Sage Caplin is excited to make a reality out of her dream of running a coffee-brewing business! Together with her business partner Harley, she’s opening Ground Rules, a food cart located in a popular area of Portland, Oregon, focusing on gourmet coffee drinks. Opening day finds her making a good go of it while getting to know her new food cart neighbors and customers, as well as exploring ventures that could expand Ground Rules’ operations.

A protest at a development across the street is the talk of most of the vendors and clientele, including a hard-eyed man whose attitude belies his interest in Ground Rules’ coffee. Sage is determined to treat all her customers with cheerful professionalism, but even her positivity is put to the test when the man, who turns out to be property developer David Stevens, is found stabbed to death outside her cart with a box cutter she’d borrowed. Suspicion falls on Sage even before it’s discovered that David had previously been a victim of her con artist mother Saffron, who’s been in the wind since leaving Sage as a homeless teen on the streets of Portland over a decade ago. Luckily, Sage has her police detective father as well as her lawyer half-brother on her side, so she’s pretty sure she won’t get railroaded into anything by the less than competent investigators assigned to her case.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said of a young runaway named Gabby, who reminds Sage uncomfortably of her teenage self. When it becomes clear that Gabby could hold the key to solving David’s murder, Sage must pull on her many connections in an attempt to find and save the girl, and clear her own name in the process.

I loved how refreshingly modern this book was! Sage reads like an actual 27 year-old living in a major metropolitan area, with messy family connections and a sprawling network of friends. The burgeoning romances felt authentic, and the quirkier members of the cast of characters definitely do their part to keep Portland weird, as the city’s unofficial motto goes. Emmeline Duncan doesn’t shy away from depicting the underbelly of life in the big city either, with her moving descriptions of homelessness and hunger and our heroine’s efforts to help eliminate both. On a lighter note, the descriptions of food and especially coffee were absolutely mouth-watering, definitely upping my coffee consumption while I read. With plenty of hooks for future plot lines, this debut marks the beginning of a series I’m already looking forward to reading much more of!

There were nine recipes included, mostly of beverages. I decided to try out the one regional food recipe:

QUOTE
Oregon French Toast

2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup of milk (or Oatly works well as a nondairy substitute!)
2 teaspoons of sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 cup of coarsely chopped hazelnuts
4 slices of day-old challah bread, cut thickly (brioche or French bread also works)
Butter or canola oil

Whisk together all of the ingredients except the nuts, bread, and butter or oil in a mixing bowl. Put the nuts in their own wide-mouth bowl.

Prepare the griddle or skillet by either melting the butter in the pan or rubbing canola oil across the surface.

Dip the bread slices in the egg mixture, taking care to soak both sides, then dredge the bread in the hazelnuts.

Cook the bread slices in the skillet until brown, about 2 minutes per side.

If you want to up your Oregon cred, serve with your French toast with marionberry jam! Or serve it with maple syrup, other jam, butter, fresh fruit, etc.
END QUOTE

I grew up making French toast with just regular sandwich bread and seasoned eggs, so I must admit that fancy French toast recipes, like this one, continue to feel beyond my capabilities. My bread always feels like it’s coming out too mushy, and the contrast between crust and soft parts feels too marked. The chopped hazelnuts actually help even out the overall texture: I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy adding nuts to French toast, but this turned out much nicer than expected. I could have probably chopped the hazelnuts more uniformly, though. I also drizzled the chocolate sauce I made last week over my dish to add that little bit of recommended sweetness, and found it absolutely delicious overall.

Next week, we head back to the east coast to make a hybrid dessert while reading about bringing a murderer to justice. Do join me!

I loved this book so much!! This is the first book in A Ground Rules Mystery series. This is a fun cozy mystery book, that is centered around coffee and food trucks! How fun is that?!

Right from the very start this book pulled me in, and I knew I was going to love it. I read it in two sittings, I did not want to put it down! I found the characters to be like able, and the plot was enjoyable. I loved the Portland, Oregon vibes in this book. It seems like such a nice place, I would love to visit, one day! I can’t wait for the next book in the series to come out. If you’re a fan of cozy mysteries, I highly recommend checking this one out!

Thank you Kensington Publishing for the gifted copy, in exchange for an honest review.

Fresh Brewed Murder by Emmeline Duncan is a cozy murder mystery set in Portland, which is famous for its rain, hipsters, craft beers . . . and coffee. Sage Caplin has high hopes for her coffee cart, Ground Rules, which she runs with her business partner, Harley—a genius at roasting beans and devising new blends. Sage finds the man’s body in front of her cart, a fatal slash across his neck.

