French Pressed: 09/05/18

French Pressed by Cleo Coyle is the sixth of the Coffeehouse mysteries. Joy Alegro has taken an internship at a fancy French restaurant. When Clare and Madame go to wish her well, they encounter terrible coffee and an out of control sous chef. Meanwhile, a missing prep cook is found murdered and Joy is the prime suspect.

While the previous mysteries have been coffee focused — on the business, the cultivation, the history, etc., this one is on the high end restaurant business. I found Clare being a little out of her league refreshing. It also helped to build suspense in ways that the previous one, Decaffeinated Corpse didn't.

As with previous Joy centered stories, I found Joy's characterization immature. Yes she's young. Yes she's making some idiotic mistakes (like being seduced / pressured into an affair with her mentor). Yes, Clare had her at a young age, but boy does Joy whine a lot.

That said, the mystery was still compelling enough to keep me listening. The seventh book in the series is Espresso Shot (2008).

Five stars

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