buns are in the oven

Even though beloved baker Jules Capshaw and her husband Carlos are having twins, they are also looking to the future of Torte and wanting to expand their business. Specifically, the coffee business. They have an award-winning barista, Andy, who has expanded to roasting his own beans for the perfect blend. Jules and Carlos want to find a commercial place where they can set Andy up to roast all their beans in-house. But first, a trip to the beans.

Jules and Carlos met years ago while working on a cruise ship. On the ship, they met Valentina, who since left the ship to help run her family’s organic coffee farm in Costa Rica. Valentina has invited Jules and Carlos to visit the farm, and they extended the invitation to Andy as well. Andy is excited to visit the coffee capital of the world and stuffs his bag with notebooks, so he can makes notes of everything he learns while he’s there. But they had no idea that it would be Jules’s expertise that most comes in handy on the trip.

Jules is really looking forward to a vacation, but as soon as they meet up with Valentina in Costa Rica, she can tell that something is wrong. Valentina and her cousin Miguel have shared the farm for ten years. They used to share a vision for what they want to do with the farm, how they treat their employees, what the future looked like. But recently Miguel had been talking about wanting to sell to a corporate developer, and Valentina doesn’t want to. The farm had been in their family for three generations, and she wants to hold on to it. They had been going back and forth about that for weeks, and the stress of that was showing.

Valentina had invited Jules and Carlos to Costa Rica because they were wanting to set up a tasting room and coffee bar and wanted to learn from Jules how to keep a steady supply of homemade pastries available for customers. But now that Miguel is wanting to sell the farm, Valentina isn’t sure the coffee bar is going to happen at all.

Later, after Jules and Carlos and Andy got settled into their rooms at the farm, Valentina took them on a tour. Andy stays back with farm manager Alex as he does some routine maintenance on the machines processing the beans, while Jules and Carlos move on with Valentina. Not too long after that, a terrible accident leaves Miguel dead. But the more Jules learns about what happened, she’s not so sure it was an accident. And the police agree.

Jules has helped solve a murder or two back in Ashland, Oregon, so she knows what to do. She asks questions and gets answers, honing her list of suspects until there is just one left. But doing that will put her in the sight lines of a killer. Will Jules be able to find a murderer and get herself and her babies back home safely, or will Costa Rica be the end of the line for her?

Laying Down the Latte is book number 21 in Ellie Alexander’s Bakeshop Mystery series. This one is especially fun with the tropical location. In addition, Jules’s best friend Lance has proposed to his boyfriend Arlo, and he’s constantly peppering her with questions about their upcoming wedding. And there are bonus recipes at the end, including Torta Chilena with Dulce de Leche, flank steak Pepito Sandwiches, Arroz con Leche, light-as-air Suspiros Cookies, and Empanadas with suggested fillings (I would definitely go with the bananas and Nutella myself). There is even a recipe for Andy’s Pura Vida Latte.

I do love hanging out with Jules in Ashland, with its mountain charm steeped in Shakespeare. But this long weekend in Costa Rica was a real treat. It felt like a vacation, and was so interesting to learn more about the culture of the country and coffee farming. But now I’m ready to get back home to Torte and talk brownies, Lance’s wedding preparations, and babies.

Egalleys for Laying Down the Latte were provided by Minotaur Books through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.