Joy has also landed, much to Clare’s consternation, Solange’s hot, and much older and married, executive chef Tommy Keitel. Joy is doing well at the restaurant and like any newly independent woman doesn’t take her mother’s advice about Chef Keitel. Clare is learning to keep her opinions to herself, but to be on hand when the time comes that Joy needs her to pick up the pieces.  

This time comes sooner than Clare imagined and in a different guise. One evening after a tantrum by the assistant chef, witnessed by Clare who was dining at Solange, Joy goes to another intern’s house after receiving a frantic phone call and finds Vinny dead, stabbed with a chef’s knife.  Joy is considered a suspect, and moves up to prime suspect after Chef Keitel is killed in the same manner, the night he publicly humiliated Joy by breaking up with her and announcing her internship transfer in front of the entire kitchen staff. 

Now Joy is in jail and Clare and Matt must pull together to help their daughter, a situation that displeases Mike, especially since Matt’s mother has given him and Joy equal shares and rights to the apartment above the coffeehouse. Mike agrees to help Clare clear her daughter’s name, but at the same time is involved in a con sting of his own, and never imagines that not only will Clare uncover Vinny’s and Tommy’s killers, but will also help catch the crew that has been preying on middle age club goers at the city’s hottest spots.  

Once again, the married team who is Cleo Coyle has written an enjoyable, fast-paced mystery that features a perky heroine who has gone from single mother to savvy business owner, able to deal with her lothario ex-husband, teenage, now young adult daughter and has several solved murders to her credit. 

The plot is carefully constructed and there are many suspects and possible motives, including a compelling case that Joy committed the crimes. Readers may be stumped until the very end.  There is plenty of restaurant gossip, both behind the scenes and front of the house, to satisfy serious foodies. For those looking for a caffeine fix, there is plenty of information about coffee, even some coffee and cheese paring tips! 

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry