Billionaire Blend

The repeated visits from a customer dubbed “Quiz Master,” who requests obscure coffee drinks, piques the interest of Claire Cosi, co-owner of Village Blend, a cafe in Manhattan, in Coyle’s appealing 13th coffeehouse mystery (after 2012’s Holiday Buzz). Before Claire can find out who the man is or what he wants, an explosion from a car bomb rocks the shop. The Quiz Master, who’s injured in the blast, turns out to be Internet billionaire Eric Thorner. Thorner has big plans that include enticing Clare and her co-owner, ex-husband Matt Allegro, with a business proposition, as well as wooing Clare. Unfortunately, Thorner may also be a target of a killer, and may be a killer himself, and Clare needs to sort out the truth about her unusual customer in order to survive. Coyle (the husband-and-wife team of Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi) combines fascinating coffee lore, sumptuous culinary events, extravagant lifestyles, and romantic possibilities for a highly satisfying mystery. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency. (Dec.)