Importance of Being Urnest

October 1, 2016
Against the wishes of her boyfriend, Sheriff Jake Pavlik, Maggy Thorsen, part owner of Uncommon Grounds, a coffee shop in Brookhills, Wisconsin, turns sleuth after her ex-husband Ted's former dental-office partner, William Swopes, is found dead. Was his fall from the tenth story of his office building suicide or murder? Suspects include Ted himself as well as a seemingly unbalanced woman who followed Swopes from Kentucky; Ted's daughter, Ginny; and his wife, Lynne, who just filed for divorce due to Ted's many infidelities. Even though Maggy has only known the Swopes family for a short time, she agrees to help Lynne and Ginny, after they emerge as the chief suspects. The self-deprecating Maggy makes an endearing cozy protagonist, and the coffee-shop frame story is brimming with interesting details. There are numerous mystery series starring women who own small businesses and who have some kind of personal connection to law enforcement. Suggest Maggy's adventures to fans of Chris Cavender's Pizza mysteries, Elizabeth J. Duncan's Penny Brannigan series, and Laura Child's Tea Shop mysteries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

October 9, 2017
In Balzo’s witty 10th mystery featuring fast-talking Maggy Thorsen (after 2016’s To the Last Drop), wryly observant Maggy, the owner of the Uncommon Grounds coffee shop in Brookhills, Wis., holds forth on books, popular songs, Botox, and other more unlikely topics, but the main focus is on the Goddard Group, whose members are all “mature” java lovers. Many of them reside at the local assisted living facility, Brookhills Manor. A shoot-out at the facility, which ends with one deputy dead and Sheriff Jake Pavlik, Maggy’s fiancé, in the hospital, leaves the residents chattering. Soon afterward, two of the Goddard Group’s members die within days of each other. Speculation grows: was one or both of the deaths murder? There are loads of eccentric suspects and juicy motives, and the clues are wrapped in lively conversation. Don’t expect much detective work; the real pleasure is to be found in spending time with these outspoken people. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary Agency.