Brenda H. (booksinvt) -
Helpful Score: 2
Grounds for Murder is the debut of the A Coffee Lover's Mystery series set in Devil's Beach, Florida and featuring journalist/coffee shop owner, Lana Lewis. Recently divorced and fired from her job in Miami, Lana has returned home to run Perkatory, the coffee shop started by her late mother. She's looking forward to entering the Sunshine State Barista Championship with her talented employee, Fabrizio "Fab" Belucci and is busy practicing her latte art.
Fab is popular, maybe too popular, with the ladies so he's been a big customer draw for Perkatory. However, when he doesn't show up for his shift one day and isn't in his upstairs apartment over the shop, Lana is stunned to learn that he's quit and gone to work for the competition at the Island Brewnette. Did Fab quit because Lana was looking to hire another barista or did it have to do with his girlfriend, Paige whose father owns the competing shop? Either way Lana is mad and goes to confront him resulting in a very public argument - unfortunately, when Fab turns up dead in the alley behind Perkatory the next morning all fingers point to Lana as the killer.
Desperately wanting to clear her name and save her mother's coffee shop, Lana sets out under the guise of writing an article about Fab's life for the local newspaper to find out what really happened. She quickly learns that Fab was hiding quite a bit about his personal life from alligator poaching to a rumored Mafia connection to a kinky sexual appetite.
Lana teams up with Chief Noah Garcia, her new barista Erica Penmark, her pot smoking hippy Dad and an adorable Shi-Tzu named Stanley. A fast paced plot with twists and turns makes for an easy afternoon read. Lana is a little tough to warm up to but by the end of the book I was enjoying spending time with her and Stanley and will look foward to her next adventures.
Fab is popular, maybe too popular, with the ladies so he's been a big customer draw for Perkatory. However, when he doesn't show up for his shift one day and isn't in his upstairs apartment over the shop, Lana is stunned to learn that he's quit and gone to work for the competition at the Island Brewnette. Did Fab quit because Lana was looking to hire another barista or did it have to do with his girlfriend, Paige whose father owns the competing shop? Either way Lana is mad and goes to confront him resulting in a very public argument - unfortunately, when Fab turns up dead in the alley behind Perkatory the next morning all fingers point to Lana as the killer.
Desperately wanting to clear her name and save her mother's coffee shop, Lana sets out under the guise of writing an article about Fab's life for the local newspaper to find out what really happened. She quickly learns that Fab was hiding quite a bit about his personal life from alligator poaching to a rumored Mafia connection to a kinky sexual appetite.
Lana teams up with Chief Noah Garcia, her new barista Erica Penmark, her pot smoking hippy Dad and an adorable Shi-Tzu named Stanley. A fast paced plot with twists and turns makes for an easy afternoon read. Lana is a little tough to warm up to but by the end of the book I was enjoying spending time with her and Stanley and will look foward to her next adventures.
