Fatal Brouhaha (A Ground Rules Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Setting – Oregon
Publisher : Kensington Cozies
Publication date : April 29, 2025
Print length : 241 pages
ISBN-10 : 149674490X
ISBN-13 : 978-1496744906
Kindle Print length : 241 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-1496744920
ASIN : B0D38HPR75
Audio CD ASIN : B0DSYJNLYD
Publisher : Blackstone Publishing, Inc.
Audiobook Publisher: Tantor Media
Listening Length 6 hours and 39 minutes
ASIN B0F6NX5JBR
Twentysomething master barista and owner of Portland, Oregon’s popular Ground Rules coffee cart, Sage Caplin is ready to celebrate her growing business at a weekend long maker’s festival, complete with live music, a cornhole tournament, 4th of July fireworks—and murder . . .
In addition to her beloved coffees, Sage is thrilled to be expanding her offerings in collaboration with the local whiskey company that is throwing the festival. And how better to launch their new product than with fellow entrepreneurs. But among the crowd of artists and creators, Sage is surprised to spot Left Coast Grinds owner Mark Jeffries, who has it out for Ground Rules. The distillery didn’t invite Mark and they apologize. But nothing can make up for the glare Mark aims at Sage and her co-owner, Harley. And that’s just a taste of what’s to come . . .
Soon Mark incites a loud argument with Harley and is ousted from the property. But later that night, Sage finds Mark’s body by the Ground Rules Subaru. She knows that when investigators learn that Harley and Mark had a history of butting heads, Harley will be a prime suspect—and she’s right. But Mark rubbed many people the wrong way, and several are at the festival. Now Sage will have to filter through secrets, grudges, and blackmail to get to the bitter truth—and as her sleuthing heats up, the closing fireworks won’t just be the ones in the sky . . .
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Ground Rules partners, Sage and Harley, have teamed up with brothers Tierney and Shay Doyle of Doyle’s Oregon Whiskey to create a canned Irish coffee. The product is set to launch at a celebration over the July 4th weekend on the Doyle’s beautiful property in the “Columbia Gorge with a view of the mighty Columbia River.” Twenty local companies have set up booths, several food carts are serving a variety of festival foods, and the Ground Rules coffee cart has a prime spot. There are cornhole tournaments for youth and adults and a Connect Four tournament for the children. The drawing events are the bands performing on the stage in the meadow.
Things start out so well until Sage sees her rival, Left Coast Grinds owner Mark Jeffries, walking toward her. He has been trying to take down Ground Rules since they opened. He was not invited to be part of the event, but to get around the rules, he is sharing a tent with another vendor. This leads to a huge argument with Harley and Mark escorted out of the area by security.
After the event ends for the night, Sage, baristas Kendall and Sophie head for the Ground Rules Subaru. There, they find a very dead Mark Jefferies creating a huge brouhaha. Sage knows Harley will be the prime suspect after the public altercation, but the man had his share of enemies, some Sage has seen at the festival. With a little help, she hopes to ground the investigation to a halt by finding the killer, but it just may be, the killer will find her first.
Oh, this was a great story with a victim who really needed to go.
Sage is a strong protagonist. She is passionate about coffee and her coffee business, but she really comes alive around her family and friends, especially Bax and Niko. The wedding is coming up fast, and they make such a cute family. Niki is an inquisitive little man, and so cute with his satchel containing “all his gear” and sometimes his cape to help Sage investigate or work on his comic book. He has been writing and illustrating for many months. Harley spent a lot of time hiding from the police, but she can roast and blend those grounds brilliantly and works mostly behind the scenes to make the business a success. Sage’s dad and lawyer brother came to have fun at the festival, but also to be around for whatever Sage and Harley need. Kendell and Sophia are terrific baristas who can hold down the fort when Sage goes sleuthing. I enjoy the core group of characters Ms. Duncan has created for this series. She has surrounded Sage with strong people who have grown throughout the series.
She has also plotted out a solid mystery, with several suspects and Sage going the extra mile to keep Harley from ending up behind bars. A tragic event made the case even more important. There were some great twists, and while they weren’t alone, I did have the guilty party near the top of my list of suspects. Sage had a little help getting all the clues together, but she had a real A-Ha moment when the final clue fell into place. She did notify Detective Ortega, but Sage unexpectedly got up close and personal with the killer. She had to think on her feet if she was going to survive and be sure to have proof in case she didn’t.
Fans will love the final chapter . . . no spoilers here.
Fatal Brouhaha is a delightful whodunit with caring characters, and a top-notch main plot twisted together with interesting subplots that held my attention from beginning to end. The festival sounded like so much fun with the games, music, food, and drink. It has me in the mood to check out some upcoming fairs and festivals here without the dead body, of course.
I highly recommend the entire series, and believe starting from the beginning is best, so you can get to know the characters from the start.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Kensington Cozies and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent
About the Author
Emmeline Duncan is a mystery writer based out of Portland, Oregon. Her novels include the Ground Rules series, starting with 2021’s Fresh Brewed Murder
Emmeline also writes YA novels as Kelly Garrett. Her debut YA, The Last To Die
Emmeline/Kelly is a board member of the Northwest Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America and co-organizes Friends of Mystery’s Bloody Thursday lecture series. She’s also a member of Sisters-In-Crime, Willamette Writers, and SCBWI.
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