A Killer Roast
(2025)(The fourth book in the Heritage Kitchen Mystery series)
A novel by Emily Brewster
When a coffee roaster's rare beans are exposed as counterfeits at Heron Bay's Coffee Culture Weekend, innkeeper Olivia Parker must uncover a deadly fraud network before the killer eliminates every witness to their crimes.
Three months after solving an international wine fraud case, Olivia Parker is enjoying the quiet rhythms of running the Tidewater Inn with Detective Ben Morgan. But when Heron Bay's inaugural Coffee Culture Weekend turns deadly, she's drawn into her most personal investigation yet. Arthur Whitehead, the nervous coffee roaster who organized the weekend, is found dead in his shop after experts publicly challenge his expensive Jamaican Blue Mountain collection as sophisticated fakes.
What appears to be suicide from professional humiliation quickly reveals itself as murder when Olivia discovers evidence of cyanide poisoning and a complex fraud operation. Arthur wasn't just selling counterfeit coffee—he was a small player in a multi-state authentication scam that has been targeting specialty dealers across New England for months.
As coffee experts and dealers begin disappearing, Olivia realizes the mastermind is eliminating anyone who threatens to expose the network. With Ben and coffee fraud victim Dr. Nina Valentine, she must trace the conspiracy from Heron Bay's waterfront to Boston's importing businesses, uncovering a web of stolen credentials, forged documents, and murdered competitors.
But when the criminal leader begins a violent cleanup operation to destroy all evidence, Olivia discovers that some people will kill to protect their profits—and that her investigation has made her and Ben the final targets for elimination.
A cozy mystery perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke and Laura Childs, featuring authentic coffee culture, small-town intrigue, and a community's fight against sophisticated fraud.
Genre: Mystery
Three months after solving an international wine fraud case, Olivia Parker is enjoying the quiet rhythms of running the Tidewater Inn with Detective Ben Morgan. But when Heron Bay's inaugural Coffee Culture Weekend turns deadly, she's drawn into her most personal investigation yet. Arthur Whitehead, the nervous coffee roaster who organized the weekend, is found dead in his shop after experts publicly challenge his expensive Jamaican Blue Mountain collection as sophisticated fakes.
What appears to be suicide from professional humiliation quickly reveals itself as murder when Olivia discovers evidence of cyanide poisoning and a complex fraud operation. Arthur wasn't just selling counterfeit coffee—he was a small player in a multi-state authentication scam that has been targeting specialty dealers across New England for months.
As coffee experts and dealers begin disappearing, Olivia realizes the mastermind is eliminating anyone who threatens to expose the network. With Ben and coffee fraud victim Dr. Nina Valentine, she must trace the conspiracy from Heron Bay's waterfront to Boston's importing businesses, uncovering a web of stolen credentials, forged documents, and murdered competitors.
But when the criminal leader begins a violent cleanup operation to destroy all evidence, Olivia discovers that some people will kill to protect their profits—and that her investigation has made her and Ben the final targets for elimination.
A cozy mystery perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke and Laura Childs, featuring authentic coffee culture, small-town intrigue, and a community's fight against sophisticated fraud.
Genre: Mystery
Used availability for Emily Brewster's A Killer Roast