The fourth book in the Coffee Lover's Mystery series finds Lana and her amateur sleuth partners, her dad, Peter Lewis, and Erica the Perkatory coffee shop barista, investigating two murders on the small western Gulf Coast Florida island. Author Tara Lush weaves Peter, an activist and hippy, more into the plot. Throughout the series, Peter has been a spark in the novels and Lush does not disappoint readers in this installment. Lana's relationship with the Noah, the island's police chief, advances in the story, and without revealing a spoiler alert, there are upcoming changes for the couple. Also Lush gives a big nod to the Cuban sandwich, a delicious part of Tampa's culinary culture. The novel can be read as a standalone, but readers new to the series will want to go back and read books one to three. Also, Florida award-winning environmental writer Craig Pittman gets a mention, so readers who enjoy Florida novels will get that great feeling of toes in a cool spring on a hot summer day.

A Bean to Die is the fourth book in this coffee Lovers mystery series. Lana stumbles upon the dead body of Jack Daggitt in the local community garden. Jack was a temperamental environmental activist who was banned from the garden by garden administrator Darla. When its determined Jack was murdered, Darla becomes the main suspect and begs former reporter Lana to help clear her name. This was a fast paced mystery with a touch of humour and lots of red herrings that kept me guessing until the end. I love the beach setting, the interesting main characters. and the quirky side characters; especially Lana's hippi Dad and her best friend Erica. Thanks to netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC to read and review. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next book in this delightful series.

I loved this book. Lana, her friends and family are characters that you can relate to. You keep guessing throughout the book on who the killer is. Lana's father and his adventures crack me up. I appreciate it when the author developes the story lines for the side characters. I've enjoyed all the books in this series and can't wait to see what happens to Lana next.

A nice quick read for those who like a tropical beach vibe, coffee, good friends and fur babies. In spite of her best efforts Lana just can't avoid getting involved with murders and Noah is at a loss for how to keep the former investigative reporter away from trouble. In this case since she found the body, on her first trip to her new plot at the community gardens, keeping her away is going to be tough! Although she would like to concentrate on meeting Noah's mother in a couple of days, she has a new picture making machine for her lattes, she is trying to grow coffee beans and her Dad has started dating, all things she'd prefer to worry about, when a regular customer becomes a suspect she knows she will have to help! This is definitely an interesting romp, with fun relationships, humor, smarts and great coffee. What's not to like! Thanks to #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for the opportunity to read, all opinions are my own.

A fun and easy cozy mystery. Coffee, gardening and dogs. What more can you ask for? Good summer read and one I highly recommend.

I love Tara Lush and her previous books in this series. This one did not disappoint. A fun storyline - a great mystery, red herrings, plot twist that kept me guessing until the very end. I can't wait to read more about Lana and Noah!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Love this series and author. I have enjoyed each of her books. I hope there are more coming out in this series. I highly recommend her and her books

A Bean to Die For by Tara Lush (January 2024) Crooked Lane Books

Lana Lewis is a former reporter turned co-owner of Perkatory, a coffee shop in Devil’s Beach, Florida. While helping her father in a community garden called Peas on Earth, she discovers Jack Dagitt’s body dead.

Jack, a known temperamental activist, had been banned from the community garden administered by Darla Ippolito. Darla has just changed some rules in the community garden that irked Jack which sent him ranting on Facebook.

Darla, on the other hand, has a past criminal record and comes to Devil’s Beach to start her life anew. Because of this, she becomes the number one suspect.

Lana’s boyfriend, police chief Noah Garcia, asks her to stay out of the investigation, having been too involved already in previous cases. But when she learns that Jack’s death is a homicide, her investigative reporter instinct kicks in, poking around town in an attempt to solve the case and clear Darla’s name.

As Lana investigates deeper into Jack’s death, she learns that he had more enemies, which means more suspects. This stresses her out more because she’s preparing dinner for Noah’s family who are coming over to meet her that weekend and she wants to impress them with her lasagna. However, when she finds Darla dead after their unfinished phone call, she has to move fast because she believes that the two crimes are related.

I couldn’t help but compare this novel to Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mystery series because of their similarities. Both authors have a strong female character who manages a coffee shop, who is divorced, has a police investigator as a boyfriend, and the murder happened within the community where the coffee shop belongs.

The plot begins to follow a “formula”: a non-police officer wants to clear the suspect’s name and then that suspect dies. Although this plot can still sustain suspense in crime fiction, readers could go two ways: either become interested in solving the mystery with the main character or could get “bored” because they could sense or guess “whodunnit”. Somehow, the novel was able to make me stick with Lana although I was able to guess who killed Jack. I found myself laughing when I guessed immediately what would happen to the lasagna. For me, I give this novel 3 out of 5 stars.

Like all of the books in this series, I enjoyed reading this installment but also felt a bit unfulfilled. As developed as the characters are, I can never remember anything about them or the previous mysteries from book to book. They are enjoyable but don't stick with me.

This was such a great cozy! It was the first one I have read by Tara Lush and it certainly won't be the last. It's the 4th book in her Coffee Lover's Mystery series and I just loved it. I received a free copy from Net Galley and the author for an honest review and they didn't disappoint.

It's about Lana Lewis who stumbles over the dead body of a local curmudgeon when she follows her father to the community garden. She is looking to plant some coffee beans to see if they will grow in the soil in Florida and she can have her own blend for her cafe, Perkatory. Instead she gets involved in a mystery, much to the dismay of her police chief boyfriend, Noah.

The characters were quirky and interesting and I felt like they were fleshed out well and I could really get to know them. The plot was great with lots of twists that I didn't see coming. It was one of my favourite reads of 2023 so far.

island-life, former-journalist, family, family-drama, family-dynamics, Florida, local-law-enforcement, small-town, small-business, cozy-mystery, barista, murder-investigation, situational-humor, verbal-humor, relatives, relationships, pets, coffee, coffee-culture, coffee-shop, gardening, mushroom-culture, orchid-thefts*****

Not really an unbiased review as I love the earlier ones in series with all of the wildly interesting characters, superfun locale, surprising plot twists, amazing red herrings, and endless laughs.
Lana is a former crime writer in Miami and returned to her hometown (after she divorced the scum) as the owner/operator of the coffee shop. The romantic interest is the local police chief.
This time Lana has been granted a plot in the community garden and finds a dead man in it! The guy is an octogenarian who is known to be contentious and more. And then it gets weird. And the long list of suspects is positively psychedelic! Loved it this one, too!
I requested and received an EARC from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

While I have enjoyed this series in the past, this one left me a bit cold. Parts of it were fine. I liked the interactions between characters; the development of the characters themselves. However, the plotting and reveal seemed rather weak and odd to me.

Would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery that keeps you guessing till the end.
Thank you to Tara Lush, NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the arc of this book

Found a new favorite cozy mystery author! I loved the storyline and all the characters and clues. When a cozy mystery has a dead body in a garden, you know the mystery is about to be twisty. I loved the way the murder was unraveled and figuring out the culprit.

Lana Lewis operates Perkatory in a small Florida vacation town. She also finds that she has a knack for solving murders. This is the fourth book in the series and thanks to NetGalley for the arc. The characters are unique--from Lana's hippie-like dad to the goth-type barista--all the characters blend into the story. Lana wants to grow her own coffee beans. Her dad knows of a community garden..Peas on Earth--that seems just right for Lana. Once they arrive the find a dead body. Since Lana's boyfriends is the chief of police, Lana tries to hide her interest in solving the crime. But alas, her interest does not stay hidden. The story flows nicely and this cozy kept me turning the pages. A good read for a summer afternoon.

This was an entertaining story. My interest was peaked by the mystery and plot twists. I enjoyed getting to know all the characters, but Lana is my favorite. I believe I've uncovered a new series; therefore, I'm going back to read the others before continuing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Another fantastic book in this series. I was so excited to get approved for the ARC, as Tara is one of my favourite cozy mystery authors. I love this author’s writing style and always look forward to reading her books. This one was great - great storyline, multiple suspects, and humour to keep you entertained and red herrings to keep you interested and engaged. Looking forward to reading what is next for Lana and Noah.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I really really disliked this book and dnf'd it. I didn't find the mystery compelling at all and found the writing cringy

Another fun entries to this Coffee Lovers series. These are great paced modern, yet cozy mysteries. I appreciate Lana's investigations because of her journalism background. I love the zaney characters.

I have found a new favorite series...A Bean to Die For is the fourth book in A Coffee Lover’s Mystery series. From the first page, I was hooked. I enjoyed getting to know all the characters! Author, Tara Lush, did excellent in portraying each of the characters.
Lana and her father get a plot in Peas on Earth, a community garden, so Lana can grow her own coffee plants.
While going to check out her plot, she finds a body....was it murder? Was it an accident?
The plot was really thought out, and I thought I knew how it would end, but there were lots of twists and turns, and Tara threw me in for a loop!!
I am looking forward to reading all of the other books in this series.
#ABeantoDieFor #NetGalley