Brewing Up Murder {+ Giveaway}

The love of coffee lead me to a marvelous cozy murder mystery series which lead me to an amazing author who lead me to blogging. So I’m delighted today to welcome award-winning author Cleo Coyle here to talk about BILLIONAIRE BLEND, the 13th installment in her Coffeehouse Mystery series that was recently released in paperback.

Cleo will be joining us to talk about ‘Brewing Up Murder.’ In addition, thanks to Cleo and the lovely Danielle at Penguin Group, I have a copy of BILLIONAIRE BLEND to giveaway. Please see the end of the post for more details.

Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Cleo as she brews up murder. Welcome, Cleo.

“Pluck” is a word I usually associate with chickens. On the other hand, Booklist was kind enough to describe my amateur sleuth as having pluck, a valid observation because Clare Cosi may be many things, but she is no chicken.

A divorced, single mom in her forties, Clare is like many of the women I grew up admiring in my big Italian-American family. Smart and determined with a sturdy backbone, Clare also has a generous spirit and enough ingenuity to cook mouth-watering feasts (and raise a daughter) on a shoestring budget.

By day, Clare manages a charming landmark coffeehouse in New York’s Greenwich Village. By night, she is a relentless snoop, who displays quite a bit of pluck in BILLIONAIRE BLEND, the latest entry in my Coffeehouse Mystery series.

When a car bomb goes off outside Clare’s charming shop, she comes to the aid of an anonymous customer, an intense young man who turns out to be billionaire tech whiz Eric Thorner. Eric is so grateful to Clare for saving his life that he hires her to create the most expensive coffee blend on the planet. But as Clare is pulled deeper into Eric's world of cutting-edge luxuries and cutthroat rivalries, she begins to wonder: Is this brilliant CEO marked for termination? Or is he the one making a killing? 

To solve this case, Clare will have to bribe an NYPD bomb squad lieutenant; conjure up a menu for a “billionaire's potluck”; fix her daughter's love life; stop a Slayer while working with one; and stay alive while doing it. 

By the end of BILLIONAIRE BLEND, you'll have taken a trip with Clare to an exclusive millionaire’s club, flown with her to a bohemian Paris neighborhood, visited some of the most intriguing coffee growing regions of the world—and uncovered the dark motives behind several murders.
 
Because this is a “culinary” mystery, you will also have over 20 fantastic recipes to try in your own kitchen, including a list of Clare’s secret off-the-menu coffeehouse drinks, as well as tasty foods enjoyed by the characters in the book, namely: 
 
Clare's Billionaire Bars
Baileys Irish Cream and Caramel Nut Fudge
Perfect Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Chocolate-Bottom Banana Bars
French Apple Cake Squares
Italian Beignets
Copycat Twinkie Cupcakes
Make your own Kahlua
Skillet Lasagna
"Coffee Hunter" Ugandan Stew
Crunchy Almond Biscotti (easy food processor method)
Quesa Fundido (Mexican Hot Cheese Dip) and more...

One last note for new readers: Although BILLIONAIRE BLEND is the 13th book in my Coffeehouse Mystery series—now celebrating ten years in print—you can read it as a stand-alone novel. If you enjoy the characters, you can read more about them in the previous books. 

To download a free title checklist of all 13 Coffeehouse Mysteries, in order, including brief story summaries, click here. 

And please feel free to friend me on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/CleoCoyle or sign up for my newsletter by writing an email that says “sign me up” and sending it to CoffeehouseMystery(at)gmail(dot)com.

May you read with joy!
~ Cleo

Cleo, thanks so much for joining us today and sharing this look at brewing up murder. From the adventures Clare has been on, I’d say she is far from being chicken. Just a note to also say I was so sorry to hear of Turtle passing away. She was a beautiful cat.

Now for those who aren’t familiar with Cleo, here’s a little background that may surprise you.

CLEO COYLE is really the pseudonym for Alice Alfonsi, writing in collaboration with her husband, Marc Cerasini. Their latest mystery, BILLIONAIRE BLEND, earned a starred review from Kirkus, a “Top Pick” honor from RT Book Reviews, and this month Berkley released the book in mass market paperback. 

When not haunting coffeehouses, hunting ghosts, or rescuing stray cats, Alice and Marc are New York Times bestselling media tie-in writers who have penned properties for NBC, Lucasfilm, Disney, Fox, Imagine, Marvel, and MGM. 

They live and work in New York City, where they not only write the bestselling Coffeehouse Mysteries, but also the popular Haunted Bookshop Mysteries. To learn more, and sign up for Cleo’s newsletter, visit her website: www.CoffeehouseMystery.com

Here’s a Coffeehouse Mystery series book trailer for your viewing pleasure.
 


GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

This giveaway is for one print copy of BILLIONAIRE BLEND. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and will end Monday, Sept. 7.

To enter, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and following the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load, so please be patient. The winner from this giveaway will have 72 hours to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected. The email will have ‘Thoughts in Progress Cleo Coyle’s Tour’ in the subject line, just so you know what to watch for (in case it goes into your spam folder).

Thanks so much for stopping by during Cleo’s visit. In case you’re wondering about the opening line – Alice is the one who encouraged me to start this blog back in 2009. Do you like hanging out in coffeehouses? Clare creates all sorts of wonderful coffee blends. What’s your favorite coffee blend or do you prefer just plain coffee (with maybe cream and/or sugar)?

*This post contains affiliate links. a Rafflecopter giveaway