Honey Roasted

Coyle’s enjoyable 19th Coffeehouse mystery (after 2019’s Brewed Awakening) finds Clare Cosi, manager of the Village Blend café, newly married to Lt. Mike Quinn of the NYPD and planning their honeymoon. Clare’s wedded bliss is spoiled when she discovers that beekeeper Bea Hastings, Clare’s gourmet honey supplier, has been seriously injured after apparently falling from her rooftop greenhouse to the balcony of her duplex penthouse. Was she pushed? When Bea’s greenhouse vanishes, it’s clear that someone has it in for Bea. Clare and her business partner and ex-husband, Matt Allegro, soon uncover information regarding questionable investment practices in the woman’s past, and the suspect list grows. Meanwhile, Clare fears Mike is working too hard on a multiple homicide case. Could the crimes be connected? Red herrings pop up at every turn and relationships aren’t what they seem. Witty banter and a twisty plot help make up for a surfeit of detail about the beekeeping industry and a cumbersome number of secondary characters. Coyle (the husband-wife team of Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi) knows how to please cozy fans. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune. (Jan.)