MYSTERY PICK OF THE MONTH –Library Journal
Best of Year Shortlist – Fresh Fiction Award Finalist*Starred Review: “A gripping and entertaining mystery” –Library Journal
“Penetrating insights” –Kirkus Reviews“Sure to delight old fans and garner new ones” –Publishers Weekly
From Cleo Coyle, the New York Times bestselling author of Dead Cold Brew, comes a delicious new entry in the “fun and … ones” —Publishers Weekly
From Cleo Coyle, the New York Times bestselling author of Dead Cold Brew, comes a delicious new entry in the “fun and gripping” (The Huffington Post) Coffeehouse Mysteries.
As Village Blend manager Clare Cosi attempts to finalize a date for her wedding, her ex-husband becomes addicted to making dates through smartphone swipes. Clare has mixed feelings about these quickie matchups happening in her coffeehouse. Even her octogenarian employer is selecting suitors by screenshot! But business is booming, and Clare works hard to keep the espresso shots flowing. Then one dark night, another kind of shot leaves a dead body for her to find.
The corpse is a successful entrepreneur who became notorious for his “hit it and quit it” behavior: prowling for women on dating apps, then devastating his conquests with morning-after insults. Though the NYPD quickly arrests one of his recent victims, Clare finds reason to believe she’s been framed.
Now, with the help of her ex and crew of quirky baristas, Clare starts “swiping” through suspects in her own shop, determined to find the real killer before another shot rings out.
Includes a bang-up menu of tempting recipes.
more
As always, another wonderful addition to the coffeehouse series. Shot in the Dark was fast-moving and unpredictable to the very end. Can’t wait to see what happens next with Clare, Mike, and all the other regulars in this wonderful mystery series. The recipes at the end are always a bonus!
I went back and forth between a 3 and a 4 for this. I liked it quite a bit, but I could REALLY do without some of the scenes between Claire and Mike Quinn. I mean, seriously.
Otherwise, it was a decent book – I think that Joy completely overreacts [she is dating a COP for heaven’s sake and TRUST should be paramount, but what do I know?] and I think the story might have been a touch too long, but again, for the most part, it was a good book and I liked the mystery and the reveal.
I will say this made me realize that I never, ever want to date again and certainly NOT by a dating app. Good heavens above.
I love this series, and this book was one of my favorites. I love how the characters truly care for each other and are like family. Clare once again finds herself in the thick of things, and she wants to help make things right, when situations arise. Everyone joins together to help, and it is refreshing to know that these characters will do anything and everything in their power to help each other. The descriptions of the coffee, food and locations makes me wish this was a real coffee house. I want to go there and spend time with Clare, Madame, Matt and the rest of the gang. I love Esther’s brilliant idea, and how everyone rallied around and made it a success. Cleo Coyle is brilliant, and I can’t wait for the next book!
This is one of my favorite series! I eagerly await the next book and have tried several recipes
I really love this series. It keeps you turning pages, is interesting, and takes you to interesting places. The characters are well fleshed and likable. Makes for very entertaining reading. Great to kick back and relax with!
I love this series. The coffee references are great, the recipes are great and the characters are believable and wonderful. You grow with them through the series. I particularly enjoy the cops. It’s a cozy mystery with a good actual mystery around of course, coffee and a wonderful NY Village coffee shop. What’s not to enjoy?
I love the Coffeehouse mysteries by Cleo Coyle. I cannot wait to read them, hate to finish them, and am always waiting to hear when the next one is coming out! I would recommend these to anyone who enjoys reading as much as I do.
Hope D.
Love all her books!
I love this series and highly recommend it!
There is something sleek and sophisticated about this series that I just adore!
This is a fun series. There is something about it that is just classy. It is a coffee version of Laura Child’s Tea Shop Mystery Series for me. The writing is conversational and flows easily. I love all the recipes that are included and the author has a great website to accompany the series.
Read my complete review here:
https://cozyexperience.com/shot-in-the-dark-book-review/
I guess you might call this a gritty cozy mystery.
The characters are wonderfully developed. I really care about (or actively dislike) them.
This is an engaging and intriguing story.
Online dating
Slimy would be dates
Outraged women
Revenge
An odd health club guru
And the wonderful coffee house!
It’s a wonderful read and ride!
Great story. I love this series. I enjoyed that they showed the ugliness of online/app dating. It’s really kinda scary to think what really happens. This series is definitely really “real” when it comes to how things really happen and go down. I definitely recommend this book/series. Can’t wait to see what happens next.
Well done again. Love this series. Love the cover on the kindle book too!
A new dating app, Cinder, has taken over the city and the Village Blend is one of the most popular spots for people to meet. Following an incident at the coffee house where a Cinder-ella fires a prop gun into the ceiling and threatens a Cinder-fella, Clare goes to pick up her stranded former mother-in-law and finds a dead body. The woman turns out to have been a regular customer at the coffee house. Clare can’t help but think that her death had something to do with the Cinder-fella from the coffee house incident and the Cinder app. She begins investigating and dives into the world of online dating apps and drug connections. Secrets, drugs, and dating apps are all themes of the book. This was another great book in this series and I can’t wait for the next one! I’m ready to see Clare and Mike finally get married and see Joy and Franco happy and maybe get engaged as well. I highly recommend this series!
Author Cleo Coyle has created another fresh blend of mystery and mayhem that will have readers asking for a refill.
My sister started reading cozy mysteries before they were even called cozies. So, when she recommends a series, I know I have to read it. The Coffeehouse Mysteries is such series. I’ve enjoyed the few I’ve read before, and I liked SHOT IN THE DARK.
Playing on the theme of phone app dating made for an intriguing story using a very current trend. For a mystery it can make for an endless number of suspects. Through twists, turns, and gourmet brews, readers will be flying through the pages until the very end.
Cleo Coyle is known for showing readers a caffeinated good time, and SHOT IN THE DARK is the perfect cup.
Make sure to try out the recipes included. Your taste buds will thank you!
As always another excellent book!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
These dating apps have been the rage and this one is supposed to unique. Clare’s ex seems to have a new addiction, meeting new “Cinderella’s”, sometimes more than one a night. The new hot meeting place for this new app Cinder just happens to be the Village Blend. Business is jumping until gunshots are fired in the upstairs lounge. The place clears out quick and the cops arrive to make the arrest. Luckily no one was hurt but can the Village Blend survive the bad PR?
The next night when Clare ventures out to pick up her boss from a date gone wrong she finds a girl’s body floating in the water. She recognizes the girl as one of her customers and is shocked to find she has a memory stick with 5 copies of the viral video of the shooting the night before. Panicking about how this is going effect her business Clare reluctantly teams up with the creators of Cinder to host a night that will hopefully bring business back. But then, another dead body is found, the police are back and may have arrested the wrong person.
Can Claire match the right suspect to the crime before there’s another “shot in the dark”? And will she have a job after everything that has happened?
I love this series! I love these characters! I can’t believe this is the 17th book in this series. The authors do an excellent job of making each story fresh and new for their fans while also giving new readers plenty of detail to be able to jump right into this series even at book 17.
Clare Cozi manages the Village Blend along with her ex-husband. The place is actually owned by her ex-mother-in-law. She has a great staff, a wonderful fiance’ and a level head on her shoulders. She just doesn’t understand this new dating app craze. Her staff does their best to help her out. Her ex has taken the whole thing to the extreme but he is not alone. Even his mother is using an app to line up dates. These characters are delightful. They jump off of the page. Their dialogues are snappy and at time laugh out loud funny.
The authors have hit the mystery part of this story out of the park. Twists, turns, drugs and fitness clubs wrapping it together with this dating app phenomenon that is taking over the world. The story is very fast paced and the authors set up the chapters in such a way that you keep saying “just one more chapter” again and again. This book was impossible to put down.
The Village Blend and New York are a spectacular setting for this story. The author’s descriptions create a visual masterpiece for readers to enjoy. I can smell the coffee, the rich blends, along with delicious baked goodies too.
In addition to all the action, a light is shined on this “face in your phone” society in which we are living. Maybe because I am a dinosaur that doesn’t have a cell phone I see it more than others. I go to dinner with my family and look around the table and everyone but me and my grandchildren have their heads buried deep into whatever is happening on their phones. I do realize that if the children had cell phones I would be on my own. I love new technology but am not a fan of all the time they take away from daily life. For my family, I do make a conscious effort to say “phones down, family time.”
Cleo Coyle never disappoints. Wonderful characters, intriguing mysteries, and just the right amounts of humor and romance. Each new story becomes another favorite. This was such an entertaining story with so many exciting moments. It truly was a perfect escape!!
I have to start by saying I am a huge fan and adore Alice and Marc. They will be on the cover of May’s issue of the magazine and Q & A so be sure to check that out. I love this series and you can can’t wrong with Clare. She alone can keep the reader of their feet not only with the delicious recipes and coffee or her wedding date fiasco but let’s add in a dead body.
Dating apps are becoming popular and Casual meet-ups at the Blend are making Clare uncomfortable with what she is seeing. A woman is threatening a man she met on one of these apps. A video of the incident at the coffee shop goes viral online quickly. Clare then finds a dead woman in the river and she finds a usb with the video on it.
The fun of course are the twists and tons of suspects to keep the reader turning the pages. I love seeing/ reading about Esther, Dante, Mike and of course Matt. Don’t forget the recipes at the end of the book.
Another great read by two of my favorite authors.
What an exciting new whodunit!!! In this next book of the series things are going well at the Village Blend and all is looking right for Clare. The uptake in clientele seems to be due to a new dating app that has everyone swiping right including her ex and his mother. It has Clare wondering about all the things that could go wrong when using it. During a busy evening at the Blend a client pulls a gun on a man who dumped her after a hookup making Clare worry about the ramifications of the incident on her business. When she gets a call from her ex mother-in-law who has had a bad date after meeting a man from a dating app Clare rushes to the rescue. They decide to have a meal at a local restaurant by the water leading to Clare seeing something floating which looks suspiciously like a body. The dead woman ends up being a customer and Clare just can’t let her death go, she’s sure it wasn’t a suicide, an accident, or mugging. Follow along as Clare dives into the online world of dating and swiping right to look for a murderer. The author truly knows how to weave a tale of mystery and intrigues you the whole way through. This is such a great series filled with amazing characters, wonderful writing about coffee, and a fabulous setting. I always look forward to visiting with Clare and seeing what she gets into next.