Grounds for Murder

Grounds for Murder by Tara Lush has Lana Lewis back home in Devil’s Beach, Florida after a series of setbacks. She is now the manager of the family coffee shop, Perkatory. Lana has entered herself and employee Fabrizio “Fab” Bellucci in the Sunshine State Barista Championship. With Fab at the helm, Lana is sure Perkatory will take home the prize. Then Fab quits and goes to work for the competition leaving Lana high and dry. Lana takes out her anger out on Fab at Island Brewnette in front of a crowd. The next day, Lana finds Fab dead behind Perkatory. The forensics point to suicide. Lana knows that Fab would not harm himself and wants to prove he was murdered. Lana puts her investigative journalist skills to work tracking down Fab’s killer. Can Lana find the guilty party, or will she end up the next victim? Grounds for Murder is the debut of A Coffee Lover’s Mystery series. I like that the author took the time to establish the town and our main character. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of Devil’s Beach (I want to visit). The words describing the coffee will have you heading to your local coffee shop for a caffeine fix. The mystery was interesting with multiple suspects and few clues (best type of mystery to solve). We follow Lana as sets out to prove Fab was murdered and find out who killed him. I could have done with less of Lana’s thoughts regarding Noah Garcia (how handsome he is, his big muscles, how good he smells). I prefer a more subtle romance that plays out over the course of the series. I do like the chemistry between Noah and Lana. I am curious to see how their relationship will progress. Grounds for Murder is an entertaining start to A Coffee Lover’s Mystery series. Grounds for Murder is a fun lighthearted cozy mystery with creative coffee art, a precious puppy, a laid-back dad, an eye-catching police chief, a curious crime, and jaded journalist.

This book was fun. It’s a little bit slapstick and a whole lot crazy. There were times that this felt like I was reading a text version of the Keystone Cops. It seemed like there was lots of fuss and bother with not a lot of forward motion. I adored Stanley, but I’m still on the fence about Lana. There were times I really admired her spunk and sarcasm, yet there were the other times when I was left wondering how she could have been an award-winning journalist for a prestigious newspaper considering the absolute flights of fancy she comes up with and calls “clues”. I also have to admire Chief Garcia’s patience with her, because I was left shaking my head multiple times during this book. By the end, Lana had started to grow on me, along with the rest of her quirky, zany tribe, and now I’m looking forward to seeing where the series will take us next. I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book through NetGalley.