Village Blend coffeehouse is one of the event sites for Fall Fashion Week, thanks to having inspired designer Lottie Harmon's hot new line of coffee themed accessories. Great publicity, right? Right. Up until manager Clare Cosi watches a pair of partygoers turn bright pink and collapse after sharing one of her lattes. The police (OK, these characters are a bit over the top) have decided Clare's barista provided the poison and just don't want to hear differently. So she obviously has to investigate herself. Of course that means getting help, which comes with new problems, like her philandering ex-husband cum business partner, and her ex-mother-in-law, both of whom would like to remove the ex. But hey, an imperious, impeccably dressed elderly woman who can talk her way out of any situation is one of the best assets a detective can have and Clare will do whatever it takes to spring her favorite barista.

This was a bit confusing to read at first, with too many names and relationships that I probably could have handled better if I'd known some of them from prior books. But it settled down to a fun cozy read that kept my interest and provided a few unexpected twists to the very end. Not top 10 favorite material for my taste, but I definitely liked it enough to go looking for those prior books I missed.