Clare's grown very fond of Alfred Glockner, the part-time comic and genuinely jolly charity Santa who's been using her coffeehouse as a place to warm his mittens. When she finds him gunned down in a nearby alley, a few subtle clues convince her that Alfred's death was something more than the tragic result of a random mugging, despite the conclusions of the police. With Clare's boyfriend, NYPD detective Mike Quinn, distracted by a cold case of his own, and ex-husband, Matt, "investigating" this year's holiday lingerie catalogs", Clare charges ahead solo and discovers this Santa had a list that he was checking twice - and the folks on it were not very nice. Then someone tries to ice Clare, and she really gets steamed.
Between baking delicious Christmas goodies and fending off the attentions of a persistent professional elf, Clare sets out to solve St. Nick's murder. But she'd better watch out, because if she fails to stop this stone-cold killer, she may just get the biggest chill of her life.
©2012 AudioGO (P)2009 Penguin Group USA
"Cleo Coyle brews up delightful tales"
Claire Cosi, manager of the iconic Village Blend coffee house, finds herself pulled into another murder investigation after finding her friend, and traveling Santa, shot dead in a nearby alley. Worried the police are going to chalk it up as a random mugging gone wrong, Claire refuses to let her friend's murderer get away.
Rebecca Gibel's performance is crisp and delightful.
"Fun listen, but not great."
The story was a little more saccharine than I expected. The author attempted to add elements of suspense and red herrings, but it just seemed like the story jumped around too much.
The characters were extremely likable, which is why I finished the book. I wanted to see what happened to them.
Her narration of the book was well done. She brought out the elements of sarcasm that helped with the character development.
Holiday Grind was not inspirational at all.