Click here to learn more about Cleo's Haunted Bookshop novels, written under the pen name Alice Kimberly

  

 

 

---

 

   

CLEO IS ON
FACEBOOK!

Click here to visit
Cleo's Facebook Page.

 

 

---

 

 

 

TWITTER
ME THIS!

   

       

     

---

CLEO'S
COFFEE TIP
OF THE WEEK:
 

How to Make
Coffee in a
French Press
 
Click arrow in
window below...

 


Click here for more
info on the
French Press pot
used in the
above video... 

 

Just for fun
see below......

 

 For past coffee
tips, scroll down
this left column...



 

---

 
 

WHO IS
CLEO
COYLE?

 

 

Wiki Entry
here

 

CONTACT
CLEO @

VillageBlend
@aol.com

 

FOR AUTHORS:

Read Cleo's
Guest Post at
Mystery Writing
Is Murder
"Genre Blending
and Your Character's
Love Life"
Click here to read.

 

 

 

Cozy Murder
Mysteries Blog
Interviews
Cleo

Part 1
click here

Part 2
click here

 

 

 

  

Gumshoe
Review
Interviews
Cleo Here
 

  

LIBRARY
THING
Hosted a chat
with Cleo.
 

Read it by...

CLICKING
HERE

 

 

  

  

Fun Foodie
Book Resort
Interview
with Cleo
Here.

 

  

 

 

 

 Extra
Interview
here

 

 

   
To read my guest post
at Fresh Fiction.com
& get my my recipe
for Firehall Buttermilk
Pancakes with
homemade
Blueberry Syrup,
CLICK HERE.

 

 

---

  

  

MEMBER
OF...

 Click the logo
to learn more
about
Sisters in Crime

 

 

 

---

  

 

 

 

SHAMELESS
PLUG!

NOW
IN
PAPERBACK!

 

 National
Mystery
Besteller

  

 *Starred Review*
~Library Journal

 

  

 Read an
excerpt!

Introduced by
the author!

Without lots
of exclams!!!


CLICK HERE
TO READ THE
EXCERPT (PDF)


TO BUY
&
READ
CLICK HERE





 

---

 

 

"All I know is
first you've
got to get mad..."

      

~ Paddy
Chayefsky, 1976 

 

  

---

 

   "When the singer's gone
let the song go on..."    

 

---

  

 

"Only love
can bring the rain
that falls like tears
from on high..."
 

Music and Lyrics
by Pete Townshend

 

   

---

  "How 'bout
remembering
your divinity?  

Thank You
by Alanis
Morissette

 

 
 

---

  

  

 

 

 

Want to find an
Independent
Mystery
Bookseller
Near You?

  

     Then click here
to see a list of the
IMBA's member
bookstores all over
the country! Many of
these book shops
have author readings
and events.

Support your local
Independent Bookseller!   

 "Jack and Pen"
certainly agree
  

 Click here to
find out why!

 

 

 

  

---

 

Cleo's Past
Coffee Tips

How to Make
Cuban Coffee

Click arrow in
window below...

 

Click here for more
info on the
Moka Express
stovetop pot used
in the above
video.

Just for fun
see below......

 

 
 



More to
post soon...
 


 

 

Welcome
to my *virtual* coffeehouse!

 


 

Click here to learn about Cleo's
Coffeehouse Mystery book series.

 

---

Last Updated
Friday
September 3, 2010 

Welcome
September!











New
Recipe Post!




Cleo Coyle's
Double-Chocolate
Hurricane Muffins
A swirling vortex of gooey
chocolate...and my thoughts
on stormy weather.

To get my new recipe for
Double-Chocolate "Hurricane" Muffins,
simply jump over to my weekly blog post
at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen. All you have
to do is...


CLICK HERE





If you like it,
buzz it!








 
To get more of my recipes,
simply scroll down this page.
You can also visit the Recipes page
on this website by clicking here...

 ~ Cleo

 

 

 

---

Live!
Labor Day!

Join Cleo for her next
FREE COFFEE
DRAWING
Monday, September 6
@7 PM (Eastern) * 6 PM (Central)
5 PM (Mountain) * 4 PM (Pacific)
 

 

 To enter next Monday's drawing,
and all of my future weekly drawings
for a free package of my latest Coffee Pick,
simply sign up for my free
E-newsletter by sending an e-mail that says
"Sign me up" to VillageBlend@aol.com
Just my way of sharing some excellent
coffee finds with my readers and site visitors.

