For 20 years and more than one million books, readers have watched our Coffeehouse Mystery characters face down cold-blooded criminals, fight past personal failures, and survive the dazzling lights and dark alleys of New York City with the strength of camaraderie and good strong coffee.
Why did we last this long? Our readers tell us one reason is because our stories are much more than murder-mystery puzzles. From the publication of our very first Coffeehouse adventure, ON WHAT GROUNDS, our cozy crime fiction has been character driven.
Watching our amateur sleuth, Clare Cosi, navigate the peaks and valleys of her personal and romantic relationships, run her charming historic shop, and wrangle her quirky crew of baristas is as much fun as watching her follow clues to solve a perplexing crime.
Another reason we’re still going strong is our series’ setting. When we conceived our Coffeehouse world, we took an offbeat approach to cozy crime fiction, which traditionally sets its stories in small towns and villages.
We set our series in a village, too, the charming, historically preserved neighborhood of New York’s Greenwich Village. This cheeky choice of setting a cozy series in the Big Apple was quickly embraced by readers and even helped pioneer the “urban cozy,” a term we coined in a Mystery Readers’ Journal essay, where we first explained our approach.
In our view, New York’s neighborhoods are like little towns with their own unique shops, restaurants, routines, and communities. And though Clare’s Village Blend coffeehouse may be fictional, we made it part of the real NYC Village, a neighborhood we celebrate throughout the series, including our 20th Coffeehouse title, BULLETPROOF BARISTA, just released in its beautiful paperback reprint edition.
This is a show stopping entry with "wildly entertaining" challenges for Clare and her barista crew. When their landmark shop becomes the on-site location for shooting a hot, new murder-mystery streaming show, they’re thrilled, until their beloved Village Blend becomes the scene of a true crime. Then Clare sets out to find the truth and stop a ruthless killer.
It’s a story that grew out of our own experiences living and working in New York. And that’s another reason for our longevity. Marc and I always draw from our own lives in writing the Coffeehouse series. It’s why these fictional relationships feel so real. Because down deep, they are.
The actions, motivations, and emotions of our characters are inspired not only from our years of married life but also from navigating New York’s glamour and grit, exciting energy, and dangerous dark alleys for decades.
If you’re a newcomer to our Coffeehouse world, don’t hesitate to pick up our latest releases. Every title in our series can be read as a stand-alone story. And, if you like one, you’ll have many more to explore, including our upcoming April release from Penguin Random House, NO ROAST FOR THE WEARY.
Ultimately, all of our books are uplifting. And that’s another reason readers keep coming back. No matter what challenges Clare and her crew face, they strive to survive a city of dark deeds the way we do, through bonds of love and fellowship, faith in each other, a strong sense of humor, and a good cup of coffee.
If you’re a dedicated reader, we can’t thank you enough for supporting our work, and stay tuned. We have many more adventures in store for Clare & Company.
If you’re new to our Coffeehouse Mystery world, welcome! Put your feet up, put the pot on, and enjoy the caffeinated ride.
Here's a trailer for a new coffeehouse mystery:
YouTube LINK: https://youtu.be/b4SlLYi-xao?si=uae9arynF7LvHUpx
Coffeehouse Mystery #20
When a film crew’s location shoot delivers an actual shooting, Clare Cosi finds herself at the scene of a true crime in this showstopping entry in the beloved Coffeehouse Mysteries from New York Times bestselling author Cleo Coyle.
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. Shop manager and master roaster Clare Cosi is beyond thrilled, especially when her superb bulletproof coffee lands her a craft services contract for the production.
Madame, the eccentric octogenarian owner of the landmark shop, reveals an old kinship with the star of the show, comedian Jerry Sullivan. Now a Hollywood legend, Jerry frequented the Blend during his early years performing in Greenwich Village comedy clubs. But the past may hold more than nostalgia for Jerry. Suspicious accidents begin plaguing his shoot. Then a real bullet is fired from a stage gun, and Clare becomes convinced something sinister is afoot.
While Jerry’s production moves to exciting new locations, Clare keeps the coffee flowing—and her investigation going—even as a murderer lurks in the wings. But can she root out the rotten player in this Big Apple production before the lights go out on her?
Includes a stellar menu of surefire recipes!a
Mystery [Berkley, On Sale: March 4, 2025, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book (reprint) , ISBN: 9780593197615 / eISBN: 9780593197608]
CLEO COYLE is the New York Times bestselling pseudonym for Alice Alfonsi, writing popular fiction in collaboration with her husband, Marc Cerasini. With more than 1 million books sold, Alice and Marc have authored more than 25 works in their two long-running, “relentlessly entertaining” mystery series.
Praised as a “master of misdirection” by Mystery Scene magazine, Cleo Coyle has been awarded starred reviews by Library Journal and Kirkus, honored with Best of Year selections by multiple reviewers, and recommended by Booklist and Library Journal for core library mystery collections.
Cleo’s Coffeehouse Mystery series, celebrated for pioneering both the “coffee” and “urban cozy” genres, follows the adventures of amateur sleuth Clare Cosi, a single mom with a complicated love life who manages a Greenwich Village coffeehouse and a quirky crew of baristas while helping the NYPD solve perplexing crimes.
Cleo’s Haunted Bookshop series, hailed as a highly original blend of cozy and hardboiled genres, features an earnest young New England widow who catches criminals with the help of a gumshoe ghost, the irresistible spirit of a tough private detective who’d been gunned down in her bookshop decades before.
In addition to their critically acclaimed mysteries, Alice and Marc have written multiple works of fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. They are also accomplished tie-in writers who have created bestselling properties for Lucasfilm, NBC, Fox, Disney, Imagine, Toho, and MGM.
Originally from Western Pennsylvania, Alice and Marc live in New York City, where they haunt coffeehouses, hunt ghosts, wrangle rescue cats, cook like crazy, and write independently and together.
I am a huge fan of Cleo Coyle, and I have LOVED the Coffeehouse Mysteries for years. The characters are like family. They are so delightful, and the stories are always unique, suspenseful, and fun. Keep them coming, Cleo!
(Terry Harlow 10:26am March 12)
Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse Mysteries were the first cozy mysteries that I ever read, and I loved them from the start. The books are always engrossing and entertaining. They actually got me hooked on the genre. I also discovered Cleo's Haunted Bookshop Mysteries, and they're great reads, too. I highly recommend both. -GM
(Gemma Mills 3:12pm March 12)
I have enjoyed Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse series for years. The stories are always so much more than simple mysteries. The writing is excellent. Among the best of the genre. I wish there was a Village Blend coffee shop in my city!
(Ellie W. 4:17pm March 12)
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