October 1, 2021
A yoga teacher's disappearance disrupts a budding romance. Lana Lewis' life is finally on the upswing. After a brief marriage and an equally brief career as a reporter for a Miami newspaper, she slunk home to the Gulf Coast after both went bust. But running a coffee shop in a Devil's Beach building owned by her aging-hippie dad has its rewards. Perkatory has two killer baristas, Erica and Barbara, to help Lana serve her quirky customers with style. And she's on the brink of a meaningful relationship with local police chief Noah Garcia. Unfortunately, their first real date ends before it begins when the receptionist at his swanky apartment house hands Lana a note from the handsome detective apologizing for being called away on a case. It seems that Raina Rose, owner of Dante's Inferno, a popular hot yoga studio, has disappeared. Her boyfriend, Kai Lahtinen, son of a prominent politician, is beside himself. Raina has no reason to run away. She just led a successful yoga retreat to Costa Rica, and her business is booming. But there's also no reason to suspect foul play. Lush dangles the mystery of Raina's whereabouts tantalizingly for a gratifyingly long time before descending into the tried-and-true cozy tropes: a corpse, cascading revelations about the dark side of the deceased, and a plucky heroine whose sleuthing inevitably leads to peril. If only Lush had sustained her initial momentum, she'd have a recipe fit to beat Starbucks.
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October 18, 2021
In Lush’s enjoyable sequel to 2020’s Grounds for Murder, Lana Lewis, a former Miami crime reporter who has returned home to Devil’s Beach, Fla., can’t resist the chance to do some freelance work for the local newspaper by looking into the disappearance of Raina Rose, the owner of Dante’s Inferno, the yoga studio next door to Perkatory, Lana’s coffee shop. Lana’s search for answers leads to conflict with the paper’s newly hired and extremely flirtatious photographer, Cody Graves, and, more importantly, with Lana’s hunky love interest, the Devil’s Beach police chief. When Raina’s body turns up in a nature preserve, Lana discovers a host of murder suspects connected to Dante’s Inferno, including Raina’s boyfriend, who helped run the studio. Distinctive characters, including Lana’s stoner new age dad, complement the twisty plot. On the minus side, the reason for Lana’s cold brew blend tasting terrible, a concern that runs throughout the book, comes as a letdown. Those who prefer their whodunits without sex or strong language will be satisfied. Agent: Amanda Leuck, Spencerhill Assoc.