What a great addition to this wonderful series. We follow Clare the very knowledgeable manager of a coffee shop as she gets wraps up in the investigation of murder after a series of strange events that occur. The story really hooks your attention from the very first page and while it may be book 17 in the series there was more then enough detail given that I did not feel like I was missing anything since I did not have time to read the previous installments yet. Full of life, great characters, and an intriguing mystery you will find yourself unable to put the book down once you get going. Not to mention the types of coffee you will want to try as the time passes by and I do not even like coffee. If you are a fan of cozy mysteries then I highly suggest that you give this one a chance. I really enjoyed it so I give it 5/5 stars.

I enjoy the coffeehouse mysteries with Clare Cosi, her ex Matt Allegro, and her current fiancé, Mike Quinn. Clare gets involved in a complicated situation after a confrontation between a man and a women who met through a dating app disrupt the coffee house in Greenwich Village. Murders follow and Clare tries to get to the bottom of what is happening while saving the coffeehouse. Always a fun read.

“This phone app culture with its swipe-to-meet ethos, I must admit, is seductive. There’s someone out there who’s perfect for you. Someone who will finally complete you, make you happy. You simply have to keep swiping, keep shopping.”
- Madame

Shot in the Dark is another excellent story in Cleo Coyle’s popular coffeehouse series, one that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was great to reunite with Claire and supporting characters – such as fiancé NYPD detective Mike, the gritty and wise Madame, the irritatingly adorable ex-husband Matt, and the Village Blend’s baristas. Shot in the Dark is a well-crafted, intelligently-written story, with complexity and depth.

The story’s social media theme makes it very relevant for today – and a little scary, to be honest. Swiping through a dating app and quickly connecting at a hot spot like the Village Blend just doesn’t seem promising for successful relationships, and Claire’s former mother-in-law didn’t think so either. I loved her comment to Claire, “Sooner or later they’ll understand that shared experiences over time are what create true intimacy and steadfast love.”

There’s delightful touches of humor in the midst of this serious story of murder, drugs and greed, one of my favorites being the character of the octogenarian Madame, who Claire cared deeply for. For me, the murder mystery itself was one of enjoying the unfolding of layers rather than trying to figure out “whodunit” – and it all leads to a spine-tingling finale.

Some story titles are cute, while others are creative, and I thought Shot in the Dark was pure genius in its subtle meanings. After all, it could simply be referring to coffee, or perhaps an actual murder, or maybe even the likelihood of finding the ideal mate through this crazy form of digital dating. I’ll end with another quote from Madame that beautifully reflects the story overall … “Throwing off societal constraints amounts to nothing if it produces nothing; and a life of aimlessness is far from a triumph of the human spirit.”

Recommended.

Note: This is a general market book, so readers can expect a little mild profanity and some suggestive scenes, but nothing too revealing.

I received a copy of this book through Great Escapes Tours. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This is an interesting modern mystery tied in with dating in the current world climate, especially related to connecting online and dating. It was smartly written and reminded me of the Hannah Swensen mysteries, but with less exposition and explanation. This is a good book for people who want to read well written and clever mysteries, even if you want to skip over the bits about online dating.

Shot in the Dark by Cleo Coyle is the seventeenth book in the Coffeehouse Mystery series. Claire is the manager of Village Blend, which is the new dating hotspot thanks to a dating app. When the coffeehouse is the scene of a hookup gone wrong, Claire struggles to save the Village Blend. I struggled to get into the storyline. I did enjoy the mystery portion of the book, but I suppose I have been married for too long to be fascinated by the dating app plot. This is more of a personal issue than anything wrong with the book.

Shot In The Dark by Cleo Coyle

Welcome back to the Village Blend cafe for the 17th installment in the bestselling Coffeehouse Mystery series! Clare Cosi, Village Blend manager and our heroine, is worrying about setting a date for her wedding to one of NYPD’s finest, Detective Lieutenant Mike Quinn. But it’s another sort of date that soon absorbs all her attention, as the Village Blend becomes a hot spot for couples to meet in real life after making a connection on a dating app named Cinder. Clare disapproves of the hook-up culture that she feels Cinder encourages, especially since her ex-husband Matt is obsessed with the app. So while she isn’t too surprised when one of these meetups goes sour one evening, she hardly expects actual gunshots to be fired. An outraged woman upset with a loathsome Cinder-using Lothario named Richard Crest has resorted to violence: fortunately, no one is actually harmed in the process.

