| Title | : | Through the Grinder (Coffeehouse Mystery, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 042519714X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780425197141 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 270 |
| Publication | : | First published October 5, 2004 |
Now Clare will risk her heart--and her life--to follow the killer's trail to the bitter end.
Through the Grinder (Coffeehouse Mystery, #2) Reviews
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Ohhhmygosh. What a book.
I am trying really, really hard to like this series.
I love the concept - a divorcee running a quaint coffee shop while juggling her college-daughter's life, her own failed relationships AND murders on the side.
But...the execution is just so lack-luster.
Clare Cosi, manager at the Village Blend, knows two things: Coffee and murder.
Well, she's technically not an expert on murder yet but given the direction the first two books take, there will definitely be a lot more murder in her future.
Someone is killing the local singles and there's a possible connection through dating websites or the local singles mixers (including the one at her coffee shop).
It's up to Clare (because...reasons) to find out what's happening and prevent her daughter from dating a murderer.
So. Deep breath. I feel like this concept and the series would work so much better if a bit more thought was put into the book.
First off, there's the coffee.
You know that feeling when someone is really, really into their hobby. And their whole face just lights up and you become excited just because they're excited?
Yeah, not so much here.
Instead of bringing the audience in, Clare ends up seeming super snobbish. Little-miss-I-don't-trust-decaff-drinkers.
To which I said, aren't decaff drinkers the true coffee lovers? They may not be able to handle the caffeine but they are so in love with the taste, that they will drink it anyway.
Second off, the dialogue.
A lot of the dialogue just felt...off - either too much exposition, cringy or just...off.
For example, Clare decides to jump back into the dating pool, to which her coworkers (aka underlings) gently mock her."Tadpoling."
Before I rant, wouldn't it have made more sense to call her a cougar for preying on younger men? Instead of using "tadpoling" which is (apparently) a thing according to urban dictionary.
"Excuse me?"
"That's what they call it when an older woman dates a younger guy."
Overall, Clare's complete and utter lack of knowledge regarding slang (and the weird slang chosen in this book) felt a little unbelievable.
But, that does not compare to her actual interactions with those men.
Third off, the SURPRISE biphobia.
Clare goes on one of those social mixers (along with her daughter (cringe)), in order to "interview" the potential men for her daughter.
Here is one such interview:"You tell me you were dating a man?"
And to that I say, no honey, that's a bigot's point of view.
"Yes."
I frowned. "But tonight you are looking for a woman?"
"Yes."
Mr. Switch hitter, I wrote.
"Aren't you familiar with bisexual?" He asked.
"Aren't you familiar with the movie Far from Heaven?" I responded
"Okay, now you're sounding like my ex. Forever telling me to pick a team."
"Well, maybe you should."
"It's my life."
"Not exactly. Not if you involve another person in it and then change your mind."
"That's harsh."
"No honey, that's a mother's point of view."
Seriously, what is up with her? This man isn't "allowed" to date her daughter cause he's into both men and women?
And because of that, he might leave her daughter for the gay scene (in reference to the Far from Heaven movie)?
By that logic, her daughter shouldn't date anyone because half of the world is full of women - the potential-boyfriend might dump her for any one of those.
Now, I could understand (and accept) if this was just how Clare was - if she was just an old biphobic, homophobic woman throughout the novels.
After two books, you get a feel for the characters and let me assure you, this came out of the blue.
She's tolerant - heck, she's even welcoming, to all of the gay people who come into her coffee shop.
This rant felt so out of place, that it makes me wonder if the author was injecting a bit of personal belief into the mix.
Also, before I end my rant, Mr. Switch hitter? Really? What is up with the slang in this book?
Fourth off, THE PERP
This is going to have to be a spoiler but I am so hopping mad that I have to include it anyway.
So, the whole point of these books is to guess at who-done-it. To pick apart the clues from the red herrings. To figure out the murderer BEFORE the characters can.
