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UNCOMMON GROUNDS
by Sandra Balzo
Five Star, November 2004
248 pages
$25.95
ISBN: 1594141959


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Sandra Balzo's first novel, set in Brookhills, Wisconsin, introduces us to a very likeable new protagonist in Maggy Thorsen. Maggy used to work as a PR executive in a bank but when her husband Ted dumps her on the very day their son sets off for college, her life changes for good. She's still bitter, in a low-key way, but has a wonderfully dry sense of humour about it, making it easy to empathise with her.

One of the biggest changes is Maggy's decision to open a coffee shop, Uncommon Grounds, with her best friend Caron. Caron also introduces Maggy to Patricia Harper who joins in the new venture as the third partner. On the day that the store is due to open Maggy arrives to find Patricia dead on the floor, apparently halfway through making a latte. It's soon discovered that Patricia's death was no accident, but who would want her dead?

Maggy needs the store to succeed and that means helping the police to find out what happened, and get on with developing the business. Unfortunately the new sheriff Jacob Pavlic, a man who can do the good cop/bad cop routine without another officer in the room, takes charge of the case and seems to suspect each of Maggy and her friends of the murder.

Maggy joins forces with Patricia's best friend Sarah to take care of Patricia's kids and do a little gentle investigation themselves. Right from the start, it's obvious there have been a lot of things happening in Brookhills that Maggy had never even imagined, and she comes to suspect her friends, and to admire Pavlic.

Despite the coffee shop setting, this isn't entirely a traditional culinary cozy -- there are no recipes and it has a more contemporary feel. The reader is straight into the murder on page one, and the plot zips along like a double shot of espresso hitting the blood stream, retaining one's interest throughout with a cast of interesting characters and Maggy's dry humour.

The somewhat confused resolution was the one weak spot of the book -- the motivation and actions of some of the characters were either unclear or unconvincing, but overall this is a successful debut novel, and I hope I get an opportunity to read more about Maggy soon.

Reviewed by Bridget Bolton, October 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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