis Ham
We are so thrilled to not only be reviewing the latest coffeehouse mystery by Cleo Coyle (Cleo Coyle is actually a pseudonym for Alice Alfonsi, writing in collaboration with her husband, Marc Cerasini), Dead to the Last Drop, but we also have a fun guest post by Cleo Coyle that provides a behind the scenes look at the writing of the new book.
As if that weren’t enough, we have a special giveaway from Cleo Coyle-An autographed copy of the new hardcover edition of Dead To The Last Drop, five autographed glossy recipe cards, a “Gimme Coffee!” Latte Cup and Saucer (made in Italy), and a pound of premium “Billionaire’s Blend” coffee from One Good Woman Coffee and Tea Co., mentioned in the book’s acknowledgment as part of the background research for Cleo’s “one good woman”—amateur sleuth Clare Cosi. Details on how to enter at the end of this post!
Dead To the Last Drop by Cleo Coyle
Review by Lorie Lewis Ham
Dead to the Last Drop is the latest in Cleo Coyle’s coffeehouse mystery series featuring Clare Cosi, who manages the Village Blend Coffee Shop in New York. This series is a favorite of mine–every time I “walk” into the Village Blend through one of these books I can almost smell the coffee!
This book in the series is a bit different as it finds Clare in Washington DC overseeing the new Village Blend DC. This location not only has a coffeehouse, but also a Jazz Space on the second floor. The new place is fraught with difficulties, not the least of which is the temperamental chef hired by the owner, Clare’s ex mother-in-law Madame Allegro. On the plus side, thanks to Madame Allegro, she is living in style house sitting in a charming Georgetown mansion filled with history, and being in DC puts her close to her police detective boyfriend Mike Quinn who is currently on a special assignment there. 
Business starts to pick up when the President’s daughter begins playing jazz at their club’s open mike night, and especially when she ends up agreeing to do a concert there. But of course things never run smoothly. First a State Department employee suspiciously collapses in the club, the chef accuses Clare of embezzling money from Village Blend DC, and later the president’s daughter goes missing. Soon Clare finds herself on the run with Mike, running from the police while they search for the truth so Clare doesn’t end up in jail for murder, or maybe even for kidnapping the President’s daughter.
I wasn’t certain how I would feel about the DC setting of this book because I love the Village Blend in New York so much. However, I was pleasantly surprised and found myself feeling equally at home at the new coffeehouse. Coyle’s characters are wonderful, and her writing is excellent. This story was filled with political secrets, love, murder, some interesting DC history, and a ton of twists and turns I never saw coming. I always enjoy the coffee info peppered throughout the book, and find I learn something new every time. There are also some great recipes at the back of the book I can’t wait to try out, along with some interesting coffee related presidential history.
If you love a great mystery, great characters, an interesting plot, and great coffee, this book is for you! I can’t wait for the next one. These books are always on the top of my list of favorite books for the year!
On the Run in Washington with Coffeehouse Mystery Author Cleo Coyle
Marc and I are a married couple who have been writing together for over a decade. We’ve penned fiction, non-fiction, media tie-ins, young adult, and children’s books. A few years ago, Marc worked on a series with the late Tom Clancy. Then we collaborated on a thriller tie-in for the producers of the Emmy-Award-winning television show 24. To date, that project was one of our all-time favorites.
In our newest Coffeehouse Mystery, we decided to go back to that ticking clock mindset and meld aspects of the thriller genre with our lighter approach to the amateur sleuth mystery.
Cleo Coyle aka Alice Alfonsi & husband Marc Cerasini
The premise comes down to a question: How does a hardworking single mother and coffee shop manager go from befriending the First Lady and catering a glittering party at the Smithsonian to being placed at the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted list?
For our amateur sleuth, Clare Cosi, it begins when the President’s college-age daughter becomes a fan of her freshly roasted coffee and a regular at Clare’s D.C. jazz club. Then the young woman mysteriously vanishes, a State Department employee collapses in the shop, and Clare is fit for a frame of kidnapping and homicide.
These capital crimes are the last thing she expects to be accused of when she relocates to our nation’s capital, but Clare must solve both mysteries—and find out who framed her—or she may discover firsthand that Washington is murder.
