Cleo Coyle

Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse Mystery Series is my favorite cozy mystery series. I have read every book in the series and only have high accolades for each book. Bulletproof Barista , though, was not my favorite installment in the series. The authors have managed to maintain a quality level in their writing over the years but in this 20th novel they faltered.

Clare Cosi is the main character. She is the manager of the Village Blend coffeehouse. She agrees to shut down her business for a week for comedian Jerry Sullivan who is starring in a film that is being shot at the coffee shop. When the film crew’s location shoot delivers an actual shooting, Clare Cosi finds herself once again at the scene of a true crime. Only Murders in Gotham, the smash-hit streaming program, is famous for filming in authentic New York locations and using real New Yorkers as extras. For its second season, they’ve chosen to spotlight the century-old Village Blend and its quirky crew of baristas. Clare Cosi is beyond thrilled, especially when her superb bulletproof coffee lands her a craft services contract for the production.

Let me begin my review by saying that I was in a bad mood when I began reading this novel. I thought it would uplift me. There was something different about how it started out but I continued reading waiting for someone to get killed. It didn't happen until over 200 pages into the story. Usually, the murder happens in the first chapter. I remembered hearing the name of the person who died, Billy Saddler, but he was not central to the story thus far. I went back to the beginning searching for his name and did not it until page 99. There was something else that bothered me while I was reading. One of the characters, Tina Bird, was referred to over 10 times as "cockadoodledo." Again, I went back to the beginning trying to figure out why she gained this description. It turns out that one of Clare's baristas, Tucker, referred to Bird this way. When Clare didn't understand why Tucker said this, he said that she should remember the phrase that Kathy Bates used in her 1990 movie Misery. While I had seen this movie several times I did not remember the phrase. I then went to Google and found several You Tube videos where her character described a vehicle as a "cockadoodie car." She even referred to another character as a "cockadoodie." With my facts straight about the plot, I returned to reading but promising myself to watch the Misery movie again soon.

The Forward to the story talks about a movie being filmed near the authors' home in New York City. They decided to write this installment of the series based on a movie being filmed at Clare's Village Blend. I believe that this was a mistake. The plot was not anywhere near as exciting as the authors tried to make their mystery fit into a predesigned idea of what the plot should be. This affected their creativity. There were a lot of cliches used in the writing, which I have never seen before, and Clare's investigation was more about who was sabotaging Jerry Sullivan's TV show than solving a murder. The person who was shot in the beginning of the book survived.

If you have never read a book in this series, do not start with Bulletproof Barista. All of the earlier books were riveting and Bulletproof Barista is an anomaly in the series. I recommend, though, that you read this series. It has been enjoyable for me. When I finished this book I was planning on giving it a 4 star rating. However, as I was writing this review I realized all of the problems that I had with it. Consequently, I am rating it 2 stars. It was not up to par with the earlier novels.… (mer)