Flat White

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. [em]Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary. (May) [/em]