Author: Tara Lush
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book [Audio CD Available]
ISBN #: 9781643857886;
Crooked Lane Books
320 Pages
$26.99; $13.99 Amazon
December 7, 2021
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Between running Perkatory and training Stanley, her golden Shih Tzu puppy, reporter-turned-barista Lana Lewis is too busy to go sleuthing. But when the editor of the local paper asks her to write about the murder, Lana's dreams of getting back into journalism start to percolate.
Lana discovers that the yogi has a nefarious past and her share of mug shots, so grinding her way through the suspect list is a large task. She learns that the victim was fatally beaned by an SUV before she was dumped in the swamp. But was the killer one of her students? An envious yoga teacher? Or a local photographer who seems to know too much?
But no one tells Lana Lewis what to do. Hunting the caf-fiend who killed the yogi puts Lana and Chief Noah's relationship -- and Lana's life -- in very hot coffee.
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Lana Lewis returned home to Devil's Beach, Florida from Miami, when she lost her job at a newspaper and her marriage fell apart. She's taken over running her late mother's coffee shop, Perkatory, since her father isn't really interested. But she misses journalism, so when a local yoga shop owner goes missing, she can't help but be nosy, and when the editor of the local newspaper asks her to do a story, she jumps right in.
But with a new relationship beginning to bloom between her and the police chief, Noah Garcia, Lana has to be careful not to involve him in her own investigation. Which isn't going to be easy, but Lana is determined to ask as many questions as she needs to in order to find out what happened to the yogi. Unfortunately, it seems that someone doesn't want her probing too deep and is going to keep her out of the way, even if that means permanently...
This is the second book in the series, and I do like the fact that it picks up right where the first book left off. So little stories do that, with months going in between and an entire new story beginning. This was the first pleasant surprise.
I will tell you that if you don't love coffee (which I do) you might find the descriptions of Lana making her cold brew tedious, but I did not. I love coffee in all its forms, so this was of interest to me. Aside from that, the tale is entertaining right from the beginning, and we have Lana deciding that she's going to put little Stanley in puppy training, and work at the coffee house, determined to make a life for herself. But when this story comes her way, she can't resist. Goading her on is her barista Erica, who's just as interested, and Lana is off and running.
The suspects are plenty, from her boyfriend, an admirer, her instructors, and even students, it seems there is more to the yogi than anyone knew. As Lana probes deeper, she finds that the woman wasn't everything she appeared, and made more enemies than friends. But she knows that one of these people is a killer, if she can just figure out which one.
The tale is entertaining enough for me to have read it in one sitting. It has enough action to want you to keep reading, and the characters are beginning to grow on me. I do like Lana, Erica, and Noah; and I'm even liking Lana's father a bit more, since he isn't high all the time. (Sorry, but as I stated before, I'm biased as to the fact of what a wonderful father I had, who was an adult and became both parents after my mother's passing, but I really didn't allow this to color my review if you notice by the rating). At any rate, he's more likable in this book and seems more human. Just my opinion.
I enjoyed the narrative quite a bit, getting involved with the story line and following it through to the ending. The clues to the murderer were all there, but even though I figured it out before Lana (I read a lot of mysteries), it was still quite pleasant to read to the end. The climax was especially engaging, as I didn't expect it at all.
Of course, there was the romantic aspect interspersed throughout the book, and while some might think it was over the top, it worked in this book, although it might not in another. In the end, everything came together nicely, and gives us something to look forward to in the next book, which I also am awaiting eagerly. Recommended.
More on Tara Lush's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/l/tara-lush/
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