Audiobook Comments
Read by Rebecca Gibel - and honestly, this one wasn't very lively. Not much pep was in this step.
The 2018 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - a book by a female author who uses a male pseudo name
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3 Stars
Ahhh! Cozy mysteries the Hallmark movie of books. This is my go-to genre if I ever have any anxiety or feel stressed. I just pop open a cozy mystery and let the quaintness wash over me and this series about a barista sleuth that has a passion for that fine coffee beverage is as quaint as it gets. Through the Grinder, is the second book in the Coffeehouse Mysteries and follows our protagonist Clare Cosi as she navigates love, work, family and maybe even murder? I know chesse balls but I love it!
I really enjoy the details about making coffee and perfecting the art of espresso. I love any book that gets into the minutia of a characters passion, honestly, I could read a whole book just based on our protagonist walking us through her coffee preferences and bean trivia but its a cozy mystery so we got to get to the murder eventually. In this novel, the murder case involves women being pushed to their deaths, it's at first ruled a suicide but our nosey barista believes otherwise and off we go into the murder mystery. Which actually had a shockingly dark ending for a cozy mystery which through me for a bit. You're a cozy mystery, why are you getting bleak on me?
Overall this book is fun and silly (despite the ending) and beyond easy reading. If you get bad anxiety and stress like myself may I recommend a cozy mystery to sync into during these tough times. They are the security blanket of books and highly recommend the Coffeehouse mysteries if you enjoy the art of a decent cup of joe. -
Clare Cosi runs the Village Blend, a coffeeshop where she takes pride in the details. When Clare's customers start dying, and Detective Quinn starts suspecting the new man in her life, things take an uncomfortable turn as the barista has urgent need to solve this whodunnit. All while whipping up a perfectly crafted coffee, of course.
'Through the Grinder' was even more amusing than' Uncommon Grounds.' The humor works and comes across natural - most of it is through the unfortunate characters circumstances of having to share space with her ex-husband, the joys of parenting a young adult daughter, contending with a mother in law she loves (but who is determined to reunite her son and daughter-in-law again).
While the author goes into detail about proper coffee know-how and creative adventures between lattes and cappucinos, she doesn't overdo it as much as she did in the first book. In other words, it comes across as an enjoyable mystery and not halfway technical manual.
I love the author's quaint style, the characters are hilariously different BUT normal at the same time, the coffee environment shows fun barista mentality. The mysteries are awesome too, clever leads and misleads. It's not impossible to solve but you'll have a fun time trying to.
The surprise isn't the villain so much as it is the shocking sad slap in the ending. My God, how depressing. I had to take away a star for heartbreak alone. Mayday, Mayday, you have been warned! -
Clare Cosi is back in the second Coffeehouse mystery series by Cleo Coyle. Clare manages Vintage Blend coffeehouse. It seems an odd coincidence that female customers of the coffeehouse are dying under mysterious circumstances. Clare uses her amateur sleuthing skills to find who is behind the deaths.
The mystery was good, I enjoyed the coffee talk, and I was happy that Clare was seeing someone new. I'm so over the ex-husband, but that relationship seems to be an ongoing story arc in this series.
A light and entertaining read. Good for fans of cozies and coffee. -
Second in the Coffeehouse Mystery series set in an independent coffeehouse, the Village Blend, based in Greenwich Village in New York City.
My Take
I loved and hated this! The story was good, and the ending made me cry!! The theme for this installment is online dating in all its frustrations along with the rare gem.
Clare's relationship takes a twist with Quinn, and Matt finds out what it's like on the receiving end. Although. Clare does get a bit of insight on Matt's thinking process.
You will definitely learn a lot about coffee and proper brewing in this series. Clare is also interested in cooking with some interesting food and drink recipes following at the back of the book.
The Story
Joy is thinking about online dating, and Clare is determined to check them out before Joy signs on.
