Brenda H. (booksinvt) -
Fresh Brewed Murder is the debut of the A Ground Rules Mystery series set in Portland, Oregon and features coffee barista, Sage Caplin. Sage along with her business partner, Harley are looking forward to the launch of their new coffee cart, Ground Rules located in the Rail Yard, a food cart mecca owned by Sage's great uncle Jimmy. With Harley operating the roasting division of their coffee business in a nearby warehouse, Sage will be running the coffee cart and both are hoping for success so that they can open a retail store.
The first couple of days are off to a good start until early one morning when Sage stumbles across the body of a dead man outside of the cart. The dead man is David Stevens, a property developer razing the buildings across from the Rail Yard. Investigation reveals that David not only has a beef with Uncle Jimmy but he'd been scammed years earlier by Saffron Jones, Sage's con artist mother.
In an effort to save her fledging business and clear her own name, Sage sets out to track down a killer. Along the way she befriends a homeless girl, Gabby whose ties to the dead man also point to her being a potential suspect. While the murder investigation is the main plot, the majority of the book is spent on character development. Readers will learn about Sage's difficult childhood and get to know the other food truck vendors. Unfortunately, there seems to be the dreaded love triangle on the horizon for Sage and I seriously hope she makes up her mind quickly and the triangle doesn't drag out in future installments. Readers will need to tune in to see if Saffron reappears to play a part in Sage's life. If you are a coffee lover than this book is for you - vivid descriptions of the coffee drinks that Sage whips up and a few recipes are included at the end.
The first couple of days are off to a good start until early one morning when Sage stumbles across the body of a dead man outside of the cart. The dead man is David Stevens, a property developer razing the buildings across from the Rail Yard. Investigation reveals that David not only has a beef with Uncle Jimmy but he'd been scammed years earlier by Saffron Jones, Sage's con artist mother.
In an effort to save her fledging business and clear her own name, Sage sets out to track down a killer. Along the way she befriends a homeless girl, Gabby whose ties to the dead man also point to her being a potential suspect. While the murder investigation is the main plot, the majority of the book is spent on character development. Readers will learn about Sage's difficult childhood and get to know the other food truck vendors. Unfortunately, there seems to be the dreaded love triangle on the horizon for Sage and I seriously hope she makes up her mind quickly and the triangle doesn't drag out in future installments. Readers will need to tune in to see if Saffron reappears to play a part in Sage's life. If you are a coffee lover than this book is for you - vivid descriptions of the coffee drinks that Sage whips up and a few recipes are included at the end.
