A Bean to Die For

• Author: Tara Lush
• Genre: Cozy Mystery
• Publication Date: January 9, 2024
• Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
• Series: A Coffee Lover’s Mystery #4

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

CONTENT WARNING: murder, blood, violence (off-page), mention of substance use

Perfect for fans of Cleo Coyle and Lucy Burdette, reporter-turned-barista Lana Lewis is back on the case when a body is found in the community garden.

Lana Lewis is brewing up new concoctions at Perkatory, a popular café in Devil’s Beach, when she decides she wants to try her hand at growing her own coffee. She secures a gardening plot in the community garden, thanks to her father and the garden’s owner, Darla. Darla’s list of rules is long, but that doesn’t stop someone from leaving Jack Daggett’s body amongst the gardening plots.

Jack, an environmental activist, had been banned from the garden previously, because of his many fights with Darla about organic produce. Lana promises her boyfriend, police chief Noah, that she’s going to stay out of this case, having been too involved in previous cases. But when she learns that Jack died from an accidental overdose, and Darla is the top suspect because of her shady past, Lana can’t help but poke around in an attempt to clear Darla’s name.

As Lana dives deeper into the case, she learns that Jack had more enemies than she realized. When Darla turns up dead, Lana has to turn up the heat on her investigation. With Lana on the case, it won’t be long before someone spills the beans to crack this case wide open. But will she able to find the killer before they strike again?

This is one of the first cozy mystery series I had read, found through NetGalley, and it’s turned into a comfort series for me. I love the small town, island setting and it’s quirky cast of townies, especially level-headed Lana and her one-of-a-kind father. So I was ready to jump into this read for the new year.

Lana, who co-owns Perkatory with her father, Peter, is never one to sit still. She was raised by a coffee lover, and has grown to be one as well. After learning about how the climate of Florida can be a great place to grow coffee beans, she decides to give it a try, and Peter manages to get her a plot in the community garden with help from the owner, Darla. But when she gets to her plot, the body of Jack Daggett is found murdered in the garden. 

Lana has promised her boyfriend, Noah, (who also happens to be the chief of police), that she will stop investigating on her own, and has her hands full preparing for an important dinner happening soon anyway. But when an acquaintance of Lana’s pleads with her to investigate and solve the crime so that the acquaintance doesn’t wind up as a suspect first. Although Lana doesn’t agree outright, I knew her inborn sense of curiosity would win out eventually, and the chaos multiplies throughout the book in a way that probably *should* have felt stressful, but didn’t. 

I’m fully attributing that to the wonderful setting of this series. Devil’s Beach is a small town right on the beach of the Gulf of Mexico, on a little island off the southwestern coast of Florida. The weather is warm, everything you need is just a walk away, and the people in the town are quirky yet charming, for the most part.

By this point in the series, I’m president of the Lana Lewis fan club, even with her adorable non-curse-words. She cemented her place in my heart by calling snakes “danger noodles” in this book, although behind that candy-sweet exterior is a tough and brilliant interior. I always enjoy watching how her mind works—gathering all the available evidence, looking at the clues, interviewing people, and brainstorming with her little crew (aka her dad and Erica). It’s just the last part where she falls short and gets in trouble, because she doesn’t have backup.

This is a light and fluffy read, and the perfect example of a cozy mystery. Lana’s adorable pup, Stanley, is a side character in the story, not just a prop, and it’s difficult not to love him as well, since he’s just too cute. The romance between Lana and her boyfriend, Noah, is starting to get more serious, and I enjoyed seeing Lana grow a little more in this book. She learns how to set some boundaries and stick to them, and one of the big side characters has a major change in their life that affects others, so we get to see how they all grow from that. 

This is a fast-paced story, that was fun and witty. I was never bored while reading this, and it was immensely entertaining as well. It was the perfect read for me, since I read this one while also reading some books featuring heavier topics. But ultimately, it was a book that I really enjoyed, and a series that I plan on continuing. If you like cozy mysteries, this is a series I’d highly recommend. 

People who have sat around with me while I’m reading, especially when there’s a surprising reveal, a shocking plot twist, or an unexpected event often look up in alarm when I gasp audibly. The gasp factor is directly related to the number of times I audibly gasp during a reading, and there isn’t an upper limit.

Gasp Factor: 8

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