Murder by Mocha

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Epigraph

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-NINE

THIRTY

THIRTY-ONE

THIRTY-TWO

THIRTY-THREE

THIRTY-FOUR

THIRTY-FIVE

THIRTY-SIX

THIRTY-SEVEN

THIRTY-EIGHT

THIRTY-NINE

FORTY

FORTY-ONE

FORTY-TWO

FORTY-THREE

FORTY-FOUR

FORTY-FIVE

EPILOGUE

RECIPES & TIPS

RECIPES

CLARE’S BROOKLYN BLACKOUT CAKE (FOR MIKE)

Berkley Prime Crime titles by Cleo Coyle

Berkley Prime Crime titles by Cleo Coyle

Coffeehouse Mysteries

ON WHAT GROUNDS

THROUGH THE GRINDER

LATTE TROUBLE

MURDER MOST FROTHY

DECAFFEINATED CORPSE

FRENCH PRESSED

ESPRESSO SHOT

HOLIDAY GRIND

ROAST MORTEM

MURDER BY MOCHA

Haunted Bookshop Mysteries
writing as Alice Kimberly

THE GHOST AND MRS. MCCLURE

THE GHOST AND THE DEAD DEB

THE GHOST AND THE DEAD MAN’S LIBRARY

THE GHOST AND THE FEMME FATALE

THE GHOST AND THE HAUNTED MANSION

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reaction to the recipes contained in this book.

Copyright © 2011 by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. BERKLEY
^®
PRIME CRIME and the PRIME CRIME logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Coyle, Cleo.

p. cm.

ISBN : 978-1-101-51737-6

1. Cosi, Clare (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Coffeehouses—Fiction. 3. Coffee—Fiction.

4. Aphrodisiacs—Fiction. 5. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3603.O94M85 2011

813’.6—dc22

2011015824

http://us.penguingroup.com

This book is dedicated to the readers.

From the heart . . .

Thank you.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Murder by Mocha
marks the tenth entry in the Coffeehouse Mysteries, and it’s long past time I acknowledge the reason the Village Blend is still open for business—the readers. I may live in New York City, but the World Wide Web has made it possible for me to converse with many of you throughout the country and the planet. I thank you for your kind support and (yes) love. I send that love back to you with this book.

In particular, I wish to thank a few CM readers by name for their creative contributions to this entry: First, Nancy Prior Phillips, whose signature phrase suggested an entire character. Of course, Clare’s new barista is a complete fiction with one exception. On down days, I think we can all use an “inner Nancy.” Thanks to pro-baker Paul Yates for lending me his good opinion on the
dieci
; thanks to Alicia Farage for the chocolate cobbler recipe; and very special thanks to Peggy-Jo Schilger and her grandmother for sharing “Mama Bert’s” coffee cheese recipe.

For their supportive good cheer, I also thank J.J. and Marcia Pierce, Paul Mulligan, Chuck H., Bob L., Julie and Kerry M., Nurse Judy Mac, Victoria H., Pam F., Lura W., Laine B., Lesa H., Barbara H. (Babs), Lori G., Amy A., Deanna S., Tiffany B., Mason C., Dru Ann L., Nikki B., Nora-Adrienne, Juju, Hai, Geekette, Wendy W., Jung-Min, Kelly Jo B., Erin H., Rhonda, Nicole, Carol, Karen in Pennsylvania, and the awesome Three Lanes of Texas. Mary Tracy I thank for long-standing support, along with the amazing Red Hatter Shirley Jackson (eighty years young).

To everyone else, whom I could not mention here by name, please know that every one of your comments and kind messages has helped keep my spirits up and my pen pressed to paper. My virtual coffeehouse is always open. You are more than welcome to join us at
www.CoffeehouseMystery.com
.

For background on the culinary aspects of this book, I thank the accomplished chocolatiers of Mast Brothers Chocolate in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (
www.MastBrothersChocolate.com
). Mocha cheers also to the incoming chair of the Barista Guild of America, Jason Dominy, for sharing his award-winning Mocha Diablo recipe with me. Jason works for one of the top coffee bars in the country, Dancing Goats Coffee (
www.DancingGoats.com
), and the excellent Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters, based in Atlanta, Georgia.

More java thanks must go to two award-winning coffee roasters: PT’s Coffee Roasting Co., based in Kansas (
www.PtsCoffee.com
); Gimme Coffee, based in New York State (
www.GimmeCoffee.com
); as well as another of the nation’s top coffee bars, Joe the Art of Coffee, based in Greenwich Village, New York (
www.JoetheArtofCoffee.com
).

For foodie inspiration, I raise a glass to my fantastic fellow mystery writing cooks at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen: Krista Davis, Avery Aames, Elizabeth S. Craig, Mary Jane Maffini, Sheila Connolly, and Wendy Lyn Watson. (Visit us at
www.MysteryLoversKitchen.com
.) For continually giving me food for thought, I thank Janet Rudolph of Dying for Chocolate (
www.DyingForChocolate.blogspot.com
); Dave Scott of A Year on the Grill (
www.YearOnTheGrill.blogspot.com
); and “the Bibliochef” of Cooking With Ideas (
www.CookingWithIdeas.typepad.com
). A warm, sweet shout-out must also go to the incredibly kind staff of Cops & Doughnuts Bakery, owned by real police officers in Clare, Michigan (
www.CopsDoughnuts.com
).
Don’t glaze me, bro!