Cozy mysteries featuring coffee and animals are usually my favorite. I didn’t really like Lana, the main character, at all. She had some rough breaks, but she had a guaranteed job due to her family owning a coffee shop. Instead of being content and grateful, she whined about not being a true crime reporter anymore. I loved Stanley, the murder victim’s dog. He, along with Lana’s dad, were my two favorite characters. Sadly, it’s not enough for me to finish the book and it won’t be enough for me to think about trying the next book in the series. Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is my kind of cozy. Bawdy. Smart. Emotional. Funny. Sexy. I loved every aspect of the heroine and the chief. The mystery kept me guessing throughout. I loved the reveal at the end. This is my first cozy by Tara Lush, but it won't be my last. I can't wait until her next book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a chance to read this awesome cozy mystery. I look forward to reading more from this talented author.

Grounds for Murder by Tara Lush
Book #1: A Coffee Lover’s Mystery Series
Source: NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books
Rating: 3/5 stars

Lana Lewis never thought she would be returning home with her tail tucked between her legs. At her age, Lana Lewis saw herself having at least an award or two for her writing skills and reporting savvy and continuing her upward trajectory as a crack reporter. Unfortunately, the rise of the internet has made her life and career as a newspaper reporter redundant and that’s how she’s found herself behind the counter of her father’s coffee shop.

Lana is trying to settle in as the new manager/co-owner of her family’s Devil’s Beach coffee shop, but the transition has been difficult. If it weren’t for her lothario barista, Fabrizio, Lana likely would have already seen the end of the coffee shop. Though Lana knows good coffee, she’s never been a proper business owner and the learning curve has been steep. Thanks to Fabrizio, the shop is thriving, and Lana has learned the ropes quickly and even seen a positive shift in shop’s fortunes.

With things looking to be on the up and up, Lana is finally feeling somewhat optimistic about the future. The only thing giving her cause for concern is the upcoming Sunshine State Barista Championship. While Fabrizio is sure to carry the competition, Lana isn’t so confident in her own skills. The competition will bring the shop some great publicity if Lana can hold her own and back up Fabrizio.

And then, the unthinkable happens . . . . twice! First, and quite unexpectedly Fabrizio quits the coffee shop and moves over to the competition and then, he has the audacity to die just outside Lana’s shop. With a double whammy already upon her and not willing to risk a third, Lana activates her reporter instincts and begins digging into the investigation. In order to make her involvement legitimate, Lana calls on her local newspaper contacts to score a two-story deal related to the murder of her former employee.

As Lana begins digging around, she uncovers some harsh truths about her former employee that she would have rather not known. What’s more, with every level of dirt Lana pushes away, an unknown party hellbent on remaining anonymous and out of jail stalks her and tries to shut down her efforts. Lana isn’t on her own by any means and when she needs local information, she turns to her plugged-in father who is a font of local knowledge/gossip. When Lana is looking for a partner in crime, she turns to her new barista, a slightly Gothish coffee goddess with a bit of a wild side.

The Bottom Line: I can honestly say, I am a total middle of the road reader on this one. I think my favorite part of the book would have to be the coffee and I’m not even a coffee drinker. What’s more, I liked Lana when she was in regular person mode, but reporter Lana really pissed me off. That dog with a bone/anything to get a story mentality is one I have a particular hatred for in characters. I do like the setting, the coffee shop, and Lana’s father so I don’t think I’m quite done with this series just yet. The Coffee Lover’s Mystery Series is one that deserves a second chance/book and since I am so middle of the road, I am willing to give another book a go.

Excellent read.

Former journalist, now coffee shop manager, Lana Lewis is a bit of a coffee snob, but she doesn't rub it in. She does give away a lot of free coffees, which is perhaps not a good way to run a business, but it somehow makes her a very likeable character.

