Publisher's Weekly Review
Balzo's lighthearted 13th Maggy Thorsen mystery (after 2020's Death of a Bean Counter) opens on a snowy winter morning at Uncommon Grounds, the coffeehouse Maggy owns with her acerbic business partner, Sarah Kingston, in Brookhills, Wis. A customer, Christy Wrigley, regales Maggie and Sarah with gushing tales about her new boyfriend, Barry Margraves, whom she met on a dating site and has only communicated with by phone. Through a scrim of blowing snow, Christy glances out the window and is sure she sees Barry. A few seconds later, he's mowed down by a snowplow. Was his death an accident or was it murder? A stolen diamond bracelet, an angry wife, and a lost passport keep Maggy on the trail of the killer. Maggy's boyfriend, Sheriff Jake Pavlik, unlike the usual cozy fiction lawman dealing with an amateur sleuth, doesn't cajole, domineer, or guilt-trip her. Jake is well aware of her need to investigate and accepts it. Their conversations are fun, and their musings about the case are edifying. Readers who like their heroines on the spunky side will enjoy Maggy's company. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary. (May)
Kirkus Review
An internet romance goes horribly wrong. You might think that the name of their coffee shop, Uncommon Grounds, was some kind of cruel joke rather than just a tired pun, since co-owners Maggie Thorsen and Sarah Kingston seem to have no shared concerns and spend all day every day sniping at one another. Having Christy Wrigley, the neat-freak piano teacher from across the street, fill in for their barista, Amy, who's vacationing in Europe, does nothing to lower the emotional temperature. In fact, Christy could have proved a lightning rod for the bickering partners' wrath, since she's been dating Sarah's step-cousin Ronny Eisvogel, currently in prison for trying to murder Maggie. But the two of them focus instead on Christy's obsession with scrubbing the condiment cart and her annoying yellow rubber gloves. Things don't get any better when, midscrub, Christy reveals she's dumped Ronny for globe-trotting Barry Margraves. Since she met her new beloved on a dating site, he's showered her with gifts, including a diamond tennis bracelet from Tiffany's. Christy expects Barry to come see her any day now, engagement solitaire in hand, for their first in-person meeting. But his arrival is a huge letdown. First, Barry is squashed like a bug by a snowplow thoughtlessly left running outside the shop while its driver used the restroom. Second, Barry turns out to be married. When she comes to town to claim Barry's flattened body, Helena Margraves bumps the conflict up yet another notch, claiming that Christy not only stole her man, but raided their joint bank account. The ingenious solution to the puzzle almost gets lost in the ensuing catfight For those who value conflict for its own sake. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Maggy Thorsen and her acerbic business partner, Sarah Kingston, own Uncommon Grounds, a coffeehouse in Brookhills, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. A temporary employee, germophobe Christy Wrigley, gushes to Maggy about her boyfriend, Barry Margraves, whom Christy met on an online dating site. Barry gave her an expensive diamond tennis bracelet and is coming to town to meet her, she thinks to propose. However, Barry shows up at Uncommon Grounds seemingly angry at Christy, then is accidentally mowed down by an errant, unattended snowplow, its driver in the bathroom suffering from gastric distress. Or was someone driving the plow, intentionally killing Barry? Events occur that make Christy a suspect, even though she was with Maggy during the incident. Is Christy in cahoots with someone? While Maggy's fiancé, Sheriff Jake Pavlik, shares limited information with her, Maggy keeps some facts to herself, allowing her to catch the killer. Numerous plot twists, nicely delineated characters, dry humor, and details of running a coffeehouse define this cozy. Suggest to those who enjoy Laura Childs' Tea Shop mysteries.
