Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
May have some shelf-wear due to normal use. Your purchase funds free job training and education in the greater Seattle area. Thank you for supporting Goodwill's nonprofit mission!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. Minimal signs of wear. Corners and cover may show wear. May contain highlighting and or writing. May be missing dust jacket. May not include supplemental materials. May be a former library book.
Fresh Brewed Murder by Emmeline Duncan is the debut of A Ground Rules Mystery series. Sage Caplin is twenty-seven with a unique childhood. She is opening a coffee cart with Harley in Portland, Oregon. Sage�s backstory is revealed slowly throughout this first book. We get to meet her friends and family. There are vivid descriptions of Portland that really brought the city alive for me. I did feel that this book was a little all over the place. The focus never stayed on the mystery for long. It felt like more time is spent discussing coffee than the whodunit. I had no idea there were so many varieties of coffee nor ways to make it. The book discusses roasting coffee beans and the flavors it brings out too. I know more about coffee than I ever wanted to know (sorry, but I do not like the beverage). Sage has family drama that dominates the story plus the book delves into the plights of runaway teens who are homeless. We follow Sage about her daily routine which is boring to read. The book needed more action which would have improved the pacing. The mystery of the dead developer is straightforward. There are several viable suspects along with misdirection. Avid cozy mystery readers will have no problem discerning the guilty party before the reveal. I could not get into Fresh Brewed Murder. A Ground Rules Mystery series is not the right fit for me. I believe it will appeal to a younger audience. There are recipes for items mentioned in the book at the end. Fresh Brewed Murder is a lighthearted cozy mystery with scrumptious coffees, a dead developer, cart chaos, a runaway teenager, a determined detective, and a parental predicament.
Lori
Apr 17, 2021
FRESH BREWED MURDER
Dollycas's Thoughts
Sage Caplin and her partner Harley have opened a coffee food truck in a local lot. Sage is a people person and Harley is a master coffee bean roaster. Together they are hoping their business takes off and that they will soon move from their food cart to a brick-and-mortar store. The food truck lot is not without drama. There are protestors walking in opposition to a new high rise and some of the other food truck vendors wonder how Sage and Harley got such a coveted spot especially when other vendors lost their spots due to the proposed construction of the high rise.
After just a couple of days serving coffee savvy customers, Sage finds one of those customers dead right in front of her cart and the murder weapon appears to be the box cutter she borrowed from one of the other vendors. The detective assigned to the case believes Sage is guilty especially when he finds out who her mother is. Strange this is happening right after her mother reaches out to her after years of absence. Sage doesn't have time to worry about her mother, she needs to find the real killer now and get the detective off her back before she ends up behind bars.
In this first Ground Rules Mystery, we meet barista Sage Caplin. She has had a very interesting life which gives her a unique perspective regarding some of the people she meets over the course of this story. I was intrigued by the way she handled the homeless population camping out nearby. She was very empathic and willing to help even volunteering to hand out hygiene and food packages to them. As this is the first book in the series I feel we have just scratched the surface of this character. We are also introduced to her partner Harley, her great uncle Jimmy, her police detective dad, her lawyer brother Jackson and her cousin Miles. Her mother makes an appearance via a phone call. All the characters are cleverly written with plenty of room left for growth.
The author sets the scene of Portland and everywhere Sage visits very well. I could easily see each location come to life. We are also given quite an education about coffee beans and their brewing. I am not much of a coffee drinker but thought I knew every way it could be brewed but I was wrong. I learned some new things from Sage. I loved the way they came up with original custom drinks, some with alcohol for one of their new customers.
This time the protagonist isn't actively searching full boar for the killer. She keeps her eyes and ears open and has some keen observations. There are several suspects and surprising ties between the deceased and another character. I am pleased to say the guilty party was on my list of top three suspects early on in the story but I was still surprised at the big reveal as to the true motive. Ms. Duncan served up some nice twists to divert the reader's attention but I held strong to my own theories. I was concerned about the relaxed pacing of the book and while the ending was exciting I would have liked a faster pace. I was engaged by the characters and that did keep the pages turning.
The author has set off this series to a fine start with Fresh Brewed Murder. I am looking forward to the next installment to see these characters evolve and to get to know them better. Coffee connoisseurs will love the drink descriptions and may want to brew a cup or two to enjoy while reading the book.