Unfortunately, video of the incident goes viral, causing business to slow and worrying Clare and her loyal staff. No one wants to go on a first date in an unsafe space, after all. When the CEO of Cinder proposes that they join forces to spin a positive narrative, Clare is initially hesitant to take part. But then a regular turns up dead, and Clare suspects Richard might be involved. Believing that the best way to bring a killer to justice is to join forces with Cinder, Clare enlists Matt to help her set a trap for Richard, unwittingly setting into motion a series of events that will claim more lives before the case is solved.

One of the things I enjoy about the Coffeehouse Mystery series is how successfully multiple plotlines are woven into the narrative of each novel. While Shot In The Dark is ostensibly about online dating, it also deftly discusses drugs, the modern fitness industry, the coffee trade and New York City’s fascinating history and geography. Add to this a cast of characters that is wonderfully diverse and wholly believable, and whose domestic dramas only serve to enhance the overarching narrative, and it’s easy to see why these books are bestsellers. I definitely look forward to the publication of each one!

Story aside, I’m also a big fan of the impressive recipe and tip section included in the back of each book. In addition to teaching the reader about stovetop espresso, this volume serves up twenty-three tantalizing recipes. Being on something of a cupcake kick, I chose this one to try out:

QUOTE
The Village Blend’s Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet bar chocolate (69-64% cacao)*
8 tablespoons salted butter, cut into pieces
1 ¼ cups confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten with fork

Step 1 -- Make the batter: Break or chop the bar chocolate into pieces and place them into a large, heatproof mixing bowl. Add the butter and place the bowl over a pan of simmering water (creating a double boiler). Stir with a rubber spatula until the two ingredients have melted together. Set the bowl aside for one full hour. Be patient--the chocolate must cool and thicken a bit. After the hour is up, sift in the confectioners’ sugar, flour, and cornstarch. Add the lightly beaten eggs. Whisk well by hand for a good 30 seconds until the batter is smoothly blended.

Step 2 -- Prep oven and pan and bake: Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. If your liners are uncoated, spray the papers lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Measure ¼ cup of batter into each of the paper-lined cups. Divide any extra batter evenly among the 12 cups. Bake for no more than 30 minutes. The cupcake tops should be set (you can touch them lightly to test this). But do not overbake. They should still be moist inside when they come out of the oven. Just like a souffle, these light cupcakes will puff up during baking and fall slightly as they cool. Serve with coffee, espresso, or a cold glass of milk and eat with joy!

*Cooking tips: Use a good-quality chocolate for this cupcake recipe and be sure to use bars, not chips. Chocolate chips often contain stabilizers, which help them keep their shape but compromise their flavor and make them more difficult to melt than bar chocolate.
END QUOTE

This was actually the first time I’ve used a double-boiler, as I finally figured out which of my pots would work for the purpose. I was frightfully pleased with the result, as well as with the ease of making these cupcakes overall. The hardest part was waiting the hour for the chocolate to cool. The cupcakes themselves were a delight. Despite being as light and fluffy as advertised, just one makes for a perfect afternoon treat, though my four year-olds were quite happy to differ and gobbled up as many as were available.

Next week, we take a short hop north to try out a savory steak dish from a series debut written by an accomplished competitive cook. Do join me!

My review of Shot in the Dark by Cleo Coyle is in the May 2018 issue of GumshoeReview.com. You may read the review at this link: <http://www.gumshoereview.com/php/Review-id.php?id=6123>. The review is exclusive to Gumshoe Review until June 1st, 2018.

Clare Cosi has to deal with the fallout of a dating app meet gone wrong in her cafe, especially when it leads to murder. Coyle does a good job sending up the modern culture of dating apps, while tying it into the cafe and of course, coffee. This is a great series that continues to impress.

Age is not relevant when it comes to matters of the heart or desires to solve a mystery.
Everyone gets involved when techno- dating arrives and makes the Village Blend a HOT spot.
Things heat up even more with the sounds of gunshot from the upper area and the discovery of a customer's body in the river.
If Murder can be fun, then this is a series you will love.

I mostly liked this book but felt there were too many competing story lines. The back drop of online dating was less than interesting with characters that were a little too "quirky." The food element and recipes were spot on though.

