A Maggy Thorsen Mystery Series

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 divorcée 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. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved."...as wonderfully rich and sharply written as anything going. What moves Balzo's book high above other writers is a sharp and often amusing skill that convinces us that this is real life and that it matters." –Chicago Tribune

Exactly how hot is the competition at the annual coffee trade industry conference in Milwaukee? Scaldingly hot.What's not hot? Finding Marvin LaRoche, owner of the HotWired coffeehouse chain store stone-cold dead under a banquet table in the middle of the convention.And everybody knows that Maggy was no great fan of Mr. LaRoche, nor of his overly competitive business practices - so it's up to Maggy's own amateur sleuthing skills to get herself out of the hotseat!Mrs. LaRoche, newly widowed, certainly seems a bit too cheery. But then there's the angry activist who denounced LaRoche's practice of exploiting Third World coffee growers.As the conference coordinator and the number one suspect, Maggy is on a countdown to find the murderer, save her coffeehouse and maybe, just maybe heat up her love life...Thank goodness for caffeine!!

A torrential spring snowstorm leaves Maggy and her friendly (and not so friendly) neighboring tenants stuck in the strip mall where her coffeehouse, Uncommon Grounds, leases space in Brookhills, Wisconsin.Shut up in her coffeehouse with little light and no heat, Maggy looks for help from her neighbors in the plaza...but while crossing the snow-filled parking lot, Maggy nearly trips over the mall's landlord, Way Benson, who has a hatchet in his back and looks very, very dead.Since Way's plan was to evict all the tenants and sell the space to a superstore chain, the list of enemies and suspects is hardly meager. Figuring out who had the means to do it...that was going to be the tricky part.But when Way's ex-wife is also killed, the clear and obvious motive goes out the window. Then when there's another death, Maggy is scrambling to pick up the pace and solve the murder...before she's next...

When a freak spring snowstorm destroys her beloved coffeehouse, Uncommon Grounds, Maggy Thorsen resolves to reopen. With her best friend, Sarah, as an ally, they find the perfect spot right near the train station – and lucky for Maggy that she’s just in time for the opening of a new commuter route. Seems things are finally looking up for the amateur sleuth and barista extraordinaire!But then Sarah’s uncle dies under suspicious circumstances…and Maggy’s instinct tells her that his death was no accident. And when there are more suspicious “accidents,” Maggy must uncover the link between the deaths…or she may just never be able to reopen Uncommon Grounds!

Here's a tip: if your ex-husband's mistress-cum-missus asks for your help in proving that he cheated on her while he was married to you, just say no.And you most certainly should not invite this new missus, Mrs. Rachel Thorsen, in for a cup of coffee. But big-hearted Maggy can't seem to help her own hospitality.Unfortunately, most unfortunately, this mistress-cum-missus disappears shortly after her coffeehouse confab with Maggy and is later found murdered...making Maggy's ex, Ted, the chief suspect.Now it's up to Maggy to discover the truth...even if it upsets her on-again, off-again relationship with the handsome Sheriff Jake Pavlik...Despite the tempting satisfaction of seeing her ex go down, Maggy knows Ted is innocent. Cheater? Most definitely. Murderer? Most definitely not. So Maggy reluctantly agrees to help him. Rachel's wealthy family, however, disagrees and spares no expense in trying to put Ted behind bars.

The first three titles in the Maggy Thorsen Coffeehouse Mystery Series UNCOMMON GROUNDS 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 divorcée 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. 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. GROUNDS FOR MURDER Exactly how hot is the competition at the annual coffee trade industry conference in Milwaukee? Scalding What's not hot? Finding Marvin LaRoche, owner of the HotWired coffeehouse chain store stone-cold dead under a banquet table in the middle of the convention. And everybody knows that Maggy was no great fan of Mr. LaRoche, nor of his overly competitive business practices - so it's up to Maggy's own amateur sleuthing skills to get herself out of the hotseat! BEAN THERE, DONE THAT Here's a tip: if your ex-husband's mistress-cum-missus asks for your help in proving that he cheated on her while he was married to you, just say no. And you most certainly should not invite this new missus, Mrs. Rachel Thorsen, in for a cup of coffee. But big-hearted Maggy can't seem to help her own hospitality. Unfortunately, most unfortunately, this mistress-cum-missus disappears shortly after her coffeehouse confab with Maggy and is later found murdered...making Maggy's ex, Ted, the chief suspect. Despite the tempting satisfaction of seeing her ex go down, Maggy knows Ted is innocent. Cheater? Yes. Murderer? Definitely not. So Maggy reluctantly agrees to help him. Now it's up to Maggy to discover the truth...even if it upsets her on-again, off-again relationship with the handsome Sheriff Jake Pavlik...

Maggy Thorsen, cynic extraordinaire, has a few things to feel optimistic about lately. After her original coffeehouse, Uncommon Grounds, was destroyed in a freak May blizzard, Maggy and her best friend, Sarah Kingston, have found the perfect spot to relocate – right next to the new commuter train in Milwaukee.After successfully securing the spot, Maggy and Sarah plan to piggyback the city’s celebrations for the train and re-open Uncommon Grounds on the same day. In fact, Maggy’s feeling so positive, she even digs deep in her budget and hires a giant inflatable coffee cup to attract more notice to her grand reopening.All seems to be running right according to plan…until Maggy’s event manager is found dead – and now Maggy must find the killer before the killer finds her!!

The state of Wisconsin has never been known for its mild winters and this particular season is no exception. But that’s all good news for Maggy Thorsen and Uncommon Grounds, her newly renovated Brookhills coffeehouse. Now that Maggy and her real estate maven pal, Sarah Kingston, have finally completed the relocation of Uncommon Grounds to the town’s historical train station, they’ve concocted just the perfect drink special to warm up the residents of Brookhills – Triple Shot, a heady coffee drink with massive doses of sugar and caffeine – during this especially cold season.And all is going well for Maggy (okay, maybe she’s a little over-caffeinated, but what do you expect?) when Ward Chitown, a has-been TV personality, rolls into town in search of a long-hidden Mafia stash. And Chitown knows the stash is here because his father led the FBI bust some thirty years ago, in which three agents lost their lives…But now, it’s the real estate agents in Brookhills that should be looking over their shoulders. Two of Sarah’s fellow brokers were shot and left to die at the properties they were showing…and the whole town is feeling nervous, staying home with their windows drawn…When the stench of death starts to pervade Uncommon Grounds, Maggy and Sarah are forced to put all other business aside and find the killer before Sarah becomes the recipient of the murderer’s third shot…