Honey Roasted

July 1, 2021

Anticipating her honeymoon, coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi dreams up her new Honey-Cinnamon Latte, brewed with a nectar derived from the rooftop hives of "Queen" Bea Hastings and extravagantly in demand by chefs hungry for the best. When Bea's unconscious body is found at the foot of her high rise, Clare quickly dismisses police suspicions of accident or attempted suicide and begins investigating the sharpened-knives world of haute cuisine. Next in the New York Times best-selling series.

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November 15, 2021
Coyle's latest Coffeehouse mystery is a honey of a tale. Village Blend manager and master coffee roaster Clare Cosi is laser-focused on her wedding to NYPD detective Mike Quinn and the fabulous honey-processed arabica beans imported by her former husband, Matt Allegro. Little does she know that honeybees are about to put her in a sticky situation. Although she's actively planning her honeymoon, her relationship with Quinn has been on rocky ground lately, as he seems obsessed with work. When a swarm of bees invades the shop, Clare calls on the little-known NYPD beekeeping unit to round up the buzzing rascals. Realizing that the bees smell of lavender, she's certain they belong to Bea Hastings, an old friend of Matt's mother's and a supplier of gourmet honey for the shop. Bea is a wealthy woman who's built a vast greenhouse on the roof of her apartment building, where she grows lavender for the bees. Upon their arrival at the greenhouse, Clare and Matt find damaged hives, bees dead from the cold, and Bea lying on her terrace after falling from the roof. Rappelling down, Mike confirms that Bea is comatose but alive. The police assume that her fall was an accident or a suicide attempt. But Clare, certain that queen Bea would never kill herself, gets entangled with a hive of her past and present enemies. She discovers the boyfriend of Bea's missing niece, a dicey food-growing startup, and a connection to drug dealers who've been dumping bodies in an obscure Brooklyn neighborhood. Will Clare be stung by her attempts to solve the mystery? A primer on bees, coffee, and some of New York's most unusual and exciting areas make for a fascinating and mysterious read.

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December 13, 2021
Coyle’s enjoyable 19th Coffeehouse mystery (after 2019’s Brewed Awakening) finds Clare Cosi, manager of the Village Blend café, newly married to Lt. Mike Quinn of the NYPD and planning their honeymoon. Clare’s wedded bliss is spoiled when she discovers that beekeeper Bea Hastings, Clare’s gourmet honey supplier, has been seriously injured after apparently falling from her rooftop greenhouse to the balcony of her duplex penthouse. Was she pushed? When Bea’s greenhouse vanishes, it’s clear that someone has it in for Bea. Clare and her business partner and ex-husband, Matt Allegro, soon uncover information regarding questionable investment practices in the woman’s past, and the suspect list grows. Meanwhile, Clare fears Mike is working too hard on a multiple homicide case. Could the crimes be connected? Red herrings pop up at every turn and relationships aren’t what they seem. Witty banter and a twisty plot help make up for a surfeit of detail about the beekeeping industry and a cumbersome number of secondary characters. Coyle (the husband-wife team of Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi) knows how to please cozy fans. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune.

January 1, 2022
Gourmet coffee roaster Clare Cosi has just finished a tasting of a new blend of honey-roasted coffee when her shop, the Village Blend in Greenwich Village, is swarmed with bees. The NYPD beekeeping team (yes, there really is one) helps collect the insects, but they don't know which hives they might be from. A stray comment about lavender fragrance leads Clare to ""Queen"" Bea Hastings, provider of the special honey Clare uses in the shop. Going to Bea's building, which has a rooftop apiary, Clare and Matt, her former husband and co-owner of the shop, find trashed plants and hives and discover Bea unconscious on the balcony several stories below. Bea had recently exposed a crooked competitor, but after pursuing that lead, Matt and Clare suspect yet more sinister forces, possibly involving Susan, Bea's niece, who is missing. As with the earlier entries in this long-running series, the interactions between Clare and Matt, and between Matt and Clare's beau-but-not-yet-husband, Quinn, a NYPD detective, add levity, as does the wordplay having to do with bees, honey, and hives. An engaging premise combines with a clever mystery.

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