Months after 9/11, New Yorkers are still on edge when there's a break-in at The Coffee Connection, a Brooklyn Heights caf with a diverse clientele. Is this a random crime or was it committed by someone closer to the caf ? Suspects include Jack Healy, the shady real estate tycoon who owns the place; David Goldman, the Israeli who manages it during the day; Habib el-Kader, the Moroccan who manages at night; and Jerry McGovern, Healy's not-very-bright nephew who takes over on weekends. While the customers speculate and the police investigate, mysterious events pile up. In the meantime, one of the coffeehouse regulars, Drew Mason, is writing about his own obsession in The Almost Complete History of Coffee, which sets the events happening in The Coffee Connection against the larger story of coffee throughout the ages.