Shot in the Dark by Cleo Coyle

Shot in the Dark by Cleo Coyle ISBN-13: 9780451488848 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: April 17, 2018

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
As Village Blend manager Clare Cosi attempts to finalize a date for her wedding, her ex-husband becomes addicted to making dates through smartphone swipes. Clare has mixed feelings about these quickie matchups happening in her coffeehouse. Even her octogenarian employer is selecting suitors by screenshot! But business is booming, and Clare works hard to keep the espresso shots flowing. Then one dark night, another kind of shot leaves a dead body for her to find.

Now, with the help of her ex and crew of quirky baristas, Clare starts "swiping" through suspects in her own shop, determined to find the real killer before another shot rings out.


My Review:
Shot in the Dark is a cozy mystery about drugs and dating apps. This novel is the 17th in the series. You don't need to read the previous novels to understand this one, and this story didn't spoil the whodunit of the previous books.

The story mainly focused on a dating app that encouraged people to casually hook up and dump each other. A woman uses Clare's shop to dramatically threaten to shoot a man who verbally abuses women after dates. Videos go viral. Clare tries to save the coffee shop's reputation while solving two murders. Clare asked good questions and noticed things that didn't seem right, so there were clues. You can tell who were bad guys. However, what's going on is complex enough that it was difficult to know precisely who did what until the end.

There was a fair amount of bad language. Clare and her boyfriend frequently headed for the bedroom, but it was fade-to-black style; there were no graphic sex scenes. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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