A Brew to a Kill

Berkley Prime Crime titles by Cleo Coyle

Coffeehouse Mysteries

ON WHAT GROUNDS
THROUGH THE GRINDER
LATTE TROUBLE
MURDER MOST FROTHY
DECAFFEINATED CORPSE
FRENCH PRESSED
ESPRESSO SHOT
HOLIDAY GRIND
ROAST MORTEM
MURDER BY MOCHA
A BREW TO A KILL

Haunted Bookshop Mysteries writing as Alice Kimberly

THE GHOST AND MRS. MCCLURE
THE GHOST AND THE DEAD DEB
THE GHOST AND THE DEAD MAN’S LIBRARY
THE GHOST AND THE FEMME FATALE
THE GHOST AND THE HAUNTED MANSION

ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

A Brew to a Kill
is the eleventh book in the Coffeehouse Mystery series, and as many of you know, I’ve written all of them in collaboration with my very talented spouse, Marc Cerasini—a better partner a girl couldn’t ask for. He and I both owe a debt of gratitude to our publisher. First and foremost, we’d like to recognize our editor Wendy McCurdy for her unflagging support and professionalism. We’d also like to thank her son, Alex Schoch, for suggesting this book’s clever title, which set the perfect tone for the story.

The staff at Penguin’s Berkley Prime Crime is among the best in the business, and we sincerely thank them for shepherding this beautiful book into publication, including assistant editor Katherine Pelz, production editor Megan Gerrity, copyeditor Jessica McDonnell, and art director Rita Frangie.

The research behind
A Brew to a Kill
emerged from our decades of living and working in New York City. More recently, we credit a fast-moving culinary odyssey that began on Governors Island at the Vendy Awards, which annually honors the best street chefs of New York. Our voyage continued through the dynamic Asian community of Manhattan’s Chinatown, the eclectic peninsula of Red Hook, Brooklyn, and the polyglot neighborhoods of Queens, especially the warm and welcoming Filipino community of Little Manila in Woodside.

More specifically, we’d like to thank all twenty-two finalists in the 2011 Vendy Award’s cook-off competition for inspiring many of the culinary aspects of this mystery, especially the Cupcake Crew truck (www.cupcakecrewnyc.com). Please note that the members of this Cupcake Crew are kind, generous, and creative—in short, nothing like the completely fictional Kupcake Kween and her mischief-makers.

Thanks also to the La Bella Torte truck (www.labellatorte.com) for their delicious Italian pastries, good humor, and the saying on their truck. More than a famous movie quote, “Leave the gun, take the cannoli” pretty much defines what our Coffeehouse Mysteries are all about.

From our gastronomic research in Lower Manhattan’s Chinatown, we’d like to thank the very talented pastry chef John Wu and his Everything Frosted on Mosco Street (www.everythingfrosted.com/about_us.html). Another inspiration for the Kaylie express, this wonderful establishment also inspired Mrs. Li’s kitchen.

Our egg custard tart research included many bakeries in Chinatown, and we’d like to single out happy stops at Golden Manna Bakery on Bowery Steet and the Lucky King Bakery and Natalie Bakery Inc. on Grand. Thanks to all for the kind service and excellent tarts!

In Woodside, Queens’s Little Manila, we found valuable inspiration in Filipino cuisine at the beloved eatery Renee’s Kitchenette and Grill, as well as Engeline’s restaurant, and the East Coast outpost for Red Ribbon Bakery. You can find them all, too, via New York’s 7 train above Roosevelt Avenue.

As for the coffee research in this book, aspects of Matt’s Brazilian Ambrosia came from two superb offerings of San Francisco’s Ritual Coffee Roasters (www.ritualroasters.com): the Santa Lúcia and the Sao Benedito, both produced by the Pereira Family of Brazil. For barista background, we extend ongoing java thanks to one of the nation’s top coffee bars Joe, based in Greenwich Village, NYC (www.joetheartofcoffee.com).

With the utmost respect, we tip our hats to the NYPD in general and the Sixth Precinct of Greenwich Village in particular. Our interaction with New York’s Finest has been nothing but the finest. As to the Ps and Qs of police procedure, this is a light work of amateur sleuth fiction. In the Coffeehouse Mysteries, the rules occasionally get bent.

A “federal case” thank you to Coffeehouse Mystery reader
“Barbara C.” whose own official work planted the seed of an idea in this one.

For consultation on matters medical, special thanks goes out to the best doc in the West, Dr. Grace Alfonsi, M.D. (If there are errors in this book, they are entirely our own.)

It’s no “co-inky-dink” that we’re also thanking CM reader Nancy Prior Phillips once again. Her wit and good humor continue to inspire us, as do so many of you who read our series and leave notes and messages via e-mail, our website’s message board, and the social networking sites. Your kind words keep us going as writers, and we can’t thank you enough for that.

Finally, we’d like to recognize our agent, John Talbot, for providing the kind of support and encouragement that keep authors moving forward.

To everyone else who we could not mention here by name, including friends and family, please know that your comments and heartfelt messages have kept our spirits up and fingers pressed to the keyboard. Our virtual coffeehouse is always open. You are more than welcome to join us online at www.CoffeehouseMystery.com.

—Cleo Coyle
New York City

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