SHOT IN THE DARK, the seventeenth book in the Coffeehouse Mystery series by Cleo Coyle, is a terrific addition to an outstanding series! From the acknowledgement at the beginning of the book (don’t skip reading it: the author adds many heartfelt words and a bit of insight into the setting and premise of the story) through the very last page, Ms. Coyle's storytelling packs a punch. The protagonist, Clare Cosi, is well-developed and even if you haven’t read previous books, you’ll still feel like she’s an old friend. I enjoyed the easy relationship Clare has with her employees, her ex-mother-in-law, and even with her ex-husband, Matteo Allegro, despite the fact that he is obsessed with a hot new dating app. Ms. Coyle accurately captures the “disposable” attitude sweeping our society and made me more aware of how much screen time I spend versus really paying attention to the actual people around me. It is quite eye-opening. She adds some humor though, in the form of one of her baristas setting up a “Shot Down Lounge” where people can hang out after their dating app hookup turns out to be another letdown instead of a happily ever after.

The mystery has numerous twists and turns, weaving the reader through murder, illicit drugs, cutting edge fitness clubs, and today’s digital dating scene. A hair-raising finale kept me on the edge of my seat while the conclusion wrapped up the various threads satisfactorily. And did I mention the food? You’ll be hungry reading about all the delectable treats and coffee drinks Clare serves at the Village Blend. Fortunately Ms. Coyle offers numerous recipes at the back of the book for both and they all sound amazing!

Coffeehouse mystery #17! Wow. I have read the entire series, and this book stands alone well in terms of the mystery and the character background information if you want to try it, I do recommend reading the series.

So the back cover copy for NetGalley doesn't match the Amazon back cover copy (which is more accurate, the NetGalley one mentions a character that didn't exist in the book). It is still problematic because Clare actually finds the first dead body in a river while rescuing her former mother-in-law from a bad online match.

Clare bio for those who are new to the series: she runs the coffee shop her former mother-in-law built, while her adult daughter, Joy works in a DC offshoot. Her ex, Matt, sources coffee beans from around the globe for their blends and is coming off divorce #2. There's no chance of a takeback there because Matt destroyed their marriage with his incessant cheating and coke habit (which he no longer has).

Clare is engaged to a NYPD detective, Mike, and they're having trouble setting a date because they need a venue. Mike is not in charge of the case in this book and he's working around the clock on a task force, so he's not in the book much.

The book opens with shots ringing out in the cafe and it going viral as a woman threatens a former hookup from the app. Fortunately, the gun holds only blanks; unfortunately, it goes viral online and hurts their business.

I thought the themes of connections, in real life and online, were nicely done here. Clare is not into the convenience and the swipe right culture of the app because it doesn't allow for connection. Her ex (an avid user) disagrees because he's not looking for a relationship or meaningful connection. Phone addiction is also evident with the woman threatening her ex at the beginning, because Clare goes upstairs to deal with it and discovers other customers filming it rather than trying to stay safe or exit the area. There's also a lot about representing oneself online - Clare later adds herself to the app to help find a suspect using decades old bikini shots (which I surprised she didn't tell Mike about, because his ex cheated on him and it would've looked really bad for him to find out).

The first dead body Clare finds is a young woman who she recognizes from the coffee house. It's in the river and the police think she's a jumper they were looking for but it turns out that she was murdered, and thrown in. Because her backpack was nearly empty, it kept her afloat. Clare wants to know why someone would harm her and later, how it connects (if it connects) to what's been happening with the app and at the coffeehouse.

A satisfying mystery and interesting take at the connections we develop online and in person.

This is one of my go-to series reads, and, as always, this was a fun read.

In this "Cosi mystery," Clare enters the world of online dating apps, and oh, goodness, what could possibly go wrong, right? All the usual suspects are involved in this adventure - the hip and in-the-know baristas help Clare through the learning curve, bringing her into the digital dating age; Madame lends her sage advice at just the right time; Joy swoops in with Franco drama; and Mike looms over the adorable relationship that Clare and Matt share. (I am not a fan of Mike Quinn. I am still holding out hope that Clare and Matt will end up together... Again.)

This installment of the Coffeehouse Mysteries was very timely and relevant, as it dealt with designer drugs, and social media culture. The scene that depicts a date-drugging and its effects is very realistic and slightly terrifying in its simplicity. Additionally, the book provides a gently warning commentary on the pitfalls of digital dating, and on the loss of personality when an individual can choose their dates by a swipe of the finger. Overall, the moral was important, and well-done.

<i>A Shot in the Dark</i> is a great addition to the Coffeehouse lineup, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries, good coffee, and bonus recipes for gooey goodies.

Once again we find intrepid Clare involved in another murder investigation – this one out of her element and she’ll have to rely on her friends to blend all the clues together to apprehend a killer.

