Cold Brew Corpse
It’s a steamy September, and business is brisk at Perkatory, the hottest coffee shop in Devil’s Beach, FL. Much of the clientele pours in from Dante’s Inferno, the hot yoga studio next door. But the bright, sunny Gulf Coast days turn decidedly dark roast when the body of the studio’s owner turns up in a nearby swamp.
Between running Perkatory and training Stanley, her golden Shih Tzu puppy, reporter-turned-barista Lana Lewis, is too busy to go sleuthing. But when the editor of the local paper asks her to write about the murder of a yoga instructor, Lana’s dreams of getting back into journalism start to percolate.
Lana discovers that the yogi has a nefarious past and her share of mug shots, so grinding her way through the suspect list is a large task. She learns that the victim was fatally beaned by an SUV before she was dumped in the swamp. But was the killer one of her students? An envious yoga teacher? Or a local photographer who seems to know too much? Hunting the caf-fiend who killed the yoga instructor puts Lana and Chief Noah’s relationship, and Lana’s life, in very hot coffee.
The Details
Series: A Coffee Lover’s Mystery – Book #2
Author: Tara Lush
Genre/Category: Cozy – Coffeeshop/Journalism
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
ISBN: 1643857886
Page Count: 320
Rating: 
The Review
Cold Brew Corpse is the second book in the “A Coffee Lover’s Mystery” series. Lana’s coffee shop, Perkatory, is doing a brisk business. Her relationship with Noah is moving along nicely, and the urge to be a reporter again is partially satisfied by her old boss when she is hired to write a news story. Unfortunately, the murder of a yoga instructor and Lana’s (business) next-door neighbor adds fuel to her insatiable curiosity.
I did not read the first book in this series, so I do not know how the characters interacted previously. Unfortunately, I did not care very much for Lana. She appears to be very immature and judgemental and had what I term a holier-than-thou attitude. Her reporter style would be more in line with a hard-hitting exposé journalist. The coffee shop, Perkatory, sounds like a fun place to grab a good cup of coffee, yet I feel that the story revolved too much around the cold brew that Lana makes, especially as it has somehow gotten contaminated. It was a bit unbelievable that Lana would put a story above her real work or running the coffee shop. After all, the news story doesn’t pay the bills. I liked the small part that Lana’s father and Noah played in the story; they seem to be interesting. The yoga instructor was not at all likable. It was a foregone conclusion that she was not what she appeared. Her past became a large part of the investigation, and with good reason.
There are far too many suspects and red herrings in Cold Brew Corpse; they bog down the story. In addition, the killer was unremarkable and predictable. All of this said, this was a good book. Any new series needs time to mature with character growth, and hopefully, these characters will become more fun and entertaining with the next installment. In book three, I also hope to see less yoga and less of Lane being a reporter, and more coffee action at Perkatory.
The Author
Tara Lush is an RWA Rita finalist, an Amtrak writing fellow, and the winner of the George C. Polk award for environmental journalism. She also writes contemporary romance set in tropical locations under the name Tamara Lush. For many years, she was a journalist with The Associated Press.
Tara is a fan of vintage pulp fiction book covers, Sinatra-era jazz, 1980s fashion, tropical chill, kombucha, gin, tonic, seashells, iPhones, Art Deco, telenovelas, street art, coconut anything, strong coffee, and newspapers. She lives on the Gulf Coast with her husband and two dogs.
Another similar book readers may enjoy is Fresh Brewed Murder, from the “A Ground Rules Mystery” series by Emmeline Duncan.
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