Latte Trouble

Clare Cosi manages the Village Blend, a historic coffeehouse where she knows her way around a cappuccino and a pot of Jamaica Blue Mountain. Her working life is orderly until a poisoning lands in the middle of her shop.

Lottie Harmon, a designer and loyal customer, has made a collection of coffee-inspired accessories she calls Java Jewelry. She picks the coffeehouse as the setting where fashion insiders can see the line during Fashion Week.

Then barista Tucker serves a latte that turns out to be poisoned. It goes to a prominent figure on the fashion scene, and Clare begins to suspect that Lottie was the intended victim.

Clare has three problems at once. She has to keep bad publicity from hurting her business, keep Lottie safe from any further attempt, and keep Tucker from being charged with murder. Pursuing the truth means digging into the fashion world and the secrets it keeps.

This is a cozy-style amateur sleuth mystery with a coffeehouse setting and a light, brisk tone, built around a poisoning and a hunt for the person behind it.