David Stevenson, the victim of murder has been murdered in front of Sage's newly opened coffee cart, so she is the one who is doubted by the investigating team. The book is definitely well written. I liked the fast paced story, however, it was quite simple and predictable in spite the different characters. So I was definitely looking forward to many more layers added to the story except for her mother's dreadful past.

Her brother, Jason, also has a quite potential to add more layers and depth to the story. So, mystery and thriller beginners, this one is the best book for you to pick up. Advance readers of this genre will find it very flat and simple.

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Thank you to Kensington Books via NetGalley for my advance review copy!

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Sage Caplin and her partner Harley have opened a coffee food truck in a local lot. Sage is a people person and Harley is a master coffee bean roaster. Together they are hoping their business takes off and that they will soon move from their food cart to a brick-and-mortar store. The food truck lot is not without drama. There are protestors walking in opposition to a new high rise and some of the other food truck vendors wonder how Sage and Harley got such a coveted spot especially when other vendors lost their spots due to the proposed construction of the high rise.

After just a couple of days serving coffee savvy customers, Sage finds one of those customers dead right in front of her cart and the murder weapon appears to be the box cutter she borrowed from one of the other vendors. The detective assigned to the case believes Sage is guilty especially when he finds out who her mother is. Strange this is happening right after her mother reaches out to her after years of absence. Sage doesn’t have time to worry about her mother, she needs to find the real killer now and get the detective off her back before she ends up behind bars.

In this first Ground Rules Mystery, we meet barista Sage Caplin. She has had a very interesting life which gives her a unique perspective regarding some of the people she meets over the course of this story. I was intrigued by the way she handled the homeless population camping out nearby. She was very empathic and willing to help even volunteering to hand out hygiene and food packages to them. As this is the first book in the series I feel we have just scratched the surface of this character. We are also introduced to her partner Harley, her great uncle Jimmy, her police detective dad, her lawyer brother Jackson and her cousin Miles. Her mother makes an appearance via a phone call. All the characters are cleverly written with plenty of room left for growth.

The author sets the scene of Portland and everywhere Sage visits very well. I could easily see each location come to life. We are also given quite an education about coffee beans and their brewing. I am not much of a coffee drinker but thought I knew every way it could be brewed but I was wrong. I learned some new things from Sage. I loved the way they came up with original custom drinks, some with alcohol for one of their new customers.

This time the protagonist isn’t actively searching full boar for the killer. She keeps her eyes and ears open and has some keen observations. There are several suspects and surprising ties between the deceased and another character. I am pleased to say the guilty party was on my list of top three suspects early on in the story but I was still surprised at the big reveal as to the true motive. Ms. Duncan served up some nice twists to divert the reader’s attention but I held strong to my own theories. I was concerned about the relaxed pacing of the book and while the ending was exciting I would have liked a faster pace. I was engaged by the characters and that did keep the pages turning.

The author has set off this series to a fine start with Fresh Brewed Murder. I am looking forward to the next installment to see these characters evolve and to get to know them better. Coffee connoisseurs will love the drink descriptions and may want to brew a cup or two to enjoy while reading the book.

Great way to start off a new series!!
I really enjoyed the setting of this book and found the protagonist, Sage, to very likable and relatable.

Although this was a mystery, with murder, I found that it didn’t take over the book. The murder was always present, in the background, but it didn’t dominate the story. There were social issues brought to light in this novel; for example, homelessness, runaways, family issues.

I cannot wait to see what book two brings us. Will Sage pick a suitor? Will her mother make anymore appearances? I look forward to finding out.

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley. I also listened to the audio version and thoroughly enjoyed the narration.

This is the first of the Ground Rules Mystery series. Sage Caplin is opening a new coffee cart with her friend Harley at the Rail Yard in Portland. Sage and Harley are starting with the coffee cart while they are working on the coffee bean side of the business with hopes of opening a retail store soon. Sage is the primary worker at the food cart and on the first couple of days she has a customer who is constantly glaring at her and another person who is friends with another cart owner who is also giving her negative vibes and she just does not get it. She also is trying to help some of the homeless youth by giving out some free hot chocolates and giving out food. She befriends one young lady Gabby and puts up a board for people to pay it forward and write it on the board if they are paying for someone. Some of the other food cart operators are not real thrilled as some of the homeless folks have stolen or loiter and take up space for paying customers. When she arrives one morning to find the glaring customer dead next to her cart she is in shock and then to find out the police think she is the prime suspect. Her brother is an attorney so he jumps in to help her. You soon learn that she has some family secrets and the victim has a past with her Mother who she has not seen in over 14 years. The police do not believe that she is not involved and continue to focus on her. I liked that Sage cares so much about Gabby and many of the other homeless youth as you hear her backstory. The story focuses equally on Sage and Harley’s business venture as it does on the murder. She does not do a lot of sleuthing compared to other cozies; however, she is a great reader of people and that helps. This series has so much potential and I really look forward to the next installment.

This was an interesting take on a cozy mystery. There were some cliché's (the coffee cart) but I loved the shady past of the main character, which also brings up a lot of possibilities for future mysteries. I also felt that the side characters were all very well done. The mystery itself was okay but I wasn't really invested in figuring out who the murderer was because I just didn't care about the victim and the stakes didn't really seem all that high. I am still looking forward to seeing where book two goes though.

I was excited to read this one but felt like it was more about Sage's coffee cart business and the different types of coffee she makes instead of her trying to solve a murder and prove her innocence.

This seemed like a nice solid start for a new series. It was very easy to picture this little area of a larger city, and the camaraderie among the different cart owners (or tension as it was with some) was well-established as the story progressed--and I've never even been to Portland or seen an area with food carts as opposed to food trucks. The key characters were likable, and I just loved Sage's dad! He had the boundaries of dad and cop clearly defined and didn't hesitate to always be a good dad and be there for Sage. Her mom was sure a piece of work, and I'm actually glad she wasn't physically in the story. I enjoyed Uncle Jimmy, Jackson (Sage's brother) and Miles's (Sage's cousin) characters a lot too! This was one bunch of guys I'd be proud to call my family.

I was surprised by who the killer was and enjoyed the showdown. It was great how there were some of the other cart owners around to help. Sage now has her pick between two guys who really seem to care for her, but I can't blame her for just having fun and casually going out with each of them at different times. She's young and has plenty of time! It'll be interesting to see what Sage's next adventure brings.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

This was an interesting mix of traditional cozy mystery tropes and hip and trendy vibes. Sage and her business partner Harley open up a coffee truck in a coveted spot in a sort of pod of food trucks in Portland, Oregon. Soon after, a patron of the truck turns up dead, killed after hours with his body left in front of the truck. Sage becomes a suspect, especially after it turns out that the victim hated Sage’s estranged mother, who is also apparently like a Dirty Rotten Scoundrels level con artist.

I loved all the coffee talk in this book, and I thought the recipes at the end were a really nice touch. Overall I just felt like there was a little too much going on - Sage’s complicated family situation, her two love interests that don’t really go anywhere, the relationship she forged with a teenaged girl experiencing homelessness, the many red herrings... it just felt like a lot of loose ends that couldn’t really get tied up satisfactorily before the end of the book, and the actual resolution to the mystery was blink and you’ll miss it fast. I would definitely read more from this author but this just didn’t feel totally complete to me.

Fresh Brewed Murder is the first book of a new series. The setting is the foodie scene of Portland, Oregon and the protagonist Sage and her business partner, Harley, have just started a new coffee business complete with roasting facility and a coffee cart which is the location of the murder. The victim is a developer who, as it turns out, was scammed by Sage’s mother who is a con artist managing to elude the authorities. Sage is the prime suspect and she is working to clear her name.

I enjoyed the characters and the storyline. The book was a fun read and I look forward to reading the next book in the series!! Great new cozy series.

Sage is excited for the opening of her new coffee cart with her friend Harley. Odd things seem to be happening around the foodtruck park though. When she finds a dead body in front of her cart, she is determined to figure out what happened before her coffee cart flops.

I really enjoyed this start to a new series. I liked Sage as a character. She was really fun. I liked that this one took place in a larger city. That was an interesting change to the norm of cozy mysteries. I really liked that Sage has a different background and I'm excited to get to know her better. All of the characters were so interesting and I can't wait to see what comes next in this series!

4.5 stars = I loved it! Would re-read.

This was fantastic! There are tons of coffee-related tidbits that I found interesting. (I didn't follow a lot of them, but they didn't intrude on the story. And I didn't have to understand all of the intricate details in order to enjoy the book.)

I loved the characters in this, and the solution caught me off guard, which was a nice surprise. My favorite part of this was the way the author created a great mystery that ALSO served to reveal pieces of Sage's backstory. It was a brilliant way to help the reader get to know the character without doing an info dump AND it made the mystery and Sage's sleuthing all the more interesting. I will definitely be sticking with this series!

I love embarking on a new series from the very start, and this one certainly intrigued me enough to do just that. Fresh Brewed Murder features Sage Caplin (I love the name) from Portland who has a coffee van that she runs with her business partner, Harley. On her opening day, the pair are hoping that everything will go smoothly but there has been some trouble leading up to the occasion. Some of the other vendors have taken exception to Sage's van, named 'Ground Rules' having a prime spot in the food truck area and there has also been resistance to a new high-rise being built in the vicinity. Then Sage finds a body in front of her van, their throat having been slashed by a box cutter.

The reader follows Sage through her daily life as snippets are revealed about her past. Her estranged, con-artist mother is trying her best to worm her way back into Sage's life which is something that she is desperately attempting to resist.

I really enjoyed Emmeline Duncan's writing style. She tells the story in a way that brings the reader right into each scene, from learning about the coffee culture as well as the Portland vibe and food scene. I loved the interactions between the characters and the conversations they had seemed realistic. The witty repartee had me frequently chuckling and was a delight to observe. I liked Sage a great deal; she demonstrated that she has a soft spot for the street youth and other disadvantaged people living in the city that are struggling with their lives.

The mystery starts off quickly and the pace throughout the book is even. Emmeline Duncan sprinkles clues here and there so the hip story remains fresh whilst the reader follows along and the ending left me quite surprised. Fresh Brewed Murder will be of interest to many cozy readers, especially coffee connoisseurs, and I’m all agog to see what Sage will be up to next in book two of this extremely promising series.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Kensington Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

This is a wonderful debut in the new "Ground Rules Mystery Series" by author Emmeline Duncan. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own.

As the title hints, this is centered around coffee and will be delightful for coffee lovers and coffee cart fans. I am not a coffee drinker but I appreciated the descriptions and enjoyed the mystery set in Portland which is a coffee capitol.

Our protagnist is Sage Caplin who owns a coffee card with a business partner who is talented at roasting special coffees. When one of her first customers is found dead in front of her cart the local Portland police are not looking farther then Sage and her partner. as it was her box cutter that was the weapon. She has to step up and investigate to save her business and her friend. Add in disgruntled residents upset about her location of the cart and a impossible Mother and Sage has her hands full when suspects abound.

This is a charming series . I look forward to the next in series of the coffee cart and how Sage develops as a business owner and a sleuth. A enjoyable read.

Sage has opened a coffee cart/truck in downtown Portland. A lot of baggage and a lot of help have gotten her to this point and she feels the pressure to succeed. So when a man is killed near her truck, she decides she needs to figure out who did it. Added to the central mystery is the continuing theme of homelessness and social justice. Sage has a compassionate heart and it shines. As the first book in a series, a lot of the focus is laying a foundation for the series. I felt this was done a bit haphazardly in this book and several of the supporting characters were a bit too confusing. Maybe there were a bit too many supporting characters introduced? It was sometimes hard to remember who was who, though I am sure that will get easier in future books. This also sometimes made the flow of the story lag. But, finding the balance is difficult and grace has to be given with the expectation that now that the overall basis for the series has been presented that future installments will flow a bit more evenly.

An entirely well done cozy series starter. This has some elements that we don't always see in cozies, and I think the urban setting vs a quirky small town makes a big difference here. Issues of homelessness, trafficking, and drugs are among those seen here that aren't necessarily tackled in most cozies. The murder and mystery are well done in this, and we're introduced to a lot of interesting characters and backstory. There is an incredible amount of potential in this series, and I genuinely am very excited to see what happens next.

Fresh Brewed Murder by Emmeline Duncan is a great start to another cozy mystery series. One of the many reasons I read is because I enjoy learning new things, and as someone who is not a coffee drinker, this book was full of interesting information… that almost makes me want to start! I love when cozies actually include the information for the hobby/place/cooking/etc… that they are using as their story hook. I’ve found some that mention it once or twice and that’s it, instead leaving it more for the cover art.

Duncan really shined in creating a small community within the coffee community with lots of characters that stand out, with her descriptions of Portland, and it’s food truck scene. We visited Portland once, about 10 years ago, and after reading Fresh Brewed Murder, I think we will be going there again in the near future since Duncan’s descriptions of the food, drinks, and town were so engaging.

Besides the great cast of food truck owners, we also get some insight into Sage’s family and business partner. Sage’s dad and brother seem like great people who’ll be there for her, the mother is a very interesting character and I can’t wait to see how she progresses and what kind of trouble she will make for Sage, and the business partner… well, let’s just say I personally would be looking for a new one. We also get a surly detective and a hunky love interest to round out the group.

Looking forward to book two in A Ground Rules Mystery series to see what happens with Sage and the gang next, as well as for more yummy food and drink descriptions and recipes.

I've read several cozy mysteries in the past where the series lead has a problem mom, but none of them beats Sage's mom. She is one of the reasons Sage becomes a murder suspect. I enjoyed the cast, setting, and plot. One business name pays homage to one of Oregon's famous residents, Sasquatch. Just on the strength of this first book, I am adding A Grounds Rule Mystery to my favorite series list.

I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher and/or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great start to a new series. It is a well written cozy mystery. I liked the main character, Sage and that she has a coffee truck. I can't wait to read more of this series. I highly recommend this book.


I received and advanced copy from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity.