Eat, Drink, and Get Buried by Cleo Coyle: A Coffeehouse Mystery Book Review

Read time: 5 minutes

📱📖 Read on Kindle 📃 400 pages | 3 hours read time
Genre: Cozy Mystery 🏷️ Publisher: Berkley | ARC by NetGalley

Book Blurb:

When the Village Blend caters a glittering rooftop party, its coffee creations take a backseat to a shocking murder. Master roaster Clare Cosi is delighted to cater the celebration for her daughter’s childhood best friend, Ava Welsh, especially since Ava’s boyfriend Ryan plans to propose that same night. But a scream cuts the party short. A woman is thrown from the balcony to her death, and Ryan, who flees the scene, becomes the prime suspect. As Clare digs in to clear his name, she uncovers ties to a deadly event that a teenage Joy and Ava barely survived years earlier, and a killer determined to keep the truth buried for good.

Let’s talk … murder!!!

I have been reading the Coffeehouse Mystery series from the start, and somehow, twenty-two books in, I only just found out that Cleo Coyle is not one person. It was right there in the author’s note of this book and I had never known it before. Cleo Coyle is actually a pseudonym for Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini, a husband and wife writing team. What a realization to have this deep into a series I thought I knew everything about.

I really like the Coffeehouse Mystery series. Even at 22 books in, the charm is still maintained. Madame Dubois, Clare Cosi, Matt Allegro, and Joy make such a wonderful family, and I truly enjoy the dynamics they have with each other. Madame Dubois is more of Clare’s mother than her mother-in-law at this point. The relationship Clare has with Matt has evolved from ex-husband to almost sibling-like, with the way they banter around each other now. We have seen Joy grow from a child into an adult making her own life decisions across this whole series, and it makes you feel like part of her life, invested enough to celebrate her wins right alongside Clare, Madame Dubois, and Matt. Honestly, this feels like coming back home to a family you are so in tune with.

In this book:

This particular book also brings a lot of Clare’s past work life into her current one. Her past employers show up at the party, either because they once employed Ava or Joy, or because they’re guests of Ava’s employers. It was interesting seeing more of who Clare used to be, back when she was managing life as a single mother, and all the people who supported her through that time.

In this mystery, Joy’s friend Ava goes from getting almost engaged to having a boyfriend who’s almost a criminal. When a friend from the past ends up dead, Ava’s boyfriend Ryan becomes the suspect, and it is up to Clare and her crew to figure out who the actual murderer is and save Ryan. I guessed who the killer was around the 60% mark, but the journey there was still a fun ride. I also enjoyed the side quests Cleo Coyle wove through the book, other things happening in the background that all come together and get revealed by the end.

The only issue:

My only qualm with the book, and this is probably true for the series as a whole, is how Clare is treated almost like royalty by her employees, the way she is constantly “required” at every single step. The constant “Hey Boss Lady,” “Sure Boss Lady” got a little over the top reading it in one sitting.

This is a perfect September read, one to settle into ahead of the Halloween season. As Cleo Coyle mentions in the introduction, some of the stories shared in the book are real too, which makes for some really fun reading by the fireplace at night.

Would I recommend it?

Yes, I would recommend Eat, Drink, and Get Buried, especially if you already love the Village Blend crew. Twenty-two books in, Cleo Coyle still knows exactly how to make you feel like you’re catching up with old friends over coffee, even when there’s a body involved. The mystery kept me guessing more than I expected, and the found-family dynamic between Clare, Matt, Madame, and Joy is honestly the real draw at this point. Add this one to your TBR now, it releases September 22 and makes for the perfect transitional read heading into spooky season.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book Recommendations

• Death by Vanilla Latte by Alex Erickson If the coffee-and-crime combo is what hooks you, Erickson’s Death by Coffee Mysteries scratch the same itch, this one has Krissy Hancock’s bookstore café caught up in a murder involving her own famous author father.

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• Live and Let Chai by Bree Baker Swap coffee for tea and New York for a beachfront town, and you get Everly Swan’s café caught in the middle of a poisoning case, with the same small-community, everyone-has-a-stake feel that makes the Village Blend books work.

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• Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke For readers who love that a series can run this long and still feel warm, Fluke’s Hannah Swensen bakery series is the gold standard, and book one is a great entry point if you want to see another long-running found-family cast from the start.

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• Spells and Scones by Bailey Cates If the found-family angle is what really pulled you into this review, the Magical Bakery Mysteries set in Savannah lean even harder into that, with Katie’s found family built around her aunt’s bakery and a little bit of magic on the side.

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• A Half-Baked Murder by Emily George For something newer in the café-mystery space, this launches the Cannabis Café Mysteries with a pastry chef starting over in a new venture, a good pick if you want the cozy café comfort of Coyle’s books without committing to two decades of backlist.

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Which Fictional Coffeehouse Family Would You Join?

The Village Blend crew has been together for over twenty years now, and reading this one made me realize how much I’ve come to think of them as my own extended family. Madame, Clare, Matt, Joy, all of it. Do you have a fictional found family you keep coming back to, book after book, the way I keep coming back to this one? Drop your favorites in the comments, I’d love to add to my TBR.

Book Links

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