Review: Especially as they are set in New York City - which will always have my heart - I have always wanted to try Cleo Coyle's "Coffeehouse Mystery" series. Though the newest, volume nineteen, might not have been the ideal place to start, I was intrigued by the premise when I got my hands on a copy.
Clare Cosi, who runs the Village Blend in Manhattan, is trying to balance her personal life (finding the ideal honeymoon spot for herself and soon-to-be-hubby, Detective Mike Quinn) along with her work (including test-driving her new Honey-Cinnamon Latte), when that very evening her coffeehouse is besieged by a swarm of exotic bees. After tracing their origin back to the penthouse home of none other than "Queen" Bea Hastings - close friend of Madame, Clare's mentor and owner of Village Blend - Clare and her ex discover Bea herself, hurt and unconscious after taking a fall from her rooftop hive. Was she pushed? The cops find "evidence" of an attempted suicide that Clare doesn't believe for a minute. But with the iconic beekeeper still out of commission in her hospital bed, fighting to survive, Clare must track down the old lady's attacker among a shifty chef, a fellow urban beekeeper seemingly not above stealing Bea's formula for success, and a lot more, all while trying to help Mike solve a string of murders ... and find out why, suddenly, he seems to have grown cold about their wedding plans.
Honey Roasted is well-written, with a gutsy heroine and a strong cast of supporting characters; Clare's continued frenemy-ship with her ex-husband - whom she will always remain connected to, via the coffeehouse - is particularly engaging. But in all honesty, this book took me longer to read than the majority of cozy mysteries I enjoy, and part of that is because of the incredible amount of research and factoids and information about bees, beekeeping, and honey (and all connected to it) that shows the author (actually a couple) did the research - but, for me, came off as way too much exposition and/or info-dumping, slowing the book to a crawl at times and making me not too anxious to pick it up again. Keeping things spoiler-free, I also have to admit that the crime/mystery wasn't very impactful for me either, it's very "vanilla" and sorry I can't say more - which meant the ultimate stake in solving it wasn't vital enough to keep me turning pages.
At 360 pages, it just felt too long and bloated, even sometimes ignoring the crime element of the book in favor of Clare and Mike's relationship issues. So while certainly well-written and meticulously researched, I'm thinking maybe this is just not the series for me? 2/5 stars
NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
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