Maggy gets her snark on without being too vicious: perhaps its the coffee fiend in her that entices her to get that level of roasting just right. Her characterisation is nicely done, and imbued with humour galore, an essential element when crafting a cozy along these lines.

The novel rips along with the vim and verve of a toddler whos been given a short black rather than a babycino, but like a good barista, Balzo generally keeps the froth to the minimum. Are we looking at Pats jilted lover? The political rival shes been butting heads with? The disgruntled coffee shop owner with an axe (or perhaps coffee bean) to grind? Between her investigations, trying to get Uncommon Grounds back on track, a fair amount of time plotting revenge against her ex, and her budding romance with detective Pavlik, Maggie finds herself facing a situation more muddled than a Starbucks frappuccino. Rather than crying over spilt milk (hey, its a business expense), she gets right down to business. Uncommon Grounds'follows the sharp, witty, and hilariously cynical Maggie as she tries to determine the circumstances behind Patricias death-by-latte demise. (If thats not a warning about the perils of milk-adultered coffee, I dont know what is). After all, on page one, Patricia Harper, (now erstwhile) co-owner of the snappy Uncommon Grounds cafe in which Maggie is a partner, cops it while making her morning latte.

And given the way that Balzo treats her characters in' Uncommon Grounds, the first in her Maggie Thorsen coffee house mystery series, Im rather glad that I am. Okay, lets start off this review by mentioning that I start off my day with a double espresso, believe that stove-top coffee is the closest Ill get to heaven in this lifetime, and its my firmly held opinion that adding syrup, milk, or any type of sweetener to a caffeinated beverage is complete anathema.Īnd though I have designs on moving to the US one day, the idea of filter coffee or, gasp, microwaved'coffee utterly terrifies me.

Uncommon grounds coffee book