There are shocks and reversals in Dead To The Last Drop and plenty of danger and intrigue, along with crimes “ripped from the headlines” as thriller writers like to say. But through it all, Marc and I never forgot our series’ more traditional roots. As suspenseful as the story gets, our new book is also laced with humor, heart, and hearty good food. Because you can’t save the world on an empty stomach—at least Clare Cosi and her longtime boyfriend, decorated detective Mike Quinn, can’t. And as food lovers ourselves, neither can we!
If you are new to our Coffeehouse Mystery series, don’t let that discourage you from picking up Dead To The Last Drop (our fifteenth entry). You can certainly read it as a stand-alone story, and if you like the ride, you have fourteen more books to enjoy.
But don’t miss this Washington entry. It’s embedded with hidden secrets about our nation’s capital that were inspired by my own experiences while living, studying, and working in D.C.
To read the prologue and first chapter, click here.
Dead To The Last Drop is also a culinary mystery, with an appendix of more than 25 delicious recipes, including Double-Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes, Easy “Cake Pan” Cheesecake, Carolina-style Mustard-Glazed Sticky Wings, the best Oatmeal Cookie Recipe you may ever bake, and a fantastic version of Black Magic Cake with a “secret ingredient” chocolate frosting to die for.
To see the book’s free Recipe Guide, click here.
CLEO’S NEWSLETTER: Contests, recipes, news, fun facts, and videos. To sign up, simply write an e-mail that says “sign me up” and send it to CoffeehouseMystery@gmail(dot)com. You will receive a reply with links to past newsletters that include free recipes.
TITLE CHECKLIST: Get a free title checklist with mini summaries of all 15 Coffeehouse Mysteries. To download the list as a PDF document, click here.
GIVEAWAY – An autographed copy of the new hardcover edition of Dead To The Last Drop, five autographed glossy recipe cards, a “Gimme Coffee!” Latte Cup and Saucer (made in Italy), and a pound of premium “Billionaire’s Blend” coffee from One Good Woman Coffee and Tea Co., mentioned in the book’s acknowledgment as part of the background research for Cleo’s “one good woman”—amateur sleuth Clare Cosi.
To enter to win the Dead To The Last Drop contest package mentioned above, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “coyle,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen December 19, 2015. 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.
The coffeehouse series is my favorite. I always look forward to a new book, particularly one set in DC, with which I’m more familiar than NYC.
Thank you for the very kind words, Margaret! The time I spent studying and working in our nation’s capital left a lasting impression on me, and I found great pleasure in setting one of our mysteries there. Marc and I hope you find even more pleasure in reading it!
~ Cleo
I absolutely love this series , I own them all ! kathambre@yahoo.com
Kathy, it’s readers like you who make my job a joy. Good luck with the giveaway!
~ Cleo
What a great giveaway! Love the coffee mysteries, would really enjoy reading the newest in the series.
diannekc8@gmail.com
Thanks for stopping by, Dianne. Best of luck.
~ Cleo
What a great offer! Hope I am the lucky one.
This is my absolute favorite series. I’m crossing my fingers to be a first time KRL winner. Thanks.
Hey, Kathleen, thank you for your kind words. Fingers crossed there is a first time on your horizon!
~ Cleo
I love the Coffeehouse Mysteries — this giveaway is awesome!
It’s awesome that you love our books, Celia. Good luck, and always read with joy.
~ Cleo
Dead To the Last Drop sounds like a wonderful read. Thank you for introducing me to Cleo Coyle’s books and for this awesome giveaway.
peggyhyndman(at)att(dot)net
I’ve been wanting to read the Coffee House Series…it sounds interesting…so please enter me and thanks for the contest.
Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com
Sounds like a great read! Just found Cleo Coyle and looking forward to this series! Thank you for the chance!
Welcome to Clare Cosi’s world, Barbara! We hope you like what you discover there. Thank you for commenting, and good luck on the giveaway,
~ Cleo
Thanks for thr chance! I just love this series and this interview was super. Foxyj00 at hotmail dot come
Thanks you, Jennifer! Best of luck on the giveaway.
