Sandra Balzo sa preslávila ako autorka napínavých detektívnych románov, ktoré často zasádza do pôvabných kaviarenských prostredí či malebnej krajiny. Jej štýl vyniká schopnosťou vytvárať pútavé zápletky a sympatické postavy, ktoré čitateľov vtiahnu do sveta zločinu a jeho rozplietania. Balzo majstrovsky buduje napätie a prekvapivé rozuzlenia, čím si získala obľubu medzi fanúšikmi žánru hľadajúcimi inteligentné a svižné čítanie. Jej diela sú cenené pre svoju atmosféru a originálny prístup k detektívnemu formátu.
"Maggy Thorsen's shock at finding her ex-husband Ted in a fight with William Swopes, an oral surgeon at Ted's dental practice, outside Uncommon Grounds, the Wisconsin gourmet coffeehouse she co-owns, is soon usurped by the horror of discovering a dead body outside Thorsen Dental's office block the next morning. Did he jump from the tenth-floor office window, or was he pushed?"--Amazon.com.
It’s November and Maggy Thorsen, co-owner of the Wisconsin gourmet coffeehouse, Uncommon Grounds, is in South Florida at an annual crime-writers’ conference with her beau, local sheriff Jake Pavlik, who is due to speak as a ‘forensics expert’.Maggy’s pledge to behave solely as a tourist becomes trickier than she anticipated when the conference’s opening night event turns out to be a re-enactment of Agatha Christie’s classic, Murder on the Orient Express. As Maggy and Jake reluctantly set off on the night train to the Everglades to solve the ‘crime’, it’s clear that, as in the original novel, nothing is quite what it seems. And amidst rumours of careers taken, manuscripts stolen and vows broken, it seems that in the Everglades – as in life – the predator all too often becomes the prey.
Set in Milwaukee at a scaldingly competitive trade show for the coffee industry, events reach a head when coffeehouse owner Maggy Thorsen discovers a body under a table at the conference center. As the reluctant conference coordinator and a potential suspect, Maggy must track the murderer, save her coffeehouse, and hopefully put some froth in her love life.
Uncommon Grounds coffeehouse owner Maggy Thorsen is full of good intentions when she attempts to return Mocha, a lost chihuahua who jumped out in front of her car, to her owners. But a trip to the Satterwite's house and meeting their dog-sitter give Maggy a bad feeling... and leads to an even worse discovery. Can she solve another deadly puzzle?
Trouble is brewing for coffeehouse owner Maggy Thorsen when her barista's wealthy beau is murdered. Maggy Thorsen's head is spinning thanks to partner Sarah Kingston's latest idea - selling luxe espresso machines in their Wisconsin coffeehouse, Uncommon Grounds. But Maggy soon faces a far bigger problem when her fianc�, sheriff Jake Pavlik, makes an official call on the coffee house's star barista, Amy Caprese.Amy's wealthy new beau, investment adviser Kip Fargo, has been shot dead in his bed - and Amy is the last known person to see him alive. Kip had just proposed to Amy, but she turned him down, triggering a terrible argument and making Amy the prime suspect. Determined to prove her barista's innocence, Maggy soon makes a number of disturbing discoveries. Can she untangle lies, jealousy and Kip's shady dealings in time to avert the disaster that's brewing?
Maggy Thorsen's new neighbours, Philip and Vivian Woodward, are forging ahead with their plans to turn Vivian's grandparents' neglected cottage into The Big Steep tea shop. But when Maggy's sheepdog arrives at Uncommon Grounds coffeehouse bearing a 'gift' he discovered in the Woodwards' compost heap, the tea shop project takes a chilling turn .
The choice of an antique silver coffee urn as the final resting place for elderly Celeste Bouchard's ashes might raise eyebrows but Maggie has other things on her mind - should she marry Sheriff Jake Pavlik, currently taking refuge with her thanks to an escaped convict? Even so, she is soon drawn into a difficult and dangerous puzzle.
AnnaLise Griggs discovers that her biological father might be notorious womanizer Dickens Hart, but when Hart invites his former loves and their offspring to his White Tail Lodge a body is discovered and AnnaLise must identify the killer.
Amidst the turmoil of a funeral, Maggy Thorsen finds herself entangled in the Kingston family's hidden truths when her partner Sarah's sister, Ruth, is hospitalized under suspicious circumstances. As Maggy and Sarah, along with Sarah's niece Arial, delve into the family's troubled history, they confront unresolved tensions and a mysterious stranger that may hold the key to uncovering dark secrets. The quest for answers reveals a complex web of motives surrounding Ruth's actions and Edna's controversial legacy.
Maggy Thorsen has taken on a new barista, Christy Wrigley, to fill in at her Wisconsin coffee house. When the new love of her life turns up unexpectedly on the coffee shop's doorstep, Christy is shocked - but what happens next is even more incredible, and Maggy is soon drawn into a deadly blend of betrayal, deception and lies.