(POLL BALLOT) Uncommon Grounds / Sandra Balzo - 2.5**

[Book Concierge]

Uncommon Grounds – Sandra Balzo
2.5** (Rounded up)

Maggy Thorsen has left her career as a PR executive, and, following a traumatic divorce, has decided to open a gourmet coffee shop in her suburban Wisconsin village, along with two of her best friends. But on opening day, Patricia Harper, is found dead – electrocuted by a hot-wired espresso machine. Maggy is a suspect, as she seems to have been the last person in the shop with an opportunity to sabotage the machine. So, she’s determined to find out who killed her friend and partner.

This has all the tropes of a successful cozy mystery series: an amateur detective with a food-related business, dueling law enforcement agencies (police chief vs sheriff), a cadre of good friends who will help Maggy investigate, a charming village setting, and enough suspects to keep even a dedicated mystery reader guessing. Unfortunately, I found the lead character a total ditz. This woman is just too stupid to live. She runs around like a chicken with her head cut off. And goes into dangerous situations without much thought to possible consequences, requiring that she be rescued (one of my pet peeves).

Well, it was a fast read, and it IS set in my home state, so I may read another in the series. But I’m in no hurry to do so.


LINK to my review