~ Cleo
I love this series and I’m reading the book and loving it! Thank you for this chance!
Wow! Thank you, Robyn K. Read with joy, and come back and let us know what you think.
~ Cleo
I’m down to the last 50 pages and loving it!!
Linda, your praise made us feel like we won the prize! Good luck on the giveaway, and thank you. (Now go finish that book!)
~ Cleo
My favorite series! Great recipes, fun plots, great characters, and lots of talk about coffee. I’ve read every book in the series and have ordered the new book but would love an autographed copy. My birthday is Tuesday the 15th and winning would make it a perfect day.
I would love to ask if it’s difficult to not only come up with a great mystery but is it hard to also create new recipes? I usually turn to the recipes as soon as I get a new book in the series to check out what Clare is making and I try the recipes on family and friends when I can.
Thanks for the great giveaways and good luck everyone!
scarletbegonia5858@gmail.com
Happy, happy birthday wishes to you, Margaret! It warms our hearts to know you love our characters as much as we do.
About those recipes: Marc and I have cooked and baked most of our lives, and we both come from huge foodie families. That gives us a wealth of experience and hundreds of recipes to draw on. But more than that, with each new Coffeehouse Mystery we take great care to create recipes that echo the theme–so we packed Murder By Mocha with chocolate recipes, and Roast Mortem with our versions of firehouse favorites. In Dead to the Last Drop, we focus on classic American recipes with some twists on this country’s favorite foods.
Someday, Margaret, we would love to sit down at a Rushton family gathering where we can all share a dish we’ve cooked up together. Good luck on the giveaway, and again, happy birthday.
~ Cleo
Never stop writing y’all
Hey, Nan. You keep reading, and we’ll keep on writing. All best,
~ Cleo
If you say this series goes well in DC then I’ll believe you and put it on my t-b-r list. Count me in 🙂
Gram, I see we both share a love of Our Nation’s Capital. DC greetings to you, and best of luck on the giveaway.
~ Cleo
I love the coffee house series and I’m looking forward to reading Dead to the Last Drop. Great mysteries plus you learn a lot about coffee.
Thank you for your kind words, Dianne B! Good luck with the giveaway.
~ Cleo
Love this series and looking forward to reading this one as well! =) I also really enjoy the newsletters… always good recipes included! 😉
kidisitor@yahoo.com
Really enjoy this series, the recipes are wonderful. Would love the book and the Coffee . Thanks for so many enjoyable hours of reading.
This is my favorite series! When is the next book coming out? I am anxiously waiting for it! ????
This is one of my very favorite series and the recipes always work beautifully!!
Best book series EVER!
Love, love this series!!!! Can’t wait to read this one and must admit that I’d love to win this great prize! Thank you!
afarage at earthink dot net
I’ll plan to curl up with this book and a great cup of coffee!!
I can’t wait for this book! Loved all of the NYC ones and a new setting in DC is a great way to change things up a bit!
Thanks to everyone for stopping by. Marc and I are pouring ourselves a cup of joe, and getting ready to reply to your comments and questions tonight. We’ll check back throughout the week, as well. Thanks to Kings River Life and especially Lorie Lewis Ham for featuring us in this issue. We appreciate it!
~ Cleo
This is one of my favorite series! Thank you for the opportunity.
I love your books
I am fairly new to your series but I already love it. It will take me some time to get to this one, but can’t wait! It sounds great.
This cozy sounds like a fantastic read. Thank you for the chance to win.
myrifraf(at)gmail(dot)com
Love the entire series and the recipes as well.
Love your books. Thanks for the chance.
love your books. Thanks for the chance
All these readers can’t be wrong. I own half the series and have every intention of reading them all. Hoping to win the latest to speed things up ?
It has been a long time since I’ve read any books in this series; I would so love to read this one! And what better to have with it than a rich, unique blend of coffee! Congrats on your latest release; may it be a best seller for you!
This is a great series and I am just getting ready to reread it from the beginning. Thanks for the chance to win.
I haven’t read any of this series yet, but I want to. Always like to learn new things, and I learn something from everything I read, including cozies.
We have a winner!