Cheers &
Good Luck!

~ Cleo Coyle
 

 

  


WIN THIS
COFFEE
FROM CLEO

     

Cleo's Summer
Coffee Pick:

Kafe Lespwa
"Coffee of Hope"
from Haiti


This delicious coffee is grown by subsistence
farmers of Haiti. To learn more, read Cleo's
featured post by scrolling down
the center column...

 Click here for more info
or to to purchase

 



      Congrats to last
week's coffee
drawing winner...
 

JoAnn from
Staten Island,
New York
 

Scroll down to see the names
and states of my past
coffee drawing winners...



 
This week's Free Coffee Countdown is still on!


Monday evening, I held my weekly LIVE Free Coffee Crawing. "T" is the first letter in the winning e-mail address, randomly selected among my current E-Newslette subscribers. But "T" has not won yet! "T" must reply to my notifying e-mail by Friday, September 3, or I will have to choose a new winner! So stay tuned and check back. If the above coffee clock keeps ticking through Friday at midnight (EST), I'll be holding a new Coffee Drawing Saturday morning!!! (Okay, calm down. Shortness of breath can occur when you get overly excited and that’s just not good for you.)

 Thanks for stopping by!

—Cleo

 

---

 

 

New
Recipe Post!




Cleo Coyle's
Drunken Peaches

 
My blog post this week at
Mystery Lovers' Kitchen features two
elegant yet very easy end-of-summer recipes: Drunken Peaches
and Honey-Kissed Peaches
with Ginger-Infused Whipped Cream.

Get both recipes by
clicking here.

 

If you like it,
buzz it!




Congrats to the winner of last Friday's Latte Cup giveaway, Erin McNary Hampton. Drink with joy, Erin
~ Cleo

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

Set a new course.
There's coffee in
that nebula.

 
 

^ Click me

~ Captain Janeway,
Star Trek: Voyager

 

 

 

 

---

 

Happy Birthday!


"In this life we cannot do great things.
We can only do small things with great love…"
~ Mother Teresa
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
100 Years This Week

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

Recipe
Post!





Cleo Coyle's
Chocolate Chip 
Cobbler

My decadently delicious
adaptation of a
reader's favorite chocolate
cobbler recipe. Get both
recipes by...
 

 CLICKING HERE.

 

Congrats to the winner
of my Tuesday
Flash Giveaway:

The blogger mom at
"My Book Addiction"

 

Keep checking this blog or
my Facebook page for you next chance
to win this adorable cup...

 



 

---

 

Just
Released...

Just released in hardcover
from Penguin's
Berkley Prime Crime
 


"Coyle's strong 9th Coffeehouse
Mystery pays tribute to New York's
firefighters..."
~ Publishers Weekly
 

 "Will keep you reading long into the night.
ROAST MORTEM is an entertaining book
with a thrilling mystery."
~ RRT


"No one combines a cozy atmosphere
with a realistic crime novel any better than
Cleo Coyle . . . a winner."

~ Lesa Holstine, 
award-winning contributing
reviewer to Library Journal and
Mystery Readers Journal

 

To order this HOT new entry in
Cleo Coyle's bestselling
Coffeehouse Mystery series,
click on a link below:

   
Roast Mortem
A Coffeehouse Mystery
@ AMAZON

  

OR...

 

 

  

 OR...

 

 

  

  

 To find an
Independent
Bookstore
near you,

CLICK HERE.

 




 

    

---

Special
Guest Post!


"Why do you include recipes
in your murder mysteries?"




I answer the question
this week at BookTrib.com

To read my guest post,
CLICK HERE

To download my recipe for
 Fresh Glazed
Strawberry Pie
CLICK HERE


 

You can see more of my recipes
by scrolling down this page. You can
also visit the Recipes page on this
website by clicking here...

 ~ Cleo

 






 

---

***NEW***
REVIEWS!

To read the new
Fresh Fiction Review
of Roast Mortem,

CLICK HERE!





Tempting
Persephone
CLICK HERE

 

 

THE MYSTERY
READER
CLICK HERE



More Roast Mortem
Reviews Below...


