Reviews

Bulletproof Barista by Cleo Coyle

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kiala's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

iffer's review against another edition

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3.0

Another solid installment, but I didn't enjoy this one as much as some of the other books. I'm not super into Hollywood filming themes (and the part about the gun being fired loaded hit a little close to current events). Also, I missed learning more about the regular characters, since this once focuses mainly on the mystery involving others.

thephdivabooks's review

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5.0

The format of Bulletproof Barista was a lot of fun. While Clare’s is the main POV as usual in cozy mysteries, there is also another narrator who refers to themselves as The Player who is set on sabotaging the show filming at Village Blend, Only Murders in Gotham.

Adding in the short monologues from the Player enhanced the on-set vibe of the book. I thought setting the mystery around a film set and the complicated relationships of show-biz was both fun and fresh. This was a really way to set up a mystery—it felt sort of old school like the Nancy Drew books I read as a child. There was definitely a few plus a computer game set at a movie or theater production.

As the story opens, Clare is nervous and excited to meet one of her favorite commedians, Jerry Sullivan. For season 2 of his television series, Only Murders in Gotham, they’re filming an episode at the iconic Village Blend coffeehouse, which also happens to be an old haunt of Jerry’s from early in his career. If only their own baristas and their well-crafted blends could be the chosen refreshments for the cast and crew, but they soon learn that rival coffeehouse Driftwood Coffee landed that gig, and they’ve set up their truck right in front of Village Blend.

They may not have to worry about Driftwood Coffee for long, though, when one of the crew members drops to the ground after drinking a cup of coffee from their truck. It wasn’t just the burnt beans that had him in distress, someone has poisoned the coffee. When filming resumes the next day, a prop gun goes off with a blank bullet in it though it was supposed to be empty, and one of the Village Blend baristas is injured.

As more things go wrong, it becomes clear that someone is sabotaging the television show. Now that they’ve moved to Village Blend as their homebase and official caterer, Clare is in a prime position to do some investigating and find out who is behind the sabotage, before things escalate to murder.

This is an easy and fun mystery to jump into, whether you’re already a fan of the Coffeehouse Mysteries or this is your first introduction to the series. The cast of characters at Village Blend are always a delight, but this book brings in a whole new cast of characters working as the crew and actors on set, many of whom have stakes in the show being successful. Which makes it all the more puzzling that one of them must be sabotaging it. As security tightens up, it becomes clear that one of the main players is behind the sabotage, and Clare is looking to find out which one.

Plenty of suspects with varying motives, a few red herrings, and some good old-fashioned sleuthing make this a breezy and entertaining mystery. While some cozy mystery series run out of steam after several books, the Coffeehouse Mysteries are going strong at book twenty with no signs of stopping. The whodunnit got me, and I loved the way the mystery pieced together. A fun and fresh cozy mystery that gives us a peek behind the curtain on a tv show set and plenty of recipes to round out the book. So fun!