Meanwhile, business is booming at Clare Cosi's Village Blend, until her female customers start to die. Lieutenant Quinn is convinced that someone has an axe to grind, and unfortunately, his prime suspect is the new man in Clare's life.
Now Clare will risk her heart — and her life — to follow the killer's trail to the bitter end.
The Characters
Clare Cosi is Matteo Allegro's ex-wife and she manages the shop — Village Blend, the family's historic coffeehouse in the Village — for his French mother, Madame Blanche Dreyfus Allegro Dubois. Matteo is the coffee buyer and rarely in town. Joy is their 19-year-old daughter who is going to school to be a chef.
Among the employees are Tucker Burton, their gay night barista financing his writing/acting career and Esther Best, an NYU student. Some of their regular customers include Kira Kirk, a crossword enthusiast; "Winnie" Winslet, a successful lawyer; Valerie Lathem; Sahara McNeil who works at a death art gallery; and, Inga Berg is a buyer at Macy's.
Detective Mike Quinn asks Clare to have dinner with him and then half-asks for advice on his marital problems. He's not too happy about Clare dating Bruce. Officers Langley and Demetrios have a cameo.
Brooks Newman is a fundraiser for non-profits, and Bruce Bowman is a successful contractor currently restoring a gorgeous Federal townhouse for himself; both are men whom Clare meets through online dating services.
The Cover and Title
The cover is steamy swirls around an old-fashioned manual coffee grinder, its drawer holding a broken heart and flanked by two old-style copper coffeepots, a sprinkle of coffee beans, and rows of clear coffee cups.
The title relates to how Clare feels at the end, as though she's been Through the Grinder. -
I could handle her acting like slang is some new oddity the kids are into. I could (almost) handle her coffee obsession punctuating every other sentence. I could not handle her casual biphobic remarks and reductive stereotypes.
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I have never written a review for a book I didn't finish before but this book really got to me. I REALLY wanted to like this series. I love cozy mysteries and I worked in specialty coffee for six years so this sounded perfect. I read the first book and was underwhelmed but willing to give this second book a shot. I tried the audiobook and stopped about two hours in because the main character has an incredibly upsetting conversation in which she is very biphobic. She basically tells a man at a singles event that he shouldn't be dating because he would just be stringing people along and actually telling him that "maybe you should [pick a team]". It was truly awful. I was shocked. The character had no indication of being so closed minded and bigoted at any point in the last book. There were a number of other odd things about this series, such as the weird need to constantly mention the main character's bra size but I couldn't deal with that incredibly rude encounter. I understand that this book was written a number of years ago and things change overtime but I can't keep reading this series. That interaction was so insensitive and upsetting. There are some things I can chalk up to differences of year but to have the main character be so rude and nasty was just much too much for me. I would never recommend this to anyone else. I will not be finishing it at any point in the future and I am sincerely glad I got it out of the library so I could return it and never look back. There are so many other books to read there is no need to read something that is this awful.
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DNF at 2 hours listening time. TIRED of people diminishing bisexuality to be a person who cant decide or "pick a team". This author needs to get with the fucking times.
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review to come
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Some of my favorite series are the ones that won me over on book #2, after I rated the first book 1 star. It’s that that made me pick up the second coffeehouse mystery book, even after I rated the first one 1 star. But no luck this time. It’s just as bad as I remembered the first book to be.
I do not like Clare. I do not like her obsession with coffee. It’s more the author’s fault for not timing it properly, but Clare talks about the roasting process when a) having a supposedly romantic date b) when women have been murdered and the detective’s there for questioning and c) every time she apparently takes a breath. It’s just coffee. You can be passionate but there are priorities. It’s understandable if Clare is mentioned to be nervous, but she is not.
That’s actually a minor annoyance. She learns from Mike Quinn that a man she’s known all of a week has ties to not one but all three of the murdered women. Mike even says reasonably that he doesn’t have evidence that the man is a killer, but that people in his acquaintance end up getting killed, and so will she please be careful? But Clare knows everything about the guy because yay intuition and I guess hormones. Oh no he can’t be related at all! But the killer for me was that this horrible person was convinced that since Mike had a bad marriage and the hots for her, he had made up his mind about who the killer was. She repeats this to a couple of people- when what Mike had revealed about his marriage was supposed to be in confidence. Just how narcissistic and tone deaf is this lady?
