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Item Barcode | Collection | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
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Summary
Summary
Patricia Harper is dead, killed by a hot-wired espresso machine, in Uncommon Grounds, her very own gourmet coffee store! Maggy Thorsen wants to know who killed one of her partners. Maggy needs the store to succeed. Starting over after her divorce, she's quit her PR job to open the coffee store. And if things aren't already tough enough, she begins to suspect one of her friends is responsible for Patricia's murder. Maggy joins forces with Sarah Kingstown, Patricia's closest friend, to investigate her killing. Together, they uncover unsavory small-town politics, bribes, kickbacks, and rampant infidelity. Before she's through, Maggy's sense of right and wrong will be shaken to its foundations. For once in her life, she is forced to draw her own line in the sand, and be prepared to defend it.Sandra Balzo currently resides in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
Author Notes
Sandra Balzo is an award-winning author of crime fiction, including two cozy mystery lists published by Severn House. She turned to mystery writing after twenty years in corporate public relations, event management, and publicity. Her Maggy Thorsen Mystery Series is a bout a female coffee shop owner in Wisconsin. "To the Last Drop" (2016) is the latest in that series. "The Importance of Being Urnest" is being released in December 2017. "Hit and Run" (2014) is the latest in her Main Street Murder series, set in a popular resort vacation destination in North Carolina.
Her novels have been nominated for both Anthony and Macavity awards and have received starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist. In addition to her books, Sandra has written short stories, two which have won the Macavity, Derringer, and Robert L. Fish awards
Sandra has run publicity for three World Mystery Conventions, as well as the International Association of Crime Writers. She has served as a national board member of Mystery Writers of America.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In her delightful debut, Balzo puts a 21st-century spin on the traditional cozy, replacing tea with coffee as the comfort beverage of choice. Maggy Thorsen, a divorc?e whose husband left her for his 24-year-old dental hygienist, and two women friends are eager to open a coffee shop, Uncommon Grounds, in the small Wisconsin town of Brookhills, whose inhabitants include such recognizable types as the local gossip and tennis moms. In a world where Starbuck's and other chains are ubiquitous, Maggy and her friends have their work cut out for them. The challenge becomes even greater when Maggy discovers the body of one of her partners, Patricia Harper, on the floor of their coffee shop. Determined to find out who killed Patricia and why, Maggy delves into the mystery with a sense of humor that would make Miss Marple smile. In her search for the truth, she works with, and sometimes against, the new and unpredictable county sheriff, Jake Pavlik-and uncovers at considerable personal risk the secrets of some of the town's most prominent citizens. Readers will want to curl up with this winner with a cappuccino or maybe even a Viennese cinnamon latte. (Nov. 16) Forecast: Advance praise from S.J. Rozan, Jeremiah Healy, Parnell Hall, Steve Hamilton and Max Allan Collins should help ensure that this is one of Five Star's better sellers for the fall season. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
Ex-publicist Maggy Thorsen's finances are threatened when someone murders one of her partners in a gourmet coffee shop on opening day. After suspicion falls on her, Maggy starts asking questions. Attention shifts to her other partner and friend, who apparently had a motive, but then an ex-lover in common becomes suspect. Local politics confuse matters because of a re-count in a closely contested election that the victim apparently lost: at stake is new development and money, money, money! Maggy keeps sleuthing on, despite a recent divorce downsizing, comfy dog, mucho espresso, and attractive, glinty-eyed detective. Easygoing prose and small-town hubbub makes this debut mystery a good choice for most collections. Balzo, whose first short story won a Mystery Writers of America award, lives in Brookfield, WI. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.