After her barista quits without giving notice, Lana stomps into his new place of work to give him a piece of her mind. Then she leaves for Miami because a series of articles she wrote is up for an award. When she returns to her coffee shop the next morning, she finds the body of her former barista in the alley.

Was it a suicide? An accident? Did someone kill him? Lana's journalistic instincts tingle and she starts to investigate under the guise/with the intention to write an article about the barista for the local paper.

Lana lost her job and ditched her husband and now she's back in Devil's Beach, Florida, where she's working with her dad in the Perkatory. Dad, btw, is an unrepentant pot smoking new ager and he's a hoot. Lana finds herself in a pickle when her employee Fab (he's really not) quits right before the big barista championship and goes to work for Paige, who he's been dating, and her father, who owns a rival business. They have a big argument and cozy readers know what happens next- Fab is found dead and Lana is the prime suspect. Noah. the chief of police, isn't too thrilled when Lana uses her investigative skills, honed as a reporter, to turn up evidence that Fab had a whole range of bad acts in his back story. Lana's a good character, the mystery is just twisty enough, and it's funny without going over the top. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm looking forward to the next one.

I like the author’s writing style and and most of her characters. My problem with the book was that I really didn’t like the victim so it made it difficult for me to care who killed him.

Lana is a once was reporter turned coffee shop owner who stumbles upon the dead body of a coworker/ex-coworker. It's up to her to figure out who murdered him, so that his death isn't ruled a suicide.

This was great! It had just the right amount of twists and turns and quirkiness. I cannot wait for more books in this series!

I love coffee shops and ran one for a little while so, this book was a perfect break for me. Lana Lewis has returned home to Devil's Beach, Florida after a divorce and a job loss as a journalist, to help run her family coffee shop.
When the lead barista leaves suddenly to go to the competition Lana is understandably unhappy. When lana finds the barista dead behind her shop she is the first suspect in his death. Lana begins to try to find a killer so she can clear her name. There is a great cast of characters, a really good story and it moves very well. I can't wait to see what is going to happen next! Grab you favorite coffee and sit back and enjoy the beginning of this new series!
Thanks NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Tara Lush for an advance copy of Grounds for Murder in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A cute cozy mystery set in a small island town in Florida . Lana, who now runs her mother’s coffee shop, finds herself in the middle of a possible murder investigation when one of her former employees is find dead.

This is definitely worth ta read if you enjoy cozy or classic mysteries .

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an opportunity to read Grounds For Murder.

Lana, recently divorced and fired from her job as a reporter, is now back home running her mom’s coffee shop. When a recent employee is found dead behind the coffee shop, Lana is both a suspect and finds herself investigating the potential murder

This book is cute - I loved all the coffee chat ...I was craving a latte all afternoon while reading this 😆 there’s a bit of mystery, some eccentric towns folks and a budding romance .

Definitely recommend this for cozy mystery lovers, or if you are looking for something light and fun!

I’ll definitely be looking out for the next book in this series.

3.5 ⭐️

Fabrizio Bellucci is from Milan, Italy somewhat of a coffee celebrity because of his artfully designed lattes. Also for his shirtless selfies snapped on the white Florida sand two blocks from Lana’s coffee shop. Perkatory was decorated in hues of weathered wood with sky blue accents.she enjoys chatting with people all day and getting the island gossip of the day. Customer’s love the latte art and there’s a completion on Devil’s Beach in two weeks. Then Fab goes over to Island Brewnett the only other cafe in Devil’s Beach to compete for them in the barista competition. Upon returning from Miami for the Florida Society of Professional Journalists awards ceremony Lana finds a body. The person was curled up almost in fetal position. Clad in khaki pants and a black t-shirt muscular body and short dark hair. When she went around the body of the man to get a better view she gasped in horror realizing it was Fabrizio Bellucci and even in death he couldn’t wipe the smirk from his face. Dead in the alley a few short steps from Lana’s cafes back door. When the police investigate they find that Fab fell from the roof. Did he fall or was he pushed. They found his flip-flops and 1/2 a glass of wine on the roof. The police will be investigating where he had been and with whom. There’s only one person who’s had issues with Fab recently and that’s Lana. Chief Garcia questioned Lana if she knew who wanted Fab dead and she shook her head saying”I’ve been asking myself the same question for 24 hours now.” I thought it was a suicide but everything is on the table to find the person who may have done it. An enjoyable mystery for the reader to get involved with.

