Death of a Bean Counter (A Maggy Thorsen Mystery, #12)

by Sandra Balzo

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Death of a Bean Counter is the 12th Maggy Thorsen mystery by Sandra Balzo. Released 7th April by Severn House, it's 208 pages and available in hardcover and ebook formats.

Although this is the 12th book in the series, it works well as a standalone and I had no trouble keeping up. It's a modern small-town cozy with coffee shop amateur sleuth Maggy and her handsome fiance Sherriff Jake trying to solve the shooting death of the fiance of a local businessman (and embezzler) with whom the coffee-shop's barista is entangled. The suspects are legion, the victim seemed to be quite sleazy, and nobody seems to have a solid alibi.

It's a quick and easy read with a plot that moves along at a satisfying clip, light and bantering dialogue, and a satisfying denouement. There are plot twists aplenty right up to the last page. My main quibble is that main character Maggy feeds (or mentions feeding) her two dogs pizza several times over the course of the book. No pizza for pups!

Entertaining and engaging. Well written and fun with pretty clean language (a few "sh*ts" and "d*mns", nothing worse). There's no explicit sexual content or on-page violence. Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.