Absolutely hated this. I do not care for idiots who think that killers are alright because they’re coffee snobs, I don’t want to read about shaming anyone who doesn’t fit into the hot and sexy male image (she was only turned off by the groper because he wasn’t good looking and drank decaf, and what the hell was that bitchy put down of a bisexual man?) and I really do not want to know what her cup size is. I saw a bunch of reviews of more recent books, and I see that Clare doesn’t improve. So I’m done. -
This was another online book club selection and since it was only book 2 I wasn't really too worried about starting with it since I know I haven't missed much. I'm really liking what I've read so far though. My favorite characters are of course Clare and Joy but also Mike Quinn. Right away I started hoping for something between him and Clare so of course I peeked at Amazon blurbs and came away very happy!
The book read at times like a thriller but it wasn't seriously creepy. The killer was someone unknown but the reader tracks their movements at times. I read it so fast because I was so anxious to find out what finally happened. Several twists in the plot later and the killer wasn't who I had guessed at all (no surprise, I rarely guess lol) Although I was pretty darn sure who it was and didn't budge--the wow I'm wrong factor is cool though! I can really appreciate a more complex book that can fool me.
I really enjoyed the relationship that Clare and her daughter Joy had. Even though Joy's in college and she's probably tempted to give or gives her mom eye rolls a lot, it's that she's a good kid with a smart head on her shoulders as well as a very big heart. Tucker, the assistant manager was a fun character and a supportive friend and worker. Esther may have come off as a little bit jaded or as Tucker calls it down on things but I still thought her character was interesting. And Mike, well that goes without saying. I chose him for Clare right away lol. I do like the peaceful relationship Clare has with her ex-husband Matteo and his mom, affectionately known as Madame.
I'm looking forward to going back to book 1 and seeing how it all got started in this coffeehouse. The description of the building was so good I could picture it pretty clearly. There are some awesome sounding recipes at the end of the book for coffee and food lovers. -
Claire Cosi is doing great running her cafe and sponsoring a speed dating club on ocassion. She notices however that some of her female customers who just happen to be part of the speed dating are dying. Although they are dying by what seems like suicide, Claire is not convinced and shares this with Detective Quinn and her ex-husband Mateo. Detective Quinn seems to think Claire's new man is behind the murders and Claire decides to investigate to clear his name.
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2 1/2 stars rounded up. The ending did shock me but I thought the love interest in this book was a bit off. It didn't make sense and felt rushed and unrealistic. I'll continue on in the series but so far I'm having luke warm feelings about this series- it just doesn't seem to fit in with the cozy mystery genre.
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3.5 stars. Interesting mystery at the Village Blend. The guilty party was even one of my suspects and then I went along with what Clare was thinking. Good, easy to read story and lots of fun.
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SOMETIMES 'GRITTY COZY' CAN ACTUALLY BE A REALLY AMAZING THING TO READ!!!!!
As I sat back in my chair and picked up my crocheting equipment, preparing myself to listen in on the second book in the coffeehouse mystery series, I couldn't help but feel extremely excited. I had read book one on walk grounds recently and it was just so fantastic. All of that coffee talk. Amazing. So it surprised me when I began this book with an unknown antagonists perspective.
In this second book, we continue to follow Clare, Very nice case book actually opens up. From the killer's perspective, which was incredibly intriguing. The killer ends up pushing someone onto a rail ray road track as a train is going by. We then jump back to the perspective of clear Clare find out that this was a regular customer who has died. Cycling needs to try and solve the case and put the killer behind bars before they strike again.
This read was so incredibly intriguing!