Well-written, fast-paced drama with a comfortable tone quickly became a page-turner as I had to know how this was going to end. We are introduced to an eclectic cast of characters that includes a former journalist and now owner of a local café, her hipster dad, the new barista, the local police chief, the customers, and of course Stanley who all had pivotal roles in the telling of this light-hearted and quirky whodunit. The author did a great job in setting this up with a perfect backdrop of an island location adrift with people who would ultimately become suspects in a murder investigation despite the local police deeming it something else. Lana was determined to prove her theory and it was that focus that kept me intrigued and immersed in all aspects as she looked for clues about the victim that would evidently lead to a motive and once the list of suspects were alibied, it left one person standing, holding the proverbial weapon. This was a fun read and I enjoyed getting to know Lana, Erica, Noah, and Stanley. I look forward to more exciting adventures in this delightfully engaging debut series.

Lana is put in charge of her parents coffee shop “Perkatory” in the town of Devils Beach and she’s trying to make the best of it. Fabrizio is an employee and Perkatory and he is, let’s just say supposed to be swoon worth. I just can’t get the vision of Fabio out of my mind. LOL!
Anyway Fabi as they call him ends up dead and Lana is the number one suspect. Of course she tries to solve the crime to clear her name but will she be able to before it’s too late?
I love cozy mysteries and this one didn’t read like a normal cozy does. I felt this had more talk of sex and bondage than necessary. I don’t have a problem reading about it but I just don’t really want it in my cozy mystery. That should be in a romance novel in my opinion.
I did enjoy the characters and I am looking forward to the next book in the series to see where it goes. Overall I give it a 3.5 out of 5.
I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

Grounds For Murder by Tara Lush is the 1st book in A Coffee Lover's Mystery series, and my first book by this author. I enjoyed this book. Lana Lewis returns home to Florida after she gets a divorce. Lana is taking over managing the family's coffee shop. Lana is trying to learn Barista art, when her second in command, Fab, goes to work for the competition. When Fab is discovered dead, Lana becomes the prime suspect. This was a fun book, but there is a lot of room for improvement. At times I wasn't sure I even liked Lana. I will be reading the next book in the series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was so happy to review this new debut cozy series . This is the first book in the series. The cover was enticing and I liked the protagnist who is recovering from a humiliating divorce by returning home to a coastal town to work in her families coffee shop . She has a love interest right away with the police chief.

I was disappointed by the addition of a lot of sexual talk and even bondage in this book which is offensive to every woman. No woman wants to read about bondage, its very poor taste and sickening to read. i do not want that in my cozies and its not something usually added to cozies as we cozy readers prefer clean mysteries to read. After reading this I would recommend it to those that read smutty sex romance as that seems where this series is going. It was hard to focus on the mystery at hand which should be more developed in the next book. Not a book I can recommend and very disappointing. I had to skip over the sex talk it was so offensive. Three stars for effort. I hope the author will make changes if this series continues. Not a cozy for cozy readers this is more in the sex romance area.

