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Sandra Balzo

Biography

Sandra Balzo

Sandra Balzo is an award-winning author of crime fiction, including 11 books in two different mystery series from Severn House --- the Wisconsin-based Maggy Thorsen Mysteries and Main Street Murders, set in the High Country of North Carolina and featuring journalist AnnaLise Griggs.

Film rights for the Maggy Thorsen Coffeehouse Mysteries have been optioned toward development as a television series or movie. Garnering starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist, Balzo's novels are recommended to readers of Janet Evanovich, Charlaine Harris, Harlan Coben, Joan Hess and Margaret Maron. 

Sandra Balzo

Books by Sandra Balzo

by Sandra Balzo - Fiction, Mystery
Founder of the White Tail Lodge --- a High Country knock-off of the Playboy concept --- Hart now claims he wants to ‘do right’ by any other children he may have fathered. To that end, he's invited all his former lovers and potential heirs, including journalist AnnaLise Griggs and her own mother, Daisy, to what Hart envisions as a festive Thanksgiving weekend at the sprawling lakeside mansion. But not everybody is in a celebratory mood, and when a body is discovered dead in the bed, AnnaLise is left with the impossible task of identifying the killer.
by Sandra Balzo - Fiction, Mystery
It’s November and Maggy Thorsen, co-owner of the Wisconsin gourmet coffeehouse, Uncommon Grounds, is in South Florida at an annual crime-writers’ conference with her beau, local sheriff Jake Pavlik. Maggy’s pledge to behave solely as a tourist becomes trickier than she anticipated when the opening night event turns out to be a re-enactment of Agatha Christie’s classic, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. As Maggy and Jake reluctantly set off on the night train to the Everglades to solve the ‘crime,’ it’s clear that, as in the original novel, nothing is quite what it seems. 
by Sandra Balzo - Fiction, Mystery

Fall arrives early in the High Country of North Carolina, but journalist AnnaLise Griggs is more concerned about one particular trio of visitors: Benjamin Rosewood, his wife Tanja and their daughter, Suzanne, especially as AnnaLise and Ben have history. When two sudden and unexpected deaths occur, AnnaLise must protect herself and the place she loves as she is forced to confront how far a person might go to get --- and keep --- what they believe should be their own.

by Sandra Balzo - Fiction, Mystery

There's a chill in the Wisconsin air and it's a shot in the arm --- or 'triple shot' in this case --- to Uncommon Grounds, the Brookhills coffeehouse owned by Maggy Thorsen and real estate maven Sarah Kingston. Two estate agents have died lately, and Sarah herself is under investigation for irregularities at her job. Then a stench begins to percolate through the coffeehouse, and soon it's clear that corpses --- like other bad things --- do indeed come in threes.

by Sandra Balzo - Fiction, Mystery

Life on Sutherton's Main Street has always been inexplicably hazardous. But the day Daisy Griggs siphoned three pints of blood from poor Mrs. Bradenham seemed to set a new standard. Now more and more people are dying and unless Daisy’s daughter can figure out why, her mother may be next.

by Sandra Balzo - Fiction, Mystery

When Maggy Thorsen’s coffee house, Uncommon Grounds, is virtually obliterated by a snowstorm, she and her friend Sarah resolve to reopen --- and Maggy’s found the perfect spot near the train station, just in time for the opening of the new commuter route. But when Sarah’s uncle dies suddenly, in the first of a series of ‘accidents’, it’s clear that someone doesn’t want Uncommon Grounds to reopen. Maggy, however, has no intention of yielding...

by Sandra Balzo - Fiction, Mystery

Maggy Thorsen, co-owner of the Brookhills coffee-house Uncommon Grounds, is trapped in a shopping mall by a snow storm which cuts the electricity and phone lines. She finds the body of Way Benson, a local developer and owner of the mall. Maggy's discovery unearths other refugees of the storm and it seems that more than one of these people has a motive for killing the arrogant Way. Then there is another murder...

by Sandra Balzo - Fiction, Mystery

Heres a tip: If your ex-husband's mistress-cum-missus asks for your help in proving that he cheated on her while he was married to you, just say no. And, whatever you do, dont invite her in... Coffeehouse owner Maggy Thorsen does just that when Rachel Slattery Thorsen comes knocking on her door. When the new Mrs. Thorsen disappears that same evening, Maggy quickly finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation.

by Sandra Balzo - Fiction, Mystery

Set in Milwaukee at a scaldingly competitive trade show for the coffee industry, events reach a head when coffeehouse-owner Maggy Thorsen discovers a body under a table at the conference centre. As the reluctant conference coordinator and a potential suspect Maggy must track down the murderer, save her coffeehouse and hopefully put some froth into her love life...

by Sandra Balzo - Fiction, Mystery

Patricia Harper is dead, killed by a hot-wired espresso machine, in Uncommon Grounds, her very own gourmet coffee store! Maggy Thorsen wants to know who killed one of her partners. And if things aren't already tough enough, she begins to suspect one of her friends is responsible for Patricia's murder. Maggy joins forces with Sarah Kingstown, Patricia's closest friend, to investigate her killing. Together, they uncover unsavory small-town politics, bribes, kickbacks, and rampant infidelity. 

by Sandra Balzo - Fiction, Mystery
Maggy Thorsen's heart, uncharacteristically, is swelling with optimism. Sure, her original Wisconsin coffeehouse, Uncommon Grounds, was destroyed in a freak early May blizzard. But, thanks to friend and new business partner, Sarah Kingston, a perfect location for its successor has been found in a quaint Brookhills railroad station. All seems perfectly poised for a great grand reopening, until Brookhills' in absentia event manager finally makes her appearance --- as a corpse in Maggy's piece de resistance...