The Friendly Book Nook
Mysteries and My Musings
Lesa's Book Critiques
Janet Boyer.com 
We Be Reading
Vixen’s Daily Reads,
I Like it a Latte,
The World of Book Reviews,
The Mystery Bookshelf, 
Cozy Book Reviews, and
Cooking with Ideas, aka the Bibliochef,
who just won a Top Blog Award
(congrats, Bibliochef!) 







 

 

---

 
 






 

 "The most stirring symbol
of man's humanity
to man is in a fire truck."
~ Kurt Vonnegut

 

 

CLICK HERE
to see Cleo's BookTrib.com post
Cleo Coyle: No Mystery Why I'm
Inspired by the FDNY


 

 

  





 

---

New
Recipe Post!






Cleo Coyle's
Blueberry Buttermilk
Firehall Pancakes





Looks spectacular.
Tastes even better.
And the recipe is
easy as pie
 

 CLICK HERE

...to get my free,
downloadable recipe at
Mystery Lovers' Kitchen.

 


Congrats to the winners
of my Special Sunday
Pancake Party Post!

"LSU Reader" won the "Gimme Coffee" Latte Cup
 
* Pattie T. of  Pattie Tierney Designs: Wearable Literary Art 
won a pound of Cops Coffee

* Dana Ford Halicki won the Firehouse Cookbook

* Mickie Vee won the signed copy of my new
Coffeehouse Mystery: Roast Mortem





 

 

 

 

 With just 2 ingredients
and a few simple steps,
you can make this "Wow!" of a
Strawberry Syrup
to pour over ice cream,
pancakes, pound cake, angel food,
and more...
 

CLICK HERE 
...to get my free,
downloadable recipe at
Mystery Lovers' Kitchen.

 

If you like it,
buzz it!



Congrats to my Latte Cup
winner of July 30!
Mason Canyon of Thoughts in Progress blog! Watch my Web site
for your next chance to win this
beautiful latte cup and saucer,
made in Italy.


  

 

You can see more of my recipes
by scrolling down this page. You can
also visit the Recipes page on this
website by clicking here...

 ~ Cleo

 


 

  





 

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

    

 

    

At long last, after 8 years
and 9 books...
 

THE COFFEEHOUSE
MYSTERY TRAILER

 


 

     
 A Note from Cleo...
 

Well, the time has finally come. Roast Mortem is on sale. I hope you all will stop by and let me know how you like this one. The book has had some very nice reviews already, including Publishers Weekly, which praised the book, calling it a "tribute to New York City
firefighters..."

Above photo of FDNY firefighters
taken in New York City (c) 2010 by Alice Alfonsi who
writes as Cleo Coyle with her husband, Marc Cerasini

Book review bloggers who are readers of my Coffeehouse Mystery series have posted reviews, as well. Click the links below to see their thoughts on Roast Mortem...

 

Hit the hot links below
to read Roast Mortem
reviews at:

NEW! Lesa's Book Critiques
Janet Boyer.com 
We Be Reading
Vixen’s Daily Reads,
I Like it a Latte,
The World of Book Reviews, The Mystery Bookshelf,
Cozy Book Reviews, and
Cooking with Ideas,
aka the Bibliochef, who just won a Top Blog Award (congrats, Bibliochef!). 

 

NOTE: If you are a blogger who plans a review of Roast Mortem, send me an e-mail at VillageBlend@aol.com with a link
that says "REVIEW" and I'll post it here! And be sure to check out the Mega Release Party Contest below...

My favorite quote is not from a book reviewer. It's from a book reviewer's father. Gary S. Downey served 40+ years as a fire chief in South Carolina. After his daughter {Barbara Hightower of World of Book Reviews } read Roast Mortem, she gave it to him for an opinion and was shocked to find out that he had read it in one night. Chief Downey's verdict:

 

"That was the best story
about firemen I have ever read
and so real."

~ Chief Gary S. Downey, ret. 

Yep. My favorite review
quote by far. (Barbara: Your Dad
has trumped you!)

I am working on getting a newsletter
out to you AND making them more regular, too, with recipes, coffee picks and reader news (like the father-son team "The Coffee Guys" who roast their own coffee at home! Scroll down this page to meet them).
 

 To sign up for my newsletter
send an Email that says
“Sign me up!” to VillageBlend@aol.com

 

I greatly appreciate your comments on my message board and your wonerful e-mails and Facebook shout-outs, too. If you have not yet "friended" me on Facebook, I am there as Cleo Coyle. Click here
to visit my Facebook page.
 

