Stay Just a Little Bit Longer

Two mystery series revolve around coffeehouses. In this post, I will review Sandra Balzo's books, which take place in Brookhills, Wisconsin and feature Maggy Thorsen as the co-owner of Uncommon Grounds. Newly housed in a quaint railroad station adjacent to a revitalized commuter rail connection, Maggie's coffeehouse is thriving, so she and her sheriff boyfriend Jake Pavlik head to Florida for a crime-writers conference. Mischief and mayhem ensure in Murder on the Orient Espresso.

The conference's opening night event is a re-enactment of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, complete with a train ride and, of course, a body. Surrounded by authors, critics and aspiring writers, there's enough sniping and jealousy to fill several trains.

As with the Christie book, the train is stranded by flooding on the tracks along the Everglades. When Maggy and Jake to try to reach the engineer by walking outside, they find the surprise of their lives - a partially swallowed body in the mouth of an enormous python. The corpse turns out to be much unloved critic Laurence

Potter and there are plenty of suspects from which to choose. Dame Agatha would be proud.

The first book in this series is Uncommon Grounds.

Watch for the second coffeehouse mystery series by Cleo Coyle in another post.