Brewed Awakening by Cleo Coyle is the 18th book in the “Coffeehouse Mystery” series. Publisher: Penguin Random House, December 3, 2019.

From Cleo Coyle, the New York Times bestselling author of Shot in the Dark and Dead Cold Brew, comes a delicious new entry in the “fun and gripping” (The Huffington Post) Coffeehouse Mysteries.

When coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi awakens on a bench in Washington Square Park, she has no idea she’s been missing for the past week, or that her friends and family have been frantic with worry. Now that she’s back, everyone is overjoyed, including a handsome NYPD detective who claims to be her fiancé. But to Mike Quinn’s crushing distress, Clare doesn’t remember him, or much of anything about the last decade of her life.

Clare’s missing memory is tied to a crime she witnessed. An acquaintance of Clare’s elegant employer–and fellow member of an exclusive Gotham circle known as “The Ladies Who Brunch”–invited Clare to her posh hotel to sample gourmet wedding cakes. The pair took a stroll after their indulgent tasting and, according to security camera footage, a masked figure snatched the hotel heiress at gunpoint with Clare looking on. Did the kidnapper take Clare, too? The camera went dark, just like Clare’s memory. Soon authorities grow suspicious. Is Clare really a victim? Or merely acting like one? Evidence is mounting that she set the woman up.

To clear her name, Clare must find a way to reclaim her memories and rescue the heiress before this high-stakes crime ends in tragedy. Otherwise, instead of walking down the aisle, Clare may find herself perp-walking to prison as an accomplice to kidnapping and murder.

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In this tightly woven, fast-paced drama, we are taken on a journey when Clare who has gone missing, returns with no memory of her abduction or the last few years of her life. This sets the stage for an intensifying jaunts through the memory bank of Clare as together with Matt and Mike tries to find out who is behind it all and it is the clever writing of Cleo Coyle that makes this one of the best book in this endearing series.

From the first page to the conclusion, I could not put this book down until all was said and done. The author did a great job in telling a riveting tale that had me immersed in all that was happening on the page. Every step taken was measured by how well this story was being told from everyone’s point of view that held together as the pieces fell into place as the author strategically led us to the person responsible.  It was good to see Clare hold her own, despite her memory loss.

Another great book in this series and I can’t wait for their next adventure.