Through the Grinder

by Cleo Coyle

Book Overview

Business is booming at Clare Cosi's Village Blend, until her female customers start to die. Lieutenant Quinn is convinced that someone has an axe to grind, and, unfortunately, his prime suspect is the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 042519714X
• ISBN13: 9780425197141
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 275 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.3" x 6.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Ugh, Really?

Storyline is predictable, as is the ending. Top that all off with a mishmash of irrelevant details and this book has about 200 extra pages above and beyond the "mystery". The protagonist often comes off as a dumb blonde who's indiscriminate about men treating her like a plaything so she can feel good about her "beauty". Her relationships are totally one-sided all in favor of the other person involved. I give her three stars for being Italian-American, as am I, and a halfway decent business woman.

Exceptionally authentic

Wherever Clare Cosi goes, murder seems to occur! This is the 2nd book in this series and I loved it. I wondered how the author would make it seem authentic instead of redundant but she did it exceptionally well. The mystery was present throughout the entire book and the ending wasn’t guessable. I feel like this could be read as a stand alone book too. The recipes at the end look delicious and I can’t wait to give them a try!

Light, fun, funny? Yes. Also clever and fresh...

(Five stars--four if you have no interest in coffee or coffeehouses.) I enjoy Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse series. I am also in agreement with the reviewers who have selected this book as their favorite thus far. It has the very best puzzle and is quite clever in its construction, giving the reader a glimpse of the killer's point-of-view yet still keeping the identity of the killer a secret. This could not have been easy to accomplish, yet Ms. Coyle did so quite adeptly. Overall, I find Ms. Coyle's writing clever, entertaining, and perfectly suited to the cozy mystery genre in which it is written. It is not "literary" in the sense that it is straightforward storytelling, in keeping with much of Christie, and I find absolutely nothing wrong with that. I have no problem with the humor, either, which at times approaches satire--Janet Evanovich often pushes the envelope with Stephanie Plum, as well, and if you like her, you'll have no problem with Cleo Coyle. The mystery in Through the Grinder is quite strong and the clues fairly and cleverly placed. I found it a challenge to guess whodunit and why before the last page was turned. Another reviewer has sited the work as "silly," (hmmm...) I think that's the wrong word. The middle-aged heroine's journey through the perils of modern dating (including online and speed dating) was hilarious to me (not silly) and clearly meant to be satirical. The theme of marriages gone wrong was actually sad and poignant, and the journey through some fascinating parts of New York intriguing and well written. Here's a descriptive passage I enjoyed later in the novel, which I found charming (certainly this author knows her setting)... "An hour after sunset, autumn changed to winter in the Village, giving me my first New York snowfall in ten years....They say time slows for people in this part of the city. The pace is more leisurely, the objectives more mannered than midtown's lean, reaching towers of commercial sport. On a quiet evening like this, with a thick white blanket muting sounds of car traffic, ambulance sirens and cell phones, time didn't just slow, it stopped altogether. I was no longer in twenty-first century Manhattan. With the low ghostly clouds erasing the tops of skyscrapers, I'd entered the pages of Henry James and Edith Wharton...." I believe a work should be judged not by a few lifted phrases, grammatical anomalies, or typos, but as a whole. (There's a famous quotation by Evelyn Waugh, who called this "the badger digging of literary blood sports.") In my opinion, Through the Grinder's characters, setting, story, and the entire series it belongs to have been (thus far anyway) entertaining to me, and I will certainly continue to read Ms. Coyle's future books.

The best so far. I've been hitting Greenwich Village for coffee ever since "On What Grounds"!

