Cleo Coyle - Murder Most Frothy (Coffeehouse Mysteries, No. 4)

Praise for the Coffeehouse Mysteries

Lat t e T rou b le

[E]njoy Latte Trouble, espresso in hand.

Roundtable Reviews

A delightful series... a captivating narrator... fast-paced

[with] a big twist at the end. Romantic Times BOOKclub

Another delightfully percolating and exciting mystery.

Midwest Book Review

Intriguing... Anyone who loves coffee and a good mystery will love this story.

The Romance Readers Connection

T hroug h t he G ri nde r

Coffee lovers and mystery buffs will savor the latest addition... and for those who like both, its a guaranteed Red Eye. Fast-paced action, coffee lore, and incredible culinary recipes, brewed together with some dark robust mystery, establish beyond a doubt that this one certainly isnt decaf. All hail the goddess Caffina!

The Best Reviews

Full of action and murder with a little romance thrown in on the side. The ending is exceptional and completely unexpected.

The Romance Readers Connection

A fascinating mystery... a brave, quirky heroine.

Books n Bytes

There were ample red herrings in Through the Grinders story to lead the reader astray... [A] great mystery.

Roundtable Reviews

c o n t i n u e d...

On W hat G rou nds

A great beginning to a new series... Clare and Matteo make a great team... On What Grounds will convert even the most fervent tea drinker into a coffee lover in the time it takes to draw an espresso.

The Mystery Reader

A definite winner! The mystery is first rate, and the characters leap from the page and are compelling, vivid, and endearing. The aroma of this story made this non-coffee drinker want to visit the nearest coffee bar.

Romantic Times

A fun, light mystery. Recommended.

KLIATT

[A] clever, witty, and lighthearted cozy.

The Best Reviews

Murde r Most

Frot hy

c

BERKLEY PRIME CRIME, NEW YORK

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

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Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author Copyright 2006 by the Berkley Publishing Group. Cover art by Cathy Gendron.

Cover design and logo by Rita Frangie.

Interior text design by Kristin del Rosario.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form with out permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions. For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

ISBN: 1-4295-1356-X

BERKLEY PRIME CRIME

Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

BERKLEY PRIME CRIME and the BERKLEY PRIME CRIME design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

PUBLISHERS NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervi sion. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes in this book. This book is dedicated with love to

Evelyn Cerasini

and Nana

A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s

A most frothy thanks to editors

Martha Bushko and Katie Day,

and literary agent John Talbot.

People cant buy a new car every morning, but they can buy a premium cup of coffee that puts a smile on their face.... Its the democratization of luxury.

$35 a Pound and Going Fast,

Baltimore Sun, 2004

Coffee is the common mans gold, and like gold it brings to every man the feeling of luxury and nobility.

Sheik Abd-al-Kadir,

In Praise of Coffee, 1587

P ro lo g u e

xyxyxyxyxyxyxyxyxyxyxyxy

A mid the scrub grass of the high beach dune, glovedhands gripped seven pounds of bolt-action. Through theRemingtons scope, the shooter scanned the faces on themansions expansive cedar deck.

The typical Hamptons crowd was here: Ivy Leaguewives turned interior decorators, captains of industryturned serial cheaters, vapid heiresses turned wannabecelebrities. There were cold-blooded lawyers, eager-to-please newcomers, megalomaniacal executives, and tone-deaf pop singersall sipping frothy drinks and wearingdesigner casual with diamonds as big as planets, wrist-watches as pricey as middle-class cars.

Women bared too much or too little, their laughterforced or nonexistent, their attention on each others cloth-ing, on the faces in attendance, on the hosts choice of arti-facts. Men acted too bored or too eager, their focus onnetworking, for business or pleasure, the mantra alwaysthe same: Close the deal, close the deal.

C l e o C oy l e

And, oh, the celebrities. They were here too, looking farless air-brushed than their cover shots on TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly. But those observations would onlybe whispered after the party or behind their backs during it.At last, the shooter located the targethis short, stockybuild was unmistakable, his untucked short-sleeved shirtan enormous pink flag. The trigger could have been pulledat that moment. Three rounds were loaded into the Reming-tons magazine, three seven-millimeter bullets primed fortheir trip through twenty-four inches of steel and forty oddyards of night air. But the result would have been obvious.The timing had to be right.

Guests came and went, clustering and dissipating likethe tides. Music rolled over the mansions grounds, acrossthe pool and manicured lawn, down the beach and onto theshoreline. Inside latex gloves, the shooters hands grewclammy. Behind the shooters feet, the foamy surf sounded