 
Keep watching this website
for contests to win some great prizes
over the next few weeks!

 
Thank you so much for
your support and stopping by to
celebrate Roast Mortem's
release with me!

~ Cleo

 

 
 
 

---

Because Roast Mortem
was inspired by firefighters, 
I will be holding instant
giveaways for the California
Firehouse Cookbook all
through August and September.
Sales of the cookbook
benefit the Terry Farrell
Firefighters Fund. 

 


Winners (so far)
of my Firehouse Cookbook
giveaways!
 

* Tiffinie Helmer of Utah & AK
* Theresa of North August, SC
* Holly of Pine Hill, NJ
 * Janel of Janel's Jumbles
 

Your name here!

 

 

Watch this website or
my Facebook page
for your next chance to win!

 To meet some real members
of New York City's Fire Department
(FDNY) preparing the most important
meal of the year in their
firehouse kitchen, click the arrow
in the window below...

 

 

   

 

  

   

---

Reader Spotlight
Coffee Break
with....
 
"The Coffee Guys"

Father and Son
Coffee Roasting Team of
Travis and Nick Bradburn
Home Roasters
of Ortonville, Michigan

To visit their website,
click here.

 

Hi there. Cleo Coyle here. I've never met Travis Bradburn, but when he won my Free Coffee Drawing recently, we exchanged e-mails. He mentioned that he roasts his own coffee at home with his 6-year-old son, Nick, who loves the process.

Roasting green coffee at home used to be very common (about a century ago). Like brewing your own beer or making your own cheese, it is a culinary art and a wonderful hobby. The Recipes and Tips section of my new Coffeehouse Mystery, Roast Mortem, even contains a quickie guide to the stages of roasting green coffee. I asked Travis if he wouldn’t mind sharing his thoughts on the subject. Happily, he agreed. Thanks, Travis!

~ Cleo





TRAVIS BRADBURN: I'm a home roaster.  My 6 year old son and I love to roast coffee together. He's the one that named us The Coffee Guys. Home roasting can be a lot of fun. My son and I started with a pop-corn popper, then went to a Behmor roaster, and finally we were getting so many request that I purchased a little 2 kg commercial roaster a few months ago.

We have a lot of fun and we're both learning a lot. Nick always tries one of the beans--he's too young to actually drink the coffee (or I risk my wife's wrath) :)

The other day I roasted some coffee and before he tried it, he said "Is this light or dark roast?" I told him dark.  He said "Good because I don't want all that caffeine from a light roast!"

Home roasting can create a lot of smoke so doing it outdoors to start is a good idea. SweetMarias.com has a lot of good information for the home roaster. Kenneth Davids' books were another must read for me before I started home roasting. I'm sure you've already read them but Home Coffee Roasting, Revised, Updated Edition: Romance and Revival is a very good introduction. As you can tell from his title I think you share a similar mindset about the romance of coffee. Once again I can't thank you enough for the wonderful books. They are such a joy to read.

~ Travis
 

Thanks again, Travis! I look forward to trying your coffee for myself. And I grinned when I read your note about Sweet Marias and Kenneth Davids books. I mention both of them in the addendum of Roast Mortem.

For anyone interested in reading about the Home Roasting process, below is the book that Travis (and I) recommend. Or you can click over to Sweet Maria's web site where they sell home roasting equipment, green coffee beans, and give plenty of advice to home roasters.

Drink with joy!
~ Cleo


 

 

---

 

 






Recipe
Post!




 Cleo's Chilly
Cleoccino!

 

Cold medicine for
a long, hot summer!



 

  My copycat Starbucks
Frappuccino recipe uses
coffee ice cubes. (A great use
for your leftover joe!)
To get my free, downloadable
recipe for this
frosty refresher,

CLICK HERE 
...and jump to
my new recipe post at
Mystery Lovers' Kitchen.

 

Congrats to my Latte Cup
winner from July 23
Cindy Waffles of Looky Tasty blog! Watch my Web site for your next chance to win this beautiful cup and saucer, made in Italy.




 

 

You can see more of my recipes
by scrolling down this page. You can
also visit the Recipes page on this
website by clicking here...

 ~ Cleo  
 

 

  



 

---

 

 

 

 


 

Recipe
Post!








Cleo's
Cool & Creamy
Peppercorn
Dressing





A perfect summer salad
dressing that's rich and creamy
yet far from bland...
   