A lot of reviews I've read complained about the darkness of this book compared to the others. I really enjoyed this one, more than the last ones! I appreciate the darker tone Claire's life had taken. Of course, given that the woman gets to see more murder than most, one would think that the sinister edge in this book would have her screaming for NJ's 'burbs and the less exciting(read: boring)times(and I'm from Jersey and still live here proudly, so no whining from people who think I'm just bashing my great state). I really loved the twists and turns this book took with the plots. Just when I thought I knew who was "The Genius", I was slapped down. Maybe that's what I loved about "Through the Grinder"; not only was Claire taken throught it(the grinder) with dating and worrying about Joy's safety with online dating, the picking off of her customers one by one, Claire's own taking a chance on love and hitting the dating scene, but the reader with the red herrings and plot twists Ms. Cosi threw out for her fans too. That's not even mentioning the obvious..all that delicious coffee grinding daily at the Village Blend! My only gripe: NO recipe for that delicious dessert Claire made for Bruce for their first date! Lucky for me I'm a professionally trained pastry chef, so I can experiment to my heart's content. I already use the coffee trick with beef, except I use it to braise tough cuts of meats(like pot roast), but the other tips and recipes were wonderful and definitely worth making. I'm eagerly awaiting the next Claire Cosi mystery, but AUGUST? What am I going to read til then? I'm already reading Latte Trouble!!

A Piping Hot Cuppa Mystery...

Clare, you are my cuppa coffee! All hail the goddess caffina. Yep, the coffeehouse is open and the mystery is piping hot. This mystery series takes place in an historic Greenwich Village coffeehouse and I love the eclectic coffeehouse atmosphere created by the author. You really feel for the characters in this installment (this is the 2nd in the series). Clare Cosi has come back to managing the coffeehouse after many years away from the job, raising her daughter. When her female customers start to die, she starts to investigate. The murderer is someone you love to hate. (The author gives you a glimpse into the murderer's mind as each murder is planned and executed to make the victims appear as suicides.) Even Joy, her daughter, and Clare herself are in danger by the end. A real page-turner laced with plenty of humor and lots of great coffee trivia and suggestions for making and enjoying the perfect cup. Better have some coffee nearby when you read this. Or better yet read it IN a coffeehouse because the author's descriptions of drinking coffee make you yearn for that perfect cup yourself!

A satisfying second cup

Through the Grinder (book #2 in the coffee house mystery seires) refers not only to the process of preparing coffee, but to the trials and tribulations of e-dating (on-line dating) and the singles scene. Both Claire Cosi (manager and part owner of The Village Blend coffeehouse in NYC) and her daughter, Joy, have enrolled in an e-dating service. They are even trying out the singles connection nights are held every so often in The Village Blend. A serial killer seems to be preying on women who are trying to make a love connection. And there's a link that leads police right back to The Village Blend and the new guy in Claire's life. Through the Grinder is a good mystery that is packed with information about coffee, New York City neighborhoods, and the business of being single. A satisfying second cup in good series.

No Sophomore Slump Here

Thirty-nine-year-old Clare Cosi is terrified at the thought that her twenty-year-old daughter Joy is contemplating online dating. So, she decides to experience it for herself, and ends up finding someone absolutely perfect for her, Bruce Bowman. Unfortunately, the Village Blend - where Clare is the friendly manager - is having some trouble. Business is booming, as always, but many of Clare's customers are beginning to die, one by one. And, oddly enough, they all seem to die soon after drinking a cup of Clare's famous coffee blend. Soon Detective Quinn is on the case, and searching for suspects. Unfortunately, his prime suspect is Bruce Bowman, who happens to have connections to each of the dead women. Now Clare is planning on finding the murderer, and clearing Bruce's name, before anyone else dies. Namely her. Cleo Coyle's writing just gets better and better. After reading her first COFFEEHOUSE MYSTERY, ON WHAT GROUNDS, I couldn't wait to delve into another mystery featuring everyone's favorite barista Clare Cosi. Coyle's wonderful descriptions of coffee-making techniques are extremely fun to read, and make the reader - coffee-frinker or not - want to rush out to the closest coffeehouse. Featuring a wonderful collection of coffee recipes in the back of the book, this is one mystery novel that can't be missed! Erika Sorocco Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper