How does a hard-working single mother and coffee shop manager go from
befriending the First Lady and catering a glittering party at the Smithsonian to
being placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list?
For our amateur sleuth, Clare Cosi, it begins when the President’s college-age
daughter becomes a fan of her freshly roasted coffee. Then the young woman
mysteriously vanishes, a State Department employee collapses in the shop, and
Clare is fit for a frame of kidnapping and homicide.
These capital crimes are the last thing she expects to be accused of when she
relocates to our nation’s capital, but Clare must solve both mysteries—and
discover who framed her—or she may discover firsthand Washington is murder.
If you are new to our long-running Coffeehouse Mystery series, don’t hesitate to
pick up DEAD TO THE LAST
DROP. You can read it as a stand-alone story, and if you like the ride, you
have fourteen more in our series to enjoy. But don’t miss this Washington entry.
It’s embedded with twists, turns, and hidden secrets about our nation’s capital
that were inspired by my own experiences while living, studying, and working in D.C.
To read the prologue and first chapter, click here.
Credit: Black Magic Cake photo by Alice Alfonsi
DEAD TO THE LAST DROP is
also a culinary mystery, with an appendix of more than 25 wonderful recipes,
including a fantastic version of Black Magic Cake with a “secret ingredient”
chocolate frosting to die for.
To see the book’s free Recipe Guide, click here.
Here are some of the places Clare Cosi will take you on her visit to
Washington…
THE WHITE HOUSE
Credit: White House photo courtesy HiraV, Wiki Commons
Clare makes two trips to this grand destination, one at the request of the First
Lady, who shares a private lunch with her in the Diplomatic Reception Room, a
magnificent oval-shaped space famously redecorated by Jacqueline Kennedy and
once used by Franklin D. Roosevelt for his legendary fireside chats.
GEORGETOWN
Credit:Cox’s Row of Georgetown courtesy Library of Congress
This picturesque neighborhood boasts some of the finest examples of Federal
period architecture in the country. Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Graham Bell, and
John F. Kennedy are among the past residents. It’s here that Clare lands a posh
housesitting gig on “Cox’s Row” in a charming mansion that was once part of the
Underground Railroad.
THE SMITHSONIAN
Credit: Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers courtesy Wiki Commons
A glittering black-tie party brings Clare to “America’s Attic,” the nickname of
the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Clare witnesses a fateful
meeting here, in front of Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of
Oz, one of the many fascinating artifacts that celebrate American culture,
creativity, and cuisine. Yes, cuisine! As a master roaster and expert on the
bean, Clare is asked to contribute her ideas to one of the museum’s newest
exhibits, Coffee and the Presidency.
THE JAZZ SPACE
This fictional location is based on a real jazz club in Washington called Blues
Alley. The mouthwatering menu of our Jazz Space becomes an important plot point
in DEAD TO THE LAST DROP, and the recipes for many of the menu’s items are
included in the book. You can even visit our Jazz Space online. Come to our
website CoffeehouseMystery.com to learn more.
CLEO’S NEWSLETTER: Contests, recipes, news, fun facts, and
videos. To sign up, simply write an e-mail that says “sign me up” and send it to
CoffeehouseMystery@gmail(dot)com You will receive a reply with
links to past newsletters that include free recipes.
TITLE CHECKLIST: Get a free title checklist with mini summaries
of all 15 Coffeehouse Mysteries. To download the list as a PDF document, click here.
About Cleo Coyle
CLEO
COYLE is a pseudonym for Alice Alfonsi, writing in collaboration with
her husband, Marc Cerasini. Both are New York Times bestselling authors
of the Coffeehouse Mysteries, now celebrating over ten years in print. Alice has
worked as a journalist in Washington, D.C., and New York City, and has written
young adult and children’s books. A former magazine editor, Marc has authored
espionage thrillers and nonfiction for adults and children. Alice and Marc are
also bestselling media tie-in writers who have penned properties for Lucasfilm,
NBC, Fox, Disney, Imagine, and MGM. They live and work in New York City, where
they write independently and together, including the national bestselling
Haunted Bookshop Mysteries.
After the White
House asks coffeehouse manager and master roaster Clare Cosi
to consult on the coffee service for a Rose Garden Wedding,
she discovers a historic pot was used as a CIA "dead drop"
decades before. Now long-simmering secrets boil over,
scalding Clare and the people around her...
Clare's visit to the
nation's capital is off to a
graceful start. Her octogenarian employer is bunking with
her in a charming Georgetown mansion, and she's invited to
work with a respected curator on the Smithsonian's culinary
salute to coffee in America.
Unfortunately,
Clare's new Village Blend DC is struggling to earn a
profit--until its second floor jazz club attracts a
high-profile fan, the college-age daughter of the U.S.
President. Clare's stock rises as the First Lady befriends
her, but she soon learns a stark lesson: Washington can be
murder.
First a stylish State Department
employee suspiciously collapses in her coffeehouse. Then the
President's daughter goes missing. Is she a runaway bride or
is something more sinister in play? After another deadly
twist, Clare is on the run with her NYPD detective
boyfriend. Branded an enemy of the state, she must piece
together clues and uncover the truth before her life,
liberty, and pursuit of happiness come to a bitter end.
Coffeehouse Mystery
#15
Berkley Prime Crime
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