The Coffeehouse Mysteries

I LOVE HISTORY, but – as a mystery author – I try to keep up with my mystery reading. I recently came across an interesting series that I'd like to recommend to mystery readers: the coffeehouse mysteries by Cleo Coyle.

As happens, I picked up "Decaffeinated Corpse," which is not the first book in the series, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The main character is a coffee shop manager, Clare Cosi, whose ex-husband's friend develops a botanically decaffeinated coffee bean. One thing leads to another and Clare ends up in the midst of a murder investigation. It has interesting characters and plot and is worth reading (after my "Murder Most Holy" first, of course).

Des Moines Register Profile

THIS MORNING THE DES MOINES REGISTER published a short profile of me in the business section. You can read the article here.

RFK Assassination

A SHORT TIME AGO I finished an interesting book on the Robert Kennedy murder. Since high school I’ve been interested in the assassination of his brother, President Kennedy, since there seemed to be so many open questions about it. But I never bothered much with the Robert Kennedy killing since it seemed like such an open-and-shut case; after all, Sirhan Sirhan was caught in the act, with the gun in the pantry still firing his gun.

Dan E. Moldea, in “The Killing of Robert F. Kennedy” presents a number of theories about the murder, including an inside look at things the official investigation missed. After exploring alternative theories, including one in which the senator was killed by a security guard assigned for crowd control, Moldea presents his own conclusion which, by the end of the book, may or may not be surprising. It was an interesting read for the history or conspiracy buff.