EAT, DRINK, AND GET BURIED

The useful part

At Village Blend in New York's Greenwich Village, Clare Cosi and her team of baristas serve up only the best brews, using fresh-ground beans sourced by Matt Allegro, her globe-trotting ex-husband. So it's no surprise that when rising young culinary star Ava Welsh decides to throw a birthday bash for her boyfriend, session musician Ryan Riggs, she chooses Village Blend to provide the catering. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Ava is childhood best friends with Clare's daughter, Joy.

How it works

• From that point on, it's a complicated cat-and-mouse game, with Clare trying to find the runaway Ryan before the police while searching for clues to the dead woman's identity and looking for a motive that...
• The party, held at a hip boutique hotel with a killer view of the Hudson River, turns into a disaster.
• The birthday cake provided by an exclusive bakery is decorated with an obscene message.
• Joy locks herself in the restroom and refuses to talk to either of her parents.
• Coyle makes good use of her Greenwich Village locale, including a sneak peek into Electric Lady Studios, Jimi Hendrix's old stomping grounds.