Cozy Fairy Tale Mystery: Once Upon a Grind (A Coffeehouse Mystery) by Cleo Coyle

Once Upon a Grind (A Coffeehouse Mystery) by Cleo Coyle was released in paperback in September. I missed it when it was released in hardcover last December. It is the 14th book in this popular cozy mystery series and draws on fairy tale themes for the mystery this time. I haven't seen much fun made with coffee beans and Jack and the Beanstalk before. Rather surprising considering the popularity of coffee these days.

Book description:

Fresh Pick - Fresh Fiction
Top Pick - RT Book Reviews
A Best Books of the Year Pick - Kings River Life Magazine

From the New York Times bestselling author of Billionaire Blend comes an enchanting new entry in the "satisfyingly rich" Coffeehouse Mystery series.

Includes wicked good recipes. When coffeehouse manager turned amateur sleuth Clare Cosi serves "magic" beans for a Fairy Tale Fall event, she brews up a vision that leads to a sleeping beauty in Central Park; a big, bad wolf of Wall Street; and an East Side enclave with storybook secrets...

Fairy tale fever has descended on New York City. Broadway fans are flocking to Red Riding Hood: The Musical; museums are exhibiting art inspired by the Brothers Grimm; and Clare Cosi and her merry band of baristas give their coffee truck a "Jack and the Beanstalk" makeover for a Central Park festival. Clare's coffee hunter ex-husband contributes a bag of African beans with alleged magical properties. His octogenarian mother entertains customers with readings of the grinds, but Clare remains skeptical--until she receives a vision that helps her find a young model's body in the park's woods.

The police dismiss "sleeping beauty" as the victim of a drug overdose. Then Clare uncovers evidence that points to a list of suspects--from a New York Giant to quite a few wicked witches--and a cold case murder that reaches back to the Cold War. Now Clare is really in the woods with a dangerous predator on her heels and an investigation that leads from a secret Prince Charming Club right back to her own NYPD detective boyfriend. If she doesn't solve this mystery, those magic beans predict an unhappy ending.