Buzz Worthy Debut
While I don’t drink coffee (I’ve never liked the taste), Grounds for Murder immediately caught my interest when I first heard about it. A coffee shop on a touristy island in Florida? Definitely sounded like a setting I would enjoy. And I’m certainly glad I read it.
After her life in Miami fell apart, Lana Lewis moved back home to Devil’s Beach, an island off the coast of south Florida. She’s running the coffee shop her late mother started, and in the couple of months she’s been there, she’s begun to make it her own. Business is good, especially thanks to Fabrizio "Fab" Bellucci. Fab is a wonderful coffee maker and a shameless flirt, which helps draw customers into the shop.
When Fab doesn’t show up to work one day, Lana is shocked to discover that he has quit with no word and is now working for the competition. Lana has words with him – very public words. The next morning, Lana finds Fab’s dead body as she is going to open the coffee shop. His death looks like a tragic accident, but Lana’s crime reporter instincts tell her something else is going on. Can she figure out the truth?
Fab is quite the lady’s man, which is helpful since it gives us a strong pool of suspects. On the other hand, we get a tad more detail about his love life than I would have liked. Couple that with Lana’s constant first person thoughts about her attraction to the police chief, and there were some things I wish had been tone down a little. Don’t worry, we’re not talking about anything too bad, but it still could have been toned down.
The plot did get off to a bit of a slow start, but once it really got going, I was hooked. I appreciated how the plot unfolded since it was a bit different from a typical cozy. Those subtle differences were refreshing. There were enough suspects and clues to keep me engaged, and the ultimate solution was satisfying.
And I really did love the cast of characters. I feel like we’ve got a small group of series regulars at this point, but they are all fun, and I liked hanging out with them. The suspects were real enough to keep me guessing, and I wouldn’t mind updates on one or two of them as well.
As a non-coffee drinker, I didn’t find the coffee parts of the book overwhelming. There was enough talk that it will have coffee lovers reaching for their favorite mug, but it wasn’t enough to make me feel bored. Meanwhile, the treats that Lana bakes made my mouth water. If you are looking for recipes, you won’t find any here, but that’s a small issue.
Overall, I did enjoy Grounds for Murder. Lana’s amateur sleuth career is off to a fun start. I’m sure I’ll be back visiting her again soon.
Love the haiku summary!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really good! I do drink coffee but it's more a cup or two for survival and not so much a coffee connoisseur like so many people. This looks fun despite the couple of issues.
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