It definitely gave me Pretty Little Liars “A” Vibes. If you've ever seen the show, you know that they have “A” Sings where we see someone in a masked hoodie preparing for the next episode. This book definitely felt like that because we have this character who is referred to as “The genius” And we get to jump in and out of their perspective every so often, which really kept me on my feet.
Not to mention class knowledge of coffee is something that is just so incredible. I love it more and more. The more I'm reading this series.
Even the reveal was one that I really enjoyed!
I cannot give this book any lower rating than I am. Ann, I certainly cannot wait to read book #3.
5 Stars!
Xoxo. -
I’ll admit when I first saw there is 17(?) books in the series I was a little put off. But honestly I like how cozy and nice these are to zoom through, and getting to be with the same characters with each story.
I listened to this one on audio while I did some Sunday chores, and it kept me motivated to keep going so I could keep listening to the story.
3.5/5 ⭐️ -
The writing was too pretentious for my taste. I thought she would have gotten out all the know-it-all coffee facts in the last one but apparently there is an abundant supply.
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I really enjoyed this one!
I loved the mystery in this one and found it really fascinating. I loved how dating apps were involved.
I also love how it’s basically an ex husband and wife who play detective. It was soooo funny!! I also love the NYC setting!
My only big complaint was the problematic part about saying someone should pick a team instead of being bisexual… like wtf? -
Through the Grinder is the second book in the Coffeehouse Mystery series.
Once again, we join Clare Cosi at the Village Blend, a historic coffeehouse in NYC. Business is good as usual, until female customers of the coffeehouse start committing suicide. Detective Quinn suspects the deaths are actually murders. Things get a bit awkward when it becomes clear that the chief suspect in the killings is Clare's new love interest, Bruce Bowman. Clare knows that Bruce couldn't possibly be a cold-hearted killer, so once again she is tracking a murderer and collecting clues, hoping to prove her lover isn't involved.
I enjoy this series, despite some of the sub-plot being a bit too frou-frou for me. At times, the main character describes the furnishings and items in the apartment above the coffeehouse where she lives. The apartment is filled with very expensive furnishings, persian rugs and priceless antiques. If I lived somewhere like that, I would be afraid to sit down or even touch the china in the kitchen cupboards. Clare Cosi just lives a completely different life than my own. But, I think that's part of what makes this series interesting for me. It gives me a nice departure from reality. Just don't tell Clare I drink decaf! :)
I enjoyed this second book even more than the first. The mystery portion of the plot was engaging with several twists and turns. I didn't see the ending coming....it was a total surprise. Nice!
There are recipes at the back of the book for coffee drinks and even steak marinated with coffee, plus coffee storage tips.
I already have the next two books in the series on hold at the library!
There are 15 books in this award-winning series so far. Cleo Coyle is a pseudonym for Alice Alfonsi and her husband, Mark Cerasini. -
Clare Cosi manages The Village Blend, a century-old coffeehouse in New York’s Greenwich Village, owned by her ex-mother-in-law. She is happily settling into this new life in the City. But one of her regular customers meets her death on the subway tracks shortly after stopping at the coffeehouse. The transit authority rules the death a suicide, but Detective Mike Quinn isn’t so sure. Then another Blend customer “jumps” from her roof and Quinn begins to suspect the new man in Clare’s life.
I thought the plotting was poor, and the clues (and red herrings), heavy-handed. Clare has the makings of a likeable heroine, but her behavior is reckless and immature when she decides to investigate on her own. Detective Quinn has virtually nothing to do but appear occasionally to confirm that he doesn’t think the dead women committed suicide, and to warn Clare that her new boyfriend is the chief suspect. Including the thoughts of the killer is jarring in a cozy mystery. I was beginning to wonder if Coyle wouldn’t rather be writing a more hard-core crime novel. I didn’t like the ending at all.
So why give it two stars? It’s was a fast read and I like the back story for this cozy. Maybe I’m just feeling generous, but I also liked the recipe for coffee marinated steaks – seriously. Still, I doubt I’ll read another. -
A 4.5 rating.
