A Bean to Die For 

Tara Lush

A Coffee Lover’s Mystery Series, Book 4

280 pages, Hardcover

First published January 9, 2024

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.

4 Stars

Tara Lush delivers another caffeinated entertaining mystery.

Welcome back to the southwest Florida island town of Devil’s Beach. Lana finds herself right in the middle of a whole lot of stuff going on. Deciding to grow her own coffee, she has secured a spot in the community garden to be able to grow her plants. She has an offer to test out a cool new machine at the coffee shop, Perkatiey.  Not to mention she’s about to meet Noah’s family for the very first time.

And last, but not least, there’s the Local funnel cake festival going on.  Just as everything’s getting started, lana finds a body among the garden plots. With the long list of rules for the community garden, a body is one thing that should definitely not be there. Laura’s mind starts brewing to try to figure out the pieces to be able to crack this case.  

I absolutely love this series. Not only because the only thing that I love more or equally as much as reading is coffee. Lana, her best friend Erica, and her hippie. Father, Peter are all on the case. I love the interaction between not only these three, but all of the characters that we have grown to know through the course of the series. What makes this story interesting and a little different from the others is that someone is coming to Lana to help get this mystery solved. We see growth within all of the characters within the story. Along with the twisted mystery that kept me guessing for most of the book.  

Tara Lush includes humor with her mysteries, like a well-blended brew.  The characters she has created are complex, but yet grow with each book, have their quirks that make us love them and provide something to each and every story.  A Bean to Die For is a well-crafted and entertaining read.