Murder and Macchiatos

Peyton Ashford is a law professor, her husband Cooper is the city District Attorney, and they have just turned an ancient barn, inherited from Peyton's grandmother, into Dauphin's Cove only coffeehouse, the Books and Brews Bistro. It is a very inviting place to have a delicious coffee drink and browse the many books at the back of the Bistro. While converting the huge upstairs of the barn into a beautiful living space for Peyton and Cooper, workers uncover a body behind the barn.

The body belongs to Peyton's great-uncle, whom she has not seen since childhood. The Sheriff declines to investigate so Peyton enlists the help of her two best friends, Willow and Kylie, to help her solve the murder. Strangely, this murder happened in the exact same way as the murder of her great-great grandfather, over 100 years ago. Along the way, a teenage girl mysteriously disappears and her parents refuse police help in finding her, but Peyton is determined to do so. A mysterious explosion destroys the teen's home, and searchers find the body of her brother...not killed in the explosion but murdered.

A competitive law professor and a Federal Drug agent become involved, determined to prevent Peyton from solving these crimes, especially that of her great-uncle. Fake art reproductions, hundreds of thousands of dollars fraudulently acquired, a stolen antique scrimshaw, a deadly lab, and the interference of a strange woman all add to Peyton's problems in trying to solve the worst and most unusual crimes the small town of Dauphin's Cove had ever seen.