The pacing in this whodunit is like taking that first sip of delicious coffee and then enjoying all of it until that last drop is savored and that is how well this intriguing aroma of a multi-plot story is being told. With visually descriptive narrative, the dialogue sets the tone and keeps me engaged throughout as the backdrop where everything takes places from Greenwich Village to the harbor to the park to the street all take center stage. From the beginning of this well-defined mystery, we are pulled into the action of the various cast of characters who will tell us a story involving the latest fad–dating apps that converged on the steps of Village Blend and takes on a dubious web of love, deceit, and murder and it is these facets that have me cheering for Clare and the gang as they use all tools necessary to stop a killer and give Clare back her “normal.” Bonus for me is continually watching the love affair with Clare and Mike and I can’t wait to visualize their upcoming wedding. This latest adventure with Clare and her friends is a terrific read and one of the best in the series.

Shot in the Dark is the seventeenth book in Cleo Coyle’s popular Coffeehouse Mystery series. Don’t let that number deter you from starting here. You can always play catch up with the books in order of release but if you want to start reading this series, this book is good to go. Rather than re-hash the characters’ progress to date in one setting, throughout the book, Ms. Coyle lets you get to know the well drawn and interesting characters in a more organic way. Whether you have read her series in the past, or are just picking her up now, it’s an excellent read.
Her characters are quick and witty, and there are many laugh out loud points to enjoy. I liked her play on words, the dry humor of her main characters and the way she showed the victims in the book as more than just a cardboard cutout character to kill. All of her characters have depth and make mistakes. The New York setting is apparent without being oppressive and the topic of the online dating world is not a cliché. Her poetry slam scene is filled with hilarious moments that you’ll want to re-read or read aloud to others!
Like her other books, Ms. Coyle writes a book within a book, including recipes for coffees, treats and dinners that will make you drool on the page. The recipes are easy to read and prepare so it is a great fit for all levels of culinary skill.
It’s a definite to be on any to be read list with one of the coffee suggestions from the book, Caramel Apple Latte and a slice of the Amish Cinnamon-Apple Bread. Yum!

Another great cozy mystery with Claire and the gang. This time, the Village Blend takes on the mysteries of the modern dating app when a jilted lover confronts her ex with a gun inside the coffee shop. This proves to be a little too much of the wrong type of attention for the coffee shop and sets off a series of events where more than one customer dies. It is up to Claire and the gang to solve the murders and restore the Village Blend’s good name.

The coffee house mysteries have always been one of my favorite series. Cleo Coyle never disappoints. The characters are all very well developed and I feel like I've grown up with them. I'm excited to see what the future holds.

Another light-hearted read from Ms. Coyle. I don't think this was one of her strongest books. The plot was a bit convoluted and parts of it were drawn out too long. I expect this to be a popular beach book.

For me, the coffeehouse books tend to go on a bit too long in the middle or the writing team of Cleo Coyle makes things unnecessarily convoluted, but I tend to take a mental vacation in the middle third and then have to bring myself back to the storyline before I miss something that is needed to tie the whole thing together.

With the swipe right dating app scene, the Village Blend is currently the hotspot for digital dating and hookups. All of that goes horribly wrong when a shop-and- drop woman decides to start shooting to scare the man that has thrown her to the curb. Now with the Blend being on the wrong side of publicity and Clare finding a dead body in the bay, too many things are pointing to the Cinder dating app and the history between the current owner and two men that had started the original “Hookster” app years before.

With “theories getting ahead of the facts”, Clare plunges headlong into the middle of not only a murder investigation but also helping to find the source of a new drug called Styx that has suddenly appeared in Greenwich Village and its influences are affecting those that she is very close to.

Clare and her ragtag group of baristas and NYPDs finest, take on not only techno-Darwinism but also set out to clean up their streets before another murder like the Groovy Murders of 1967 can change their landscape and change the Village Blend forever. Whether “Shot in the Dark” is referring to a coffee espresso drink, finding someone in this day and age to date, or a fatal bullet, this seventeenth book in the coffeehouse mysteries has pulled them all together in one historical location.

I absolutely love this series and the new addition is perfect!

I love the characters, the atmosphere, the humor and oh yes, the murder and mystery. Plus you have all those yummy recipes at the end that makes you want to rush out, buy some ingredients and get to cooking, baking or finding a coffee house just like the Village Blend.

You can't go wrong with Cleo Coyle's books. Enjoy!
This book will be released in April, 2018.