Her Book Self

Book: A Cup of Jo by Sandra Balzo

Series: Maggy Thorsen Mysteries

Book Order: Uncommon Grounds* (1), Grounds For Murder (2), Bean There, Done That (3), Brewed, Crude and Tattooed (4), From the Grounds Up (5), A Cup of Jo* (6)
* indicates a book I have read

Sandra Balzo brews up a great mystery in A Cup of Jo the latest in her Maggy Thorsen series. When Maggy orders a huge inflatable coffee cup emblazoned with the Uncommon Grounds logo to promote her coffee shop, it seems like a great idea... until a body is found inside the giant decoration.

With motives all around and suspects close to heart, it's up to Maggy to sort through clues while trying to maintain a booming coffee business. Trouble has a knack for following Maggy, though, and the twists and turns in this mystery are as abundant as the quirky characters. Balzo fills her Wisconsin town with a great supporting cast of friends and fiends ensuring that Maggy's tale is heartwarming, hilarious, and perfectly puzzling.

The challenge is on for the reader to solve the murder alongside Maggy Thorsen. Armchair detectives everywhere will definitely want to cozy up with A Cup of Jo.

This is another series that I've been reading rather out of order.  I picked up A Cup of Jo not realizing how many books I had skipped in the series, but it was still a great story and I appreciated that Balzo's writing seemed more sophisticated farther along in the series.  I'm sure I'll fill in the gaps with the middle books someday, but each story can easily be appreciated as a standalone tale too.