  

To get my recipe
for Cool and Creamy
Peppercorn Dressing

CLICK HERE

...and jump to
Mystery Lovers' Kitchen
where six mystery writers
are cooking up crime...
and recipes.

 

You can see more of my recipes
by scrolling down this page. You can
also visit the Recipes page on this
website by clicking here...

 ~ Cleo 

  

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

Recipe
Post!





 

   Got Leftovers?

Here are five ways to
make thrifty use of
your summer grilling
leftovers... 

To get my recipe ideas
for your grilled leftovers,
 

CLICK HERE
 

 and jump to
Mystery Lovers' Kitchen
where six mystery writers
are cooking up crime
and recipes!

 
 

 

You can see more of my recipes
by scrolling down this page. You can
also visit the Recipes page on this
website by clicking here...

 ~ Cleo

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

  

 

   Recipe
Post!

 



 

102 Grilling Ideas
for Summer


No kidding, 102,
including the one
pictured below...
 

   

 

To get these
102 recipe ideas and
read my post, which includes
a fun "competitive eating"
video from Singapore...
 

CLICK HERE

 

 If you like it,
buzz it!
 

   

 

 

You can see more of my recipes
by scrolling down this page. You can
also visit the Recipes page on this
website by clicking here...

 ~ Cleo 

 

 

 

 


 

---

 




 

 

Very excited! Why?
My publisher recently
sent me the cover art
for my next...

 

HAUNTED BOOKSHOP
MYSTERY

So many of you have been asking about the
new book in my "other" mystery series,
which I also write in collaboration with my husband.
Well, I'm happy to show you that it's on the way.

(Check out the new size of my name
on the cover . . . yowza!
A nice change and a long time coming. :)
 

From the heart, I thank those of you
who have been reading my "Ghost" series for
the past six years. I sincerely hope
you enjoy the new one.
 

~ Cleo Coyle
(aka "Alice Kimberly" - Alice Alfonsi)
 

Coming Next Year!

The Ghost and
the Bogus Bestseller
 

CLICK HERE
TO PRE-ORDER...

 

To learn more about
Cleo Coyle's (Alice Alfonsi's)
bestselling
Haunted Bookshop
Mysteries click here.

 

Previous Bestsellers
in the "Ghost" Series... 

 

 

Book #1
The Ghost and
Mrs. McClure


 

 

 

 

 
 

Book #2
The Ghost and
the Dead Deb
 




 

 

 

 

Book #3
The Ghost and the
Dead Man's Library
 

 


 

Book #4
The Ghost
and the Femme Fatale

 

 

 

 

 

Book #5
The Ghost and the
Haunted Mansion

 


 

 

And coming in
March 2011...

Book #6
The Ghost and
the Bogus Bestseller 

 

 

 

---

 

 

Recipe
Post!




 

 

Tale of the
Virgin Mojito

A refreshing
combination of
sweet lime & sharp,
cool spearmint...
 
 

To get my
new recipe and
read my post about certain
"spirits" that send me
to the Dark Side...
 

CLICK HERE

 

 

If you like it,
buzz it!

 

  
You can see more of my recipes
by scrolling down this page. You can
also visit the Recipes page on this
website by clicking here...

 ~ Cleo

 




 

---

  

 

  

 Recipe
Post!

 

 

RED HAT
CAKE

 

A Quick & Easy
Cherry Streusel
Coffee Cake

courtesy of
Red Hatter
Shirley Hunt Jackson


 

 Thank you to
Foodgawker.com
for selecting
my Red Hat Cake photo
as a featured foodie photo.

 

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE
THEN CLICK MY PHOTO
FOR THE RECIPE POST

 

  

You can see more of my recipes
by scrolling down this page. You can
also visit the Recipes page on this
website by clicking here...

 ~ Cleo




 

 

---

 

 

   

 

 

It is inhumane, in my opinion, to
force people who have a genuine medical
need for coffee to wait  in line
behind people who apparently view it as
some kind of recreational activity.
I bet this kind of thing does not happen to
heroin addicts. I bet that
when serious heroin addicts go to purchase
their heroin, they do not tolerate
waiting in line while some
dilettante in front of them
orders a hazelnut smack-a-chino
with cinnamon sprinkles!

 ~ Dave Barry

  





 

 

 

---

   

 

 

Recipe Post!

