Death of a Bean Counter

February 3, 2020
Balzo’s 12th Maggy Thorsen mystery (after 2019’s Murder à la Mocha) is as fresh as the pecan rolls Maggy serves at her Uncommon Grounds coffeehouse in Brookhills, Wis. Sarah Kingston, a partner in the shop, has recently sold her real estate firm and decided to devote her full attention to Uncommon Grounds. The gung-ho businesswoman is filled with ideas to improve, expand, and change the character of the business, much to Maggy’s chagrin. But any modifications to the coffeehouse move to the back burner when the shop’s faithful barista, Amy Caprese, becomes a suspect in the death of her boyfriend, Kip Fargo, a corporate attorney and owner of Fargo Financial, an investment firm. Kip was many things, including cheap and condescending, and as Maggy digs deeper in an attempt to clear Amy, she learns that most of his clients were dissatisfied and angry. Balzo smoothly blends eccentric characters, lively dialogue, and a fair-play plot with a touch of discreet romance. Cozy fans will happily keep turning the pages. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary.

February 1, 2020
Maggy Thorsen (Murder à la Mocha, 2019, etc.) must save her barista from a murder charge. Free spirit Amy Caprese is very much her own woman. It surprised her boss, Maggy, and Maggy's business partner, Sarah Kingston, to see Amy date staid attorney Kip Fargo, and it surprises them again to hear that Amy turned down a proposal from the much older financial adviser. But it's Amy's turn to be shocked when Maggy's fiance, Sheriff Jake Pavlik, comes into Uncommon Grounds to tell the three women that Kip's been found shot to death in his bed. It's a long, strange journey from there, with Maggy walking a fine line between breaking faith with Pavlik by sharing too much information about the investigation with Amy and letting her employee down by allowing her to be railroaded into a possible murder charge--a charge that doesn't even make that much sense since Amy had no reason to want to kill Kip; it's the murdered Kip who was angry with Amy. But the absence of other suspects makes the police bear down on the one person they know quarreled with Kip right before his death. And Amy's sudden reunion with her old flame Jacque Oui looks sketchy, although again, not really a motive for murder. As Maggy pokes more deeply into the Fargo household, which includes Kip's grown children, Jason and Jayden, frog-obsessed gardener Rafael, and Mrs. Gilroy, a housekeeper straight out of Daphne du Maurier, she has more reason to believe that Kip is not the solid financial citizen he seemed to be. Not an espresso or a caramel latte--just a regular American cuppa Joe.

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March 1, 2020
Maggy Thorsen, co-owner of a Wisconsin coffeehouse called Uncommon Grounds, investigates when her barista Amy Caprese becomes the chief suspect in the murder of investment advisor Kip Fargo. Amy had just turned down the much older Kip's marriage proposal, and the police believe she was the last one to see him alive. In due course, Maggy identifies other suspects, including Amy's former boyfriend Jacques, Kip's adult children, and some of Kip's investment clients, whose accounts he raided to fund his lavish lifestyle. When her detective work begins to compromise the official investigation by Maggy's fianc�, Sheriff Jake Pavlik, it causes a falling-out between the two. The twisty mystery is well supported by the coffeehouse frame along with engaging details of two women running their own business and the nicely textured account of a couple in love (Maggy and Jake) learning to live together. And there are also two lovable dogs! This twelfth in the series is a satisfying cozy, perfect for those who enjoy Laura Childs' Tea Shop mysteries starring Theodosia Browning.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)