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A review by book_concierge
Through the Grinder by Cleo Coyle
2.0
Clare Cosi manages The Village Blend, a century-old coffeehouse in New York’s Greenwich Village, owned by her ex-mother-in-law. She is happily settling into this new life in the City. But one of her regular customers meets her death on the subway tracks shortly after stopping at the coffeehouse. The transit authority rules the death a suicide, but Detective Mike Quinn isn’t so sure. Then another Blend customer “jumps” from her roof and Quinn begins to suspect the new man in Clare’s life.
I thought the plotting was poor, and the clues (and red herrings), heavy-handed. Clare has the makings of a likeable heroine, but her behavior is reckless and immature when she decides to investigate on her own. Detective Quinn has virtually nothing to do but appear occasionally to confirm that he doesn’t think the dead women committed suicide, and to warn Clare that her new boyfriend is the chief suspect. Including the thoughts of the killer is jarring in a cozy mystery. I was beginning to wonder if Coyle wouldn’t rather be writing a more hard-core crime novel. I didn’t like the ending at all.
So why give it two stars? It’s was a fast read and I like the back story for this cozy. Maybe I’m just feeling generous, but I also liked the recipe for coffee marinated steaks – seriously. Still, I doubt I’ll read another.
I thought the plotting was poor, and the clues (and red herrings), heavy-handed. Clare has the makings of a likeable heroine, but her behavior is reckless and immature when she decides to investigate on her own. Detective Quinn has virtually nothing to do but appear occasionally to confirm that he doesn’t think the dead women committed suicide, and to warn Clare that her new boyfriend is the chief suspect. Including the thoughts of the killer is jarring in a cozy mystery. I was beginning to wonder if Coyle wouldn’t rather be writing a more hard-core crime novel. I didn’t like the ending at all.
Spoiler
Coyle killed off a potential romantic rival for Quinn too soon; this might have been a nice side plot in future books. On the other hand, I certainly wouldn’t want this to descend into a Ranger-Morelli-Stephanie never-ending triangle, so perhaps she was wise to bump off the competition early.So why give it two stars? It’s was a fast read and I like the back story for this cozy. Maybe I’m just feeling generous, but I also liked the recipe for coffee marinated steaks – seriously. Still, I doubt I’ll read another.