*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of NETGALLEY arc Death of a Bean Counter – Book 12 of the Maggy Thorsen mysteries by Sandra Balzo #Brainfluffbookreview #DeathofaBeanCounterbookreview

I was in the mood for another cosy mystery and this one caught my eye – the wordplay around the title – the protagonist owns a coffee shop – sounded fun and so I was delighted to receive an arc copy…

BLURB: 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 fiance 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…

That’s as much of the rather chatty blurb I’m willing to divulge, as the setup for this book should be read without any spoilery details that might encourage you to skim. Once again, I found I’d crashed midway into a series – this being the twelfth book – but didn’t have too much difficulty sorting out who did what to whom. While I’m sure if you read the previous eleven books, you’d know more about the characters, Balzo’s chatty style and strong first-person protagonist made it easy to read. The book zipped along with plenty of suspects and the small-town, gossipy dynamic that US cosy crime writers do so well set this whodunit up nicely.

Any grizzles? I did find Maggy’s nosiness and intrusive approach at times rather offputting. I liked the fact that she was no fresh-faced youngster, and her spiky relationship with her business partner, provided some nice snark. However, her determination to try and crack the case meant that she did crash in and at times, put her lovely Sherriff partner in a difficult position.

That said, the whodunit was well handled and while I had wondered about the murderer, due to the fact there were also a string of other likely culprits, I hadn’t guessed who it was. An entertaining, enjoyable read with a good spread of supporting characters within a well-established community. Recommended for fans of cosy mysteries. The ebook arc copy of Death of a Bean Counter was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest opinion of the book.
7/10