From hard hitting investigative reporter to hard tamping barrista/shop co-owner. Looking for something new in somewhere familiar Lana Lewis returns home to Devil's Beach to help her Dad run Perkartory the family coffee shop while she regrops from a job loss and a divorce. Honestly I think she is better off without either of them, especially the husband who left her for a younger (practically out of high school younger) woman. Now all Lana wants to do is learn to pour some latte art and to not look bad while competing in the Sunshine State Barista Championship. She is definetly not looking for love in all the right or wrong places but she can't help but notice a certain police chief, Sheriff Hottie as one might call him, that same someone (Erica) might just have changed the contact info in Lana's phone. I'm not sure how much he can be trusted though, he doesn't even drink coffee or tea for that matter, just hot water with a lemon? What is that all about? Our story starts with a latte art lesson and then the defection and death of lead barista and local lothario, Fabrizio Bellucci from Milan. The man went through women like a fashionista goes through shoes. Did he fall off the roof or was he pushed? Either way Lana wants to find out the truth. Jilted lovers, irate boyfriends, an odd older couple, the surfer dude, or was it the Girlfriend and her scary coffee shop owning father, just so many suspects to choose from. Lana gets that investigative itch and well, coffee making just isn't going to cover it like investigative reporting can. I have never had a latte but after looking up latte art I think I am going to need to try one and you should definelty try this new series starter.

Thank you NetGalley, Tara Lush and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC of Grounds for Murder. This is my personal review.
Grounds for Murder is the first book in the A Coffee Lovers’ mystery series by Tara Lush.
Lana was working in Miami as a journalist but after losing that job she moves home to run the family coffee shop “Perkatory" in Devils Beach.
The characters in the story are such a good fit together. The coffee shop is the main stage of the story and as I was reading, I felt like I was there with all of them. I look forward to the next book in the series.
The story had everything in it you expect in a cozy mystery.

This book was not my cup of coffee. Although I liked the main character and her passion for journalism as a means to investigate and solve crimes, there was too much sexual innuendo for my cozy genre taste such as multiple mentions of bondage and sex voyeurism and her constant mention of the police chief's physical physique.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. My review is voluntary.

This was such a fun and wonderful start to a brand new cozy mystery series. The location was perfect, the coffee tidbits were tampered just right and the characters were beyond fantastic!

The laid back vibe of Devil's Beach was so inviting. I loved the small beachfront town with it's ocean views and small interesting shops and hangouts. Perkatory (genius name for a coffee shop) was such a great hangout. I could easily picture the decor and was very impressed by the menu items. My husband is a coffee fanatic so all of the chatter about foam art, good beans, pulling shots and expensive machines was all too familiar. Having said that, the info wasn't overdone and easily wove into the story line giving the reader just a few extra facts.

Lana is a wonderful lead. I liked her personality immediately. The fact that she comes from a journalism background made her sleuthing style very believable. Her chemistry with Hot Sheriff ... I mean Chief was fun to watch. I definitely look forward to watching their relationship progress and learning a bit more about Noah. Erica is an extremely intriguing character, but I think my fav was Lana's New Age dad. His antics and practices just made me laugh and smile every single time he appeared. Of course, Stanley is the cutest puppy side kick ever.

The mystery was captivating from start to finish. I like that we got to know the victim for a few chapters before his mysterious death occurred. I had the culprit pegged instantly, but really kept second guessing myself as more and more suspects were introduced. There were quite a few shady characters and plenty of red herrings to throw you off the case. I'll be interested to see if any of them show up in other books.

Add this one to your list!!! It was full of great humor, entertainment and just everything you are looking for in a cozy mystery. Plus it had a really carefree, original young vibe to it which was refreshing to come across.

Grounds for Murder is the first book in the A Coffee Lover´s Mystery series by Tara Lush. This cozy mystery is set in Devil's Beach, Florida and features a former journalist turned barista / coffee shop owner looking into the murder of one of her employees in the alley behind her shop.

Toss in a potential love interest with the new police officer in town and you have a fun beach setting for romance and murder investigations.

This book is a good start to the series - it sets up the town and Lana's connections. Some of her decisions are certainly questionable, but hopefully the romance storyline with Noah continues in future books. This has the potential to be a fun, quirky series as the author develops her writing craft.

*****ARC received free via NetGalley*****