| Maggy Thorsen is going through some major life changes; divorce, living alone with her son away at college, a smaller income with the smaller life style to match and opening a specialty coffeehouse. This is all happening in a very small town with very small town gossip and social casting to match. Maggy is forging ahead with Frank, her son's dog, as her only companion and goes in to the opening day of the coffee shop, Uncommon Grounds, to find the less personally known of her partners, Patricia Harper, dead while Caron, the friend turned partner, is in a state of shock staring at Patricia's body on the floor in front of the espresso machine. Patricia's death is ultimately determined to be from electrocution via the espresso machine - but then the steam gets turned on. Patricia's husband, David Harper, is found dead next. The local Chief of Police, Gary Donovan, who would normally handle any suspicious death, is replaced by a foreigner (a man from Chicago), Jacob Pavlik, the new sheriff. Jacob's method of investigation is a little blunter and less charismatic than Gary's so Sheriff Pavlik and his questions are not well accepted by anyone in Brookhills, especially Maggy. Local politics, the new coffeehouse, a small town church, the orphaned Harper children and infidelity are part of this story.
Maggy Thorsen is described by S. J. Rozan as Nancy Drew grown up, divorced and opening a coffