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git_r_read's review against another edition
5.0
Smokin'! This is the best Coffeehouse/Clare Cosi yet! Most times a series will start to head south with nine on the shelves, but not this one. Each book is better than the last.
The mixture of the coffeehouses being torched brings Clare into the picture with credibility, which not all cozies can do with any sense of veracity. My favorites are the ones that do it in aces, and this one does it nicely roasted spades.
Okay, enough of the playing card euphemisms...
I liked seeing plenty of Clare and Mike's growing relationship as much as I liked seeing how well Clare gets along with Matt, her ex-husband and still business partner..and friend. They help each other out and the tension seems to have dissipated that was always near the surface in past books. Probably helped that Breanna, Matt's current fashionista wife, wasn't in the book except as honorable mention. Don't like her...there..it's said...
Learning more of Mike's past was enlightening. There is a rivalry between Mike Quinn the cop and his cousin Michael Quinn the firefighter, a rivalry in all things, including the attentions of Clare.
Defnitely plenty of twists and turns through the story and the 'Whaaaa..?!' moments were priceless and believable.
I was honored to have an email from Cleo Coyle not long ago asking if I'd like an advanced copy of ROAST MORTEM before it comes out on 3 Aug 2010. I emailed right back with a very composed, "Yes,yes,yes,yes...please!!" Okay, I was a wee bit giddy....sigh...there it is...
Five the girl is giddy and the book is smokin' fab beans and five diamonds to go with....
The mixture of the coffeehouses being torched brings Clare into the picture with credibility, which not all cozies can do with any sense of veracity. My favorites are the ones that do it in aces, and this one does it nicely roasted spades.
Okay, enough of the playing card euphemisms...
I liked seeing plenty of Clare and Mike's growing relationship as much as I liked seeing how well Clare gets along with Matt, her ex-husband and still business partner..and friend. They help each other out and the tension seems to have dissipated that was always near the surface in past books. Probably helped that Breanna, Matt's current fashionista wife, wasn't in the book except as honorable mention. Don't like her...there..it's said...
Learning more of Mike's past was enlightening. There is a rivalry between Mike Quinn the cop and his cousin Michael Quinn the firefighter, a rivalry in all things, including the attentions of Clare.
Defnitely plenty of twists and turns through the story and the 'Whaaaa..?!' moments were priceless and believable.
I was honored to have an email from Cleo Coyle not long ago asking if I'd like an advanced copy of ROAST MORTEM before it comes out on 3 Aug 2010. I emailed right back with a very composed, "Yes,yes,yes,yes...please!!" Okay, I was a wee bit giddy....sigh...there it is...
Five the girl is giddy and the book is smokin' fab beans and five diamonds to go with....
karen_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
lakecake's review against another edition
4.0
This started out kinda slow for me, but picked up toward the end. I like that it had both a compelling mystery plot and good development for Clare in her personal life.
ugreta's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
manal_osmally's review against another edition
4.0
It's one of the heaviest ones in this series.....
justkeyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
ewil6681's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kairosdreaming's review against another edition
2.0
So I made the mistake of not realizing this was the 9th book in a series. I don't blame myself too much. There was nothing on the cover to indicate it and I just picked it up in the free box at a local bookstore (which should have told me something). I like cozy mysteries, but this one just didn't have authentic characters or believable dialogue.
Clare Cosi is the manager of a coffee shop and it's more than work, at this point it is her life. She has a grown daughter, a detective boyfriend, and a coffee buyer ex-husband who she is still on friendly terms with. When she and her ex-mother in law go to visit a friend to pick up some machinery, they don't expect to get caught in a blast and subsequent fire when his coffee shop goes up in flames. And Clare doesn't think that it's an accident, she thinks its arson. Especially when other fires start breaking out and she finds herself in the middle of the mystery.
None of the characters in this had authentic voices. Maybe it's because I haven't read the others, but calling your ex-mother in law "Madame" (and every other character calling her that too, was just plain weird to me. Then you have the chief firefighter using a bazillion cliches as well and it just seems unbelievable. And that's how a lot of the conversations went in the first half of the book. Thankfully it seemed to tone out a bit as the book went on and the dialogue sounded how people actually talk in real life. Although he didn't stop hitting on her despite being told to leave her alone, not really a great guy. Add in a somewhat controlling boyfriend (although the author is careful to point out that Clare is not apologizing while she's explaining herself) and I can't say I liked any of the main males in this book. Clare herself is hard to keep up with as she's very sporadic in her actions.
There were a lot of different mysteries going on in this book. Like the story of the feud between her boyfriend and the fire chief (convoluted beyond what was necessary and no good reason for not sharing the whole truth). The arsons, the deaths, and a few other things as well. And it wasn't a simple story either. In fact, too much going on and too many players in the game. Maybe that reflects real life, but it seemed too coincidental to me. And some of the clues that were really pertinent weren't given until the last few pages so you couldn't really try to solve the mystery ahead of time, which may disappoint some people. I did enjoy all the descriptions of food in the book though, and appreciated that there were recipes at the end of the book. To me, that's the best part of the book. Can never go wrong with tasty food.
Not for me. I can't say I'll be looking up any others in the series anytime soon.
Roast Mortem
Copyright 2010
350 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2015
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
Clare Cosi is the manager of a coffee shop and it's more than work, at this point it is her life. She has a grown daughter, a detective boyfriend, and a coffee buyer ex-husband who she is still on friendly terms with. When she and her ex-mother in law go to visit a friend to pick up some machinery, they don't expect to get caught in a blast and subsequent fire when his coffee shop goes up in flames. And Clare doesn't think that it's an accident, she thinks its arson. Especially when other fires start breaking out and she finds herself in the middle of the mystery.
None of the characters in this had authentic voices. Maybe it's because I haven't read the others, but calling your ex-mother in law "Madame" (and every other character calling her that too, was just plain weird to me. Then you have the chief firefighter using a bazillion cliches as well and it just seems unbelievable. And that's how a lot of the conversations went in the first half of the book. Thankfully it seemed to tone out a bit as the book went on and the dialogue sounded how people actually talk in real life. Although he didn't stop hitting on her despite being told to leave her alone, not really a great guy. Add in a somewhat controlling boyfriend (although the author is careful to point out that Clare is not apologizing while she's explaining herself) and I can't say I liked any of the main males in this book. Clare herself is hard to keep up with as she's very sporadic in her actions.
There were a lot of different mysteries going on in this book. Like the story of the feud between her boyfriend and the fire chief (convoluted beyond what was necessary and no good reason for not sharing the whole truth). The arsons, the deaths, and a few other things as well. And it wasn't a simple story either. In fact, too much going on and too many players in the game. Maybe that reflects real life, but it seemed too coincidental to me. And some of the clues that were really pertinent weren't given until the last few pages so you couldn't really try to solve the mystery ahead of time, which may disappoint some people. I did enjoy all the descriptions of food in the book though, and appreciated that there were recipes at the end of the book. To me, that's the best part of the book. Can never go wrong with tasty food.
Not for me. I can't say I'll be looking up any others in the series anytime soon.
Roast Mortem
Copyright 2010
350 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2015
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
graceful_37's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this one, as I have most of this series. But I REALLY hope we're finally done with Michael Quinn. Mike annoyed me in this one too, to tell you the truth. Claire was a bit of a dunce too, to be perfectly honest.
*SPOILERS* So, Michael tells Claire about his brother. Evidently Mike didn't call in favors to keep the brother out of jail when he was stopped for a DUI and Michael bases an entire decade-long grudge on this. And Claire agrees! WHAT? Seriously? It's not until she hears the longer story about it that she goes back to agreeing with Mike.
And Michael's seriously disgusting, heavy-handed flirting made me want to vomit a bit. And the scene where Claire is teaching the firefighters how to make coffee, but they can't leave the innuendo alone long enough to learn something? I get a few comments in the beginning, but come on guys! Stop being disgusting!
*SPOILERS* So, Michael tells Claire about his brother. Evidently Mike didn't call in favors to keep the brother out of jail when he was stopped for a DUI and Michael bases an entire decade-long grudge on this. And Claire agrees! WHAT? Seriously? It's not until she hears the longer story about it that she goes back to agreeing with Mike.
And Michael's seriously disgusting, heavy-handed flirting made me want to vomit a bit. And the scene where Claire is teaching the firefighters how to make coffee, but they can't leave the innuendo alone long enough to learn something? I get a few comments in the beginning, but come on guys! Stop being disgusting!