Decaffeinated Corpse

by: Cleo Coyle

Published by: Berkley Prime Crime

Reviewed by Sharron Stockhausen

As a cozy mystery fan and former president of a Sisters In Crime chapter, I understand established authors aren’t required to follow the convention of a body in the first chapter. But Cleo Coyle, the husband and wife writing team of Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi, didn’t offer a glimpse of a body until chapter seventeen or actually produce a body until chapter nineteen.

Decaffeinated Corpse is the fifth in a series, but you don’t have to read the first four to enjoy this one. Coyle does an excellent job of filling in the blanks.

Clare Cosi, manager of Village Blend, heads up a cast of interesting, if not always likable, characters. Cosi’s ex-husband Matteo (ex because of his drug habit and adulterous affairs) is still very involved in Cosi’s life and business since his eighty-year-old mother, Madame, owns Village Blend.

Madame meddles in Clare’s life trying to convince her to take Matteo back and break up his current love relationship. (Clare can’t make up her mind if she’s over the jerk, which I found irritating since Clare is supposed to be intelligent and figure out things like whodunit.) Madame also makes her own drug deal in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, then confesses same to Clare after urging Clare to make an illegal traffic move that gets police attention.

Ric, an old friend of Matteo’s, has a plantation in Brazil where he develops a plant to grow decaffeinated coffee beans, smuggles a cutting of the plant into the U.S., rekindles a love affair with a girlfriend he left years earlier (who was pregnant at that time, but is married this time), and makes a deal with Matteo to exclusively distribute the decaffeinated coffee beans.

Coyle’s extensive information about coffee, along with the recipes, add to the book, but I found myself grateful this is a quick read, for it’s a book I could easily put down.

Armchair Interviews says: If you don’t mind waiting until you’re almost to the end of the book to figure out what the mystery is, you’ll enjoy this book.

Author’s Web site: http://www.coffeehousemystery.com