Brewed Awakening
by Cleo Coyle
Kindle Edition, 352 pages
Expected publication: December 3rd 2019 by Berkley
Goodreads synopsis:
From Cleo Coyle, the New York Times bestselling author of Shot in the Dark and Dead Cold Brew, comes a delicious new entry in the "fun and gripping" (Huffington Post) Coffeehouse Mysteries.
When coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi awakens on a bench in Washington Square Park, she has no idea she's been missing for days, or that her friends and family have been frantic with worry. Now that she's back, everyone is overjoyed, including a handsome NYPD detective who claims to be her fiance. But to Mike Quinn's crushing distress, Clare doesn't remember him, or much of anything about the last fifteen years of her life.
Clare's missing memory is tied to a crime she witnessed. An acquaintance of Clare's elegant employer--and fellow member of an exclusive Gotham circle known as "The Ladies Who Brunch"--invited Clare to her posh hotel to sample gourmet wedding cakes. After their indulgent tasting, they headed to the parking garage, where a camera captured a masked figure with a gun confronting the hotel heiress with Clare looking on. Did the kidnapper take Clare, too? The camera went dark, just like Clare's memory. Soon authorities grow suspicious. Is Clare really a victim? Or merely acting like one? Evidence is mounting that she set the woman up.
To clear her name, Clare must find a way to reclaim her memories and rescue the heiress before this high-stakes crime ends in tragedy. Otherwise, instead of walking down the aisle, Clare may find herself perp-walking to prison as an accomplice to kidnapping and murder.
***
5 Stars
This is book eighteen in the Coffeehouse Mystery series by Cleo Coyle.
This series just rings all the bells for me. Murder by Mocha was my first introduction into the cozy mystery world and I have been hooked ever since. Stepping back into this series is like coming home. So, when Clare Cosi loses her memory we are transported back to a time just after her separation with Matt and her daughter, Joy is still a kid.
It was fascinating to watch the fallout from Clare’s memory loss and how it effected everyone. This was all before Clare ever did her sleuthing thing so she was so out of her element and I couldn’t take my eyes off the page. Matt was at his most annoying and taking advantage of the situation, per usual. Why does this guy never learn? And Mike Quinn, her fiancee, and I loved the whole flashback to the proposal. How inventive!
This reminded me of other Coffeehouse books where Clare and Mike were on the run and it was a good feeling of deja vu. This book makes you appreciate how far the series has come. And it it making me want to revisit the entire series with a marathon re-read starting at book one! Just can’t get enough of this coffeehouse series. It feels like coming home.
To me this is part police procedural and part cozy mystery with all the best parts of each genre featured here. I definitely can’t wait to see what Cleo Coyle comes up with for book nineteen!
If you love cozy mysteries or police procedurals/detective fiction, definitely try out this series for size. I am sure you will not be disappointed.
I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.
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