Bitter Competition

A Small Town Coffee Cozy Mystery

A year after the Preston Willoughby case nearly destroyed her café, Sarah Stall has finally found her rhythm again. Bagels & Beans is thriving, her regulars are loyal, and life in Clancy feels blissfully predictable. Then a sleek new sign appears in the vacant storefront across Main Street: Roasted Rivals Artisan Coffee. The owner, charming newcomer Derek Hollister, arrives with big-city credentials, a gleaming professional roaster, and one clear goal—to steal Sarah's customers and crush her business. Within weeks, he's poaching her employees, launching social media attacks, and turning competition into all-out war.

When Derek is found dead in his own roastery, struck down among the very coffee beans he used to build his empire, half of Main Street has a motive. His bitter ex-business partner followed him from Seattle seeking revenge for stolen work. His overworked head roaster was promised a partnership that never materialized. His social media manager is owed months of back pay. Even his wealthy investor had been threatening to pull the plug. But when Detective June Harper discovers that Derek's final act was a scheduled social media post designed to destroy Sarah's reputation, suddenly Sarah finds herself with a motive too.

With her café's future and her own name on the line, Sarah must untangle a web of broken promises, professional betrayal, and stolen dreams to find a killer who's already proven they'll do anything to protect their secrets. In this charming small-town mystery filled with quirky characters, fresh-baked bagels, and just the right amount of danger, Sarah discovers that in the cutthroat world of artisan coffee, some competitors play for keeps—and the price of ambition can be deadly.