Cleo Coyle writes "a foodie's delight...and a satisfyingly rich mystery" (Kirkus), and now the national bestselling author of A BREW TO A KILL serves up a yuletide treat in her new Coffeehouse Mystery HOLIDAY BUZZ.

Holiday time is party time in New York City, but after a sparkling winter bash ends with a murder, Village Blend coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi vows to put the killer on ice...

At the Great New York Cookie Swap, pastry chefs bake up their very best for charity. Clare is in charge of the beverage service, and her famous Fa-la-la-la Lattes make the gathering even merrier. But her high spirits come crashing down to earth when she discovers the battered body of a hard-working baker's assistant.

Police suspect a serial attacker whose escalating crimes have become known as "The Christmas Stalkings." Clare's boyfriend, NYPD detective Mike Quinn, finds reason to believe even more sinister forces are involved. Clare isn't so sure, until she finds a second bludgeoned baker and becomes a target herself. Now Clare must investigate "Saint Nick," crash a pro-hockey party, and dodge a pair of reality TV divas--because she's not going to rest until justice is served.

Includes holiday and cookie recipes!

Review

For fans of:  Laura Childs

Things have been a bit lonely for Village Blend coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi since her boyfriend, NYPD Detective Mike Quinn, was sent on assignment to Washington D.C., but at least the holiday season is providing ample distraction; business is booming at the Blend thanks to all the Christmas shoppers, and Clare has her hands full preparing for a series of high-profile cookie swap parties that are taking place at various locations around the city.

The first event goes off without a hitch, but all thoughts of Fa-la-la-la-lattes and gingerbread men are driven from Clare’s mind when on her way home, she discovers her new part-time employee, Moirin Fagan, lying lifeless in the snow.  Who murdered the young woman, and why? Is the slaying somehow related to the cookie swaps? And if so, will the killer strike again?  Clare’s determined to get to the bottom of this particular mystery – even if it takes a Christmas miracle.

Holiday Buzz is the twelfth of Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mysteries. Coyle has a knack for transporting readers with her fiction, and that talent is on full display in Holiday Buzz; if you’ve ever wanted to spend Christmas in Greenwich Village, but don’t have the time or money, then this book is for you.  Those on a diet should beware, though – Coyle includes so many mouth-watering descriptions of Christmas cookies and decadent-sounding coffee concoctions that even the strongest-willed readers will find themselves jonesing for a trip to their local coffeehouse by the time this tale is through.

Those looking for an engaging whodunit won’t be disappointed, either; the pace is quick, the story is action-packed, and the mystery is guaranteed to suck you in right from the very start. That said, while I appreciate Coyle’s efforts to create a complex and multi-layered plot, I think she pushes things a bit too far in Holiday Buzz. The schemes that Clare and company cook up in order to catch the murderer are preposterously elaborate and occasionally border on farce.  And while I love me a good red herring, Coyle sends her heroine in so many different (and incredibly disparate) directions over the course of her investigation that none of her suspects ends up fully developed, and as a result, Coyle doesn’t quite earn her ending.

Thankfully, though, Coyle’s principal character work here is as strong as it’s ever been.  From Clare, to her ex-husband (and current business partner) Matteo “Matt” Allegro, to her former mother-in-law (and current boss) Madame Allegro, to her boyfriend Mike Quinn, each and every member of her core cast is incredibly well developed, and she does a great job of making sure the reader becomes emotionally invested in each and every one of their fates. The relationships shared by these characters are nuanced and ever-evolving, and I, for one, can’t wait to see where the next book takes them.

Reviewed by Kat

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