Uncommon Grounds

By: Sandra Balzo

Narrated by: Karen Savage

A body in a pool of skim milk.

An unsavory discovery at any time, but especially inconvenient when the milk puddle is in front of the espresso machine the very morning you're scheduled to open your chic suburban coffee house, Uncommon Grounds.

AND the body is one of your partners, leaving you and your other partner - the one who's still alive - as suspects.

Which would all be bad enough, even if your husband HADN'T dumped you for his dental assistant, Little Miss Tooth de Lay, leading you to jettison your old life and invest what little you have left in Uncommon Grounds, which now appears - like your marriage - to be circling the drain.

©2004 Sandra Balzo (P)2012 Sandra Balzo

I'll have another cup please

This is one of the most entertaining new series I have read in a while. I was hooked after the first page. In a small town in Wisconsin, Caron Egan, Patricia Harper, and Maggie Thorsen open up a gourmet coffee shop, UNCOMMON GROUNDS. On the day they open for business, Patricia dies in what seems like an electrocution accident. But the sheriff sees things differently. Sheriff Pavlik thinks someone tampered with the latte maker to intentionally kill Patricia. He begins to look at the business partners first.

The characters are realistic, likeable, interesting and well-developed. There are many plot twist to keep you guessing. Other than Maggie my favorite character is Sarah. Her blunt sarcastic comments are funny and keep the story rolling at a fast pace.

I wish the entire 7 book series was available through audiobooks. I bought the rest of the series for my Kindle. If you are a fan of light mysteries you will love this book.

Absolutely mediocre

What did you like best about Uncommon Grounds? What did you like least?

Both the story and the narration are totally unremarkable. No emotions, no thoughts, just a passtime.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Honestly, just a relief that the story has ended.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Karen Savage?

There is no reason not to. Performance is decent, so if the story is worthy of listening, then why not?

Was Uncommon Grounds worth the listening time?

Definitely not.

Speed of playback was off - too fast.

Speed of playback was off - too fast. Otherwise, it was an entertaining mystery. Kept me guessing to the end.

Entertaining and Refreshing

Sometimes those 3 for 2 sales do work out...

Three friends become partners in a coffee shop. On opening day, one friend is found dead and the other two girls become suspects.

The story moves quickly. Great snarky dialogue and fun relatable characters. The ending is a bit abrupt, but it doesn't leave you hanging.

The narration was good.

Not sure I would have tried these books on my own, but I will keep going with this enjoyable series.

Uncommonly good!

Sandra Balzo has captured the essence of an in-depth murder investigation. This series has a fabulous main character, Maggi Thorsen, who fits in our current political era. It’s nice to see a women’s perspective from a bright coffee shop owner. The narrator, Karen Savage, did a great job! #lovesandrabalzo #whodoneit? #itsallaboutthecoffee #tagsgiving #sweepstakes