 

 LITTLE
CHOCOLATE
CLOUDS IN MY
COFFEE 

 

This blog post was a FoodBuzz
Top 9 Pick! (click to see)

   

 

Float these little cocoa meringues
into coffee or espresso for
an instant mocha. Or simply dip them
and bite for a chocolate delight.
 

   To get my recipe,
click here...

 

 

You can see more of my recipes
by scrolling down this page. You can
also visit the Recipes page on this
website by clicking here...

 ~ Cleo

 

 

  

---

 








 

 Cleo says: "I've come to think of this
as Mike Quinn's theme song..."

 

Click the arrow in
window below

 

 

 

 




 

---

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to visit
Cleo's archives and
learn about the birth of
modern coffeehouse
culture...
 

(This is an archived
article and may take
a moment to load.)

 

 

  

---

My Coffee Drawing
Winners Receive a Free Package of...


  
 

 

 MY
SUMMER COFFEE
PICK...

 

 

Kafe
Lespwa

 "Coffee of Hope"
(in Haitian Creole) 

 

Grown by the subsistence coffee farmers in the mountains of Baradères, Haiti, (yes, Haiti, I'll bet you never tasted Haitian coffee before, have you?), this rich, darkly roasted, low-acid coffee is velvety smooth but  with a full-bodied mouthfeel.   

This is a sweet-smelling coffee with notes of chocolate, caramel, and (as it cools), hints of dried apricots. My husband and I never tire of brewing and savoring it and the best news of all, every package we buys helps the people of Haiti help themselves.
 

 DRINK COFFEE.
HELP  HAITI.
 

As most of you know, Haiti was hit by a catastrophic earthquake earlier this year, killing tens of thousands and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. Although the coffee growers of Baradères are located about 100 miles from the epicenter of the quake (see map below), their chief concern is a flood of earthquake refugees who came to their region lacking adequate food, shelter
and medical care.
 

Above map of Haiti shows the epicenter of the earthquake, near the country's capital city, Port-au-Prince. The mountains of Baradères are about 100 miles away. Read more at www.JustHaiti.org

     

The coffee growers of Baradères are contributing about one-third of the funds from profits they have earned (from sales to the US) to a relief program in Haiti that will focus on households in their community that are sheltering additional people because of the quake. The program will provide food and medical assistance, grants to help repair homes, and primary school tuition for children displaced by the earthquake.

 

 

 Above photo of Haitian coffee growers loading bags
of green beans - www.JustHaiti.org

    
To help these growers help
the people of Haiti, you can purchase
Kafe Lespwa by clicking here.  

I drink their whole bean, French Roast, which they call "regular" roast.
~ Cleo 

    
If you would like to learn more about "Just Hait," the organization dedicated to helping these coffee farmers help themsleves, visit the www.JustHaiti.org website, where you can read press releases and view photos and video of their work.

    BTW - A 12-ounce package of Kafe Lespwa is going to be my featured Free Coffee Drawing prize every week, all summer long. If you haven't signed up yet for my weekly free coffee drawings, scroll down to the green text and learn how. It's free. Sign up once and you're entered in all of my weekly coffee drawings for the life of my website.

Drink with joy,
~ Cleo Coyle (aka Alice Alfonsi)

  

CLEO'S FREE
COFFEE DRAWINGS

Would you like to
win a package of Kafe Lespwa? Enter my next free coffee drawing (and all of my future weekly drawings) by signing up for my free, seasonal E-newsletter. Simply send an e-mail that says "Sign me up" to VillageBlend@aol.com and you will be entered automatically in Monday's drawing as well as all of my future drawings, just my way of sharing some excellent coffee finds with my readers and site visitors.

 

  
 

   

 

 

 

 

 

  

---

  

     

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

CLEO'S
COFFEE PICK

FOR SPRING
2010 was...

 

 

  

FRENCH
LAUNDRY
ESTATE
BLEND

 

 

 

 

 

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 Reviews of
Cleo's most recent
release...

  

HOLIDAY GRIND

A Coffeehouse
Mystery

 

  Mystery Scene Magazine

"Coyle's greatest strength is writing characters that feel real. Clare and company are some of the most vibrant characters I've ever read...Coyle also is a master of misdirection and red herrings. I challenge any reader to figure out whodunit before Coyle reveals all."

 

 

The Huffington Post

"Other honorable mentions for new holiday booking? Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle, a new addition to the coffeehouse mystery series that?adds in jolts of souped-up coffee, sweet cooking?and super sleuthing to deliver a fun and gripping fa-la-la-la latte surprise."




Kirkus
 
"Coyle's coffeehouse mysteries (Espresso Shot, etc.) are packed with believable characters and topped with serious coffee lore and holiday recipes. This one will keep your cup piping hot."

 

    Library Journal

"...a good plot and an in-your-face look at life in the Big Apple for good measure. Fans of culinary cozies will want this."

  

Romantic Times

"Coffeehouse manger Clare Cosi and her band of her merry men lead readers on a wild and hilarious ride to find out who killed her Santa in this witty and intelligent cozy. Readers will be enthralled as the mystery unravels and the surprise killer is revealed."


 

Lesa Holstine Sunday Salon Review
Click here to read the Full Review at
Lesa's Book Critiques!


 

  

   *...and there was much rejoicing and drinking of coffee in the Coyle household.   

 

 

      To find out more about the books in Cleo's
Coffeehouse Mystery series...
 CLICK HERE
and jump to the Village Blend's
About the CM Books page      

 

 

 

 

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HUZZAH!*

 
Espresso Shot
hit #3 on Barnes &
Noble's Mass Market
Mystery Bestseller list*


and #31 in overall
best-selling fiction for the chain
nationwide!*  

It also hit #8 on Bookscan's Mass Market
Mystery List, and was the...

#2 bestselling paperback mystery
of the Independent Mystery Bookseller's Association
for the month of October 2009!*

  * and there was much rejoicing
and drinking of coffee in the Coyle household.

  

 Thank you, Coffeehouse
Mystery Readers, for making
Espresso Shot a National Bestseller!

  

 

"SUPERB...INTELLIGENT...
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED..."

~ Library Journal
(Starred review)

  

  Now Available
in Paperback !

  * 

 Recipes, romance and caffeine-fueled detection
add up to a lively tale.
~ Kirkus 

 *

   Strong personalities abound in this sophisticated
novel, which is part whodunit and part romance.
~ New Mystery Reader

 

  

A Fresh Fiction
Fresh Pick!
October 8, 2009

 

 

 
Cleo's recent blog post at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen was about Espresso Shot. To read it and watch a geat little video about a National Barista Champion, click the link below...

  

CLICK HERE TO READ
CLEO'S RECENT BLOG POST
ABOUT ESPRESSO SHOT... 

 

 

 

  

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 The Divine
Miss M

 

 

Agatha Christie,
at home in Devon,
England, 1946.   

   

 Jane Marple is an unlikely literary heroine," writes Kate Mose in the foreword of a newly published Marple collection, "an elderly unmarried lady of a certain age living in St Mary Mead, a fictional village in the South of England.
     "At first glance there is nothing to mark her out, a relic of her Victorian upbringing, knitting and weeding the garden, not someone to whom anyone pays a great deal of attention. And this, of course, is precisely the point. Behind this façade is a shrewdly intelligent observer who takes advantage of the attitudes of those around her who see only a "fluffy" old woman -- including many literary critics, past and present -- to pursue murderers, blackmailers, fraudsters . . . " 

 The above was excerpted from the foreword to a new collection entitled The Complete Miss Marple, containing all 12 Miss Marple novels and 20 short stories by Agatha Christie,
published by HarperCollins. At more than a foot thick, the £1,000 tome breaks the Guinness World Record for book with the thickest spine ever!

   

Click here to visit
"AgathaChristie.com"
and learn more....

Yes, yes, I say! Three cheers for Miss Marple! How could I not love the Divine Miss M? She is, of course, the literary grandmother to my own amateur sleuth, Clare Cosi.
     Like Jane Marple, Clare's position as a barista and coffeehouse manager, in the lofty lanes of New York City's rich, famous, and smug, renders her the invisible woman, a service economy employee without the status or money to be of "consequence."
     As an art school dropout, however, Clare has a great eye for detail. After years behind her coffee bar, she's also developed an ear for gossip, a talent for talking her way into and out of situations, and Clare's generosity of spirit, considerate heart, and sense of humor have forged a few key friendships among her well-heeled customers, handy connections that help open important sleuthing doors for her around the city when necessary. Those attributes combined with Clare's single-mom instinct for protecting the weak and powerless leave liars, hypocrites, cheats, and murderers at her mercy.
      I have found sheer joy in writing the character of Clare Cosi, and she could never have existed without the great Agatha's Miss Jane Marple, who inspired me in Clare's creation. So kudos to Agatha and to the Divine Miss M upon the publication of her complete works!