I liked book two in the coffeehouse mysteries almost as much as the first book. Almost. Clare drove the momentum with her clever usage of humor to temper the ghastly murders in this installment. Visuals painted in the prose from sights and sounds on The Village's streets and its architecture were breathtaking! As I read, I told myself, "No question; a native New Yorker wrote this."
The author used a different method to bring in the villain here. This is where I think the book fell short and I dropped the rating a tad. When sections reverted to the villain's point of view, the text moved to italics so the reader could tell quickly that another entity entered the scene. This was fine, but the entire exercise felt too much the "mustache-twirling bad guy" in spots. However, I did like the references brought out regarding "The Genius." A nice way to drop bread crumbs.
I won't give away the ending, but I had hoped things turned out differently for Clare and Mr. Bowman. My heart stopped a couple of beats from the shock. The author had guts to do that. Sigh. All in all, an entertaining, fast read! I'm off to start the third book, Latte Trouble! -
This was a less than stellar book in this series. I have read two or three others and have given them three star, but this one wasn't as good. As someone else wrote, some of the clues are a bit heavy handed. A serial killer (this becomes obvious very quickly) is killing women and the new man in Clare's life becomes a prime suspect (which comes as no shock even if you haven't read the blurb, which I just read now--I'm reading this for points in a reading game--because it's made extremely obvious that he is going to be a prime suspect.) I thought a few other contrivances really weak, too, such as Clare joining these dating groups because her daughter is doing this. You don't have to read book 2 in order to follow this series, so if you liked the first one, you can always read the third if you prefer. That said, if you go too far down the series there are a couple of spoilers (but these aren't huge shocks).
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Delightful, suspenseful, and often humorous cozy mystery. I liked how we got to read a little bit of what the murderer was thinking - that really added to the suspense!
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The mystery was pretty good and I liked listening to it. I didn't like the ending or the multiple potential love interests. I liked the first book more but I did like this one enough to continue with the series.
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Even better than the first book.
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I did enjoy this book, but I have to admit it's not really a favorite series of cozy mystery books. I was a little sad about the ending of the book but in another way I kind of expected this kind of ending.
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Ms. Coyle almost got me.....almost! Which is what I loved about this one.
I am really also enjoying how she's handling Clare and Matteo's relationship (ex-spouses)...you can understand how they know each other well, understand their attitudes and hurt toward each other, as well as see them work together, especially when it concerns their daughter Joy.
I thought this one would have loose ends but the author tied them up nicely. What an ending too! I don't think I was completely ready .
PS - def trying to play slap the French press and start slugging down coffee. -
I read Through the Grinder after having gone ahead and read later mysteries in this series, but I was still totally charmed by Clare's protectiveness over her coffeeshop and her daughter, Joy, as well as her feeling out the singles scene. As always, Coyle paints a vivid portrait of New York City and works in historical tidbits about neighborhoods like Greenwich Village and SoHo. But the heart of this mystery is the deaths that might be suicides, but Clare and her new friend, policeman Mike Quinn, aren't so sure. Where they differ is that Mike suspects a man Clare has become attracted to. The explosive jealousy by Clare's ex-husband adds an extra spark. The mystery has Clare investigating the art world, online and offline dating, and even becoming a bit of a cyber snoop. The plot is very personal, and Clare is a bit less objective than she might otherwise be. This is another action-packed, page-turning, coffee-drink-filled mystery, which even features what sounds like a very delicious coffee-marinated steak (the recipe is here, along with the accompanying gravy, garlic mashed potatoes and several coffee beverages). One of the best parts of this series is that it's always personal in some way, but this one was even more so. The only thing missing was Clare's former mother-in-law, the entertaining, elegant, elderly Madame Dreyfus Allegro Dubois. Keep reading the series for more on her (but this one definitely stands alone and doesn't require having read the first book in the series, On What Grounds).
