Review: Once Upon A Grind by: Cleo Coyle

Title: Once Upon A Grind
Author: Cleo Coyle
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Series: CoffeeHouse Mystery #14
Pages: 416
Format: Hardcover ARC
Source: Great Escapes Book Tours

Description:

When coffeehouse manager turned amateur sleuth Clare Cosi roasts "magic” beans for Fairy Tale Week, she brews up a vision that leads to a sleeping beauty in Central Park; a big, bad wolf of Wall Street; and an East Side enclave with storybook secrets...

Fairy tale fever has descended on New York City. Broadway fans are flocking to Red Riding Hood: The Musical; museums are exhibiting art inspired by the Brothers Grimm; and Clare Cosi gives her coffee truck a "Jack and the Beanstalk” makeover for a Central Park festival.

Clare’s coffee hunter ex-husband contributes a bag of African beans with alleged magical properties. His octogenarian mother entertains customers with readings of the grinds, but Clare remains skeptical—until she receives a vision that helps her find a young model’s body in the park’s woods.

The police dismiss "sleeping beauty” as the victim of a drug overdose. Then Clare uncovers evidence that points to a roster of suspects, from a wolf of Wall Street to a New York Giant and a wicked witch of the West Side.

Now Clare is really in the woods—with a dangerous predator on her heels and an investigation that leads from a secret Prince Charming club right back to her own NYPD detective boyfriend. If she doesn’t solve this mystery, those magic beans predict an unhappy ending.

My Thoughts: 

In this book we follow Clare Cosi, Matt Allegro her ex-husband and all their workers at the village blend.  This time they are working in Central Park festival full of princesses, princes, and knights.  When the pink princess Anya disappears, along with Mike's kids Clare and Matt search out to find Mike's kids who went into the woods which leads Matt and Clare in the woods, quickly they find the kids but it isn't until they are searching for their missing dog that Clare stumbles upon the pink princess in a deep sleep.

Who had it out for the Anya and why did they silence her in this manner?  This book goes deep into Russian folklore and a slew of Russian people to find out who had it out for Anya, when Red another princess from the park ends up dead and Clare finds her.  The pressure is on to find out who is killing young Russian women and who is trying to frame Matt for the crime.  

With the pressure on and the heat getting to a boiling point Clare enlists just about everyone she knows to help rescue Matt from his prison cell where he is being unjustly prosecuted by some hot to trot cops who have it in for him.

This book had everything I could hope for with Cleo Coyle.  So much was tucked into this book it felt like the only thing missing was the kitchen sink.  It had depth of characters, relationships developing further along.  It had different sides to NYC then you normally would see.  Also alot of things about Russian people and Russian stories.  I really enjoyed being part of this tour reading this book was like sipping a great coffee you want to savor but also see the depth of it.  As it turns out this book was incredible.  I can't wait to see what is next for Cleo Coyle.