On What Grounds

2.5 stars

Recently, I've been getting strangely into cozy mysteries. This series looked interesting to me, so I picked up the first book.

Unfortunately, I found it to be a pretty boring mystery. And the non-mystery storylines were just not my cup of tea. There are a couple later books in this series that I may try, but I was disappointed with this one.

Content warning: there is some language (uh, quite a bit, actually) and some sexual innuendo, although nothing graphic. There were also a couple of references to Buddhism.

2.5 stars — This is one of my first forays into the world of cozy mysteries. Coffee and murder. Somewhat ironic, as I'm more of a tea drinker than coffee myself. But there's something so cozy about a coffeeshop. And this book is filled with long descriptions of wonderful coffee-making.

But the actual plot and characters were bland. Our main sleuth Clare Cosi felt underdeveloped and uninteresting. There's a stereotypical gay, a gruff cop, and a creepy ex-husband (who I think the readers are meant to swoon for but I just found him creepy!)

Despite this, the book is easy-to-read and exactly what I wanted at the time. This was a guilt enjoyment, not something I would recommend, unless you're a cozy mystery fan and addicted to coffee.