 

     A final quote...

"So what is it about Miss Marple that still attracts readers some 80 years on," Ms. Mose asks in her foreword. "Changing times notwithstanding, the human heart does not change so very much. Love, jealousy, greed, anger, revenge --these are characteristics that endure, whether it be on a Caribbean island, among the tombs in Luxor, on the Devon coast or in an English village much like St Mary Mead. And, perhaps most important of all, because we recognise what Miss Marple's companion, Cherry, says in Nemesis to be no more than the truth: 'Good people are scarce.' In art, as in life."

 

I could not agree more!

 Till next time,
~ Cleo Coyle
 

        
More Miss Marple!
To read a wonderful London Times
article, "Marple the Feminist," 
by Barry Forshaw, the author of
British Crime Writing:
An Encyclopedia,
click here! 

    

  

 

   

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A Coffeehouse Mystery reader from
Abilene, Texas
sends Cleo a "rattling" good pic... 

(Recipes follow...!)

  

Re-posted from Cleo's e-mail box
at VillageBlend@aol.com...

Hi Cleo,

I'm a big fan of your books and your Web site. My aunt sent me this picture of a rattler! I don't know if you are from Texas, but those rattlers (rattlebugs, that's what my grandmother and I call them) get huge!
     This picture reminded me...
      I once stepped on one by accident! My grandparents had a house out of the city and all of the family was visiting that day. Well, thank goodness my husband told me to wear my boots that day. It was dark and I was loading my son up in the car, I hear something rattle by my foot! Let me tell you it was a rattlesnake!
      Luckily, I had stepped on its head. Then, my little cousin came around the corner, and I was holding her away from it so my uncle could pick it up with a shovel and throw it in the pasture!
     That whole time I never lifted my foot until my uncle came! I was terrified! When we got home I looked at my boots, and sure enough there was an imprint of where it tried to take a bite of me. Thank you to my husband, uncle, and my thick boots. This is not the picture of my rattler. This one is from my aunt in Odessa!

Take care,
Tiffney
Abilene, Texas

 

Hi, Tiffney. Cleo Coyle here. Obviously, I love that picture and your story, too. I hope your aunt doesn't let that delicious rattlesnake go to waste. Because... although I'm not from Texas (I grew up in Western, Pennsylvania), even I know that rattlesnake is good eatin'!

 

CLICK HERE
for Rattlesnake Recipes!

 Till next time
~Cleo Coyle

 
 

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The note below was re-posted
from Cleo's e-mail box at
VillageBlend@aol.com

 

Hello Village Blend staff,
   
I am running a small coffee shop in Hiroshima, Japan. I read the Coffeehouse Mysteries in Japanese. They were fun to know about coffee...
 

From far Japan
~Masako

  

Above is a photo of Masako's coffee shop in Hiroshima, Japan. Below is Masako posing with two of her baristas, who were University students at the time the photo was taken.

Cleo's reply:  

Hello, Masako!

I am so happy that you wrote to me "from far Japan," and I am even more excited to learn that you are running your own coffeehouse, just like my Clare Cosi.
     For my readers here in America, I have posted some of the Japanese versions of my books that you are reading and enjoying. I am so proud of these beautiful, little Japanese editions of my books. The interiors are fantastic, too, and even include illustrations.
     Thank you again for writing, Masako. Please keep in touch. Send a photo of you and your coffee shop and I will post it for everyone to see.

Warmest java wishes,

~Cleo Coyle
"from far" New York City!



 

Japanese
cover for...

Coffeehouse
Mystery #1:

On What Grounds
by Cleo Coyle

Published in
Japan by
Random House
Kodansha
 

 

 Japanese
cover for...

Coffeehouse
Mystery #2:

Through the Grinder
by Cleo Coyle
 

Published in
Japan by
Random House
Kodansha

  

  

Japanese
cover for... 

 Coffeehouse
Mystery #3:

Latte Trouble
by Cleo Coyle

 

Published in
Japan by
Random House
Kodansha

 

 

 

 

     

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THIS IS BOO.

Click here to go to my
message board and meet
Boo and her owner,
CM reader Adelia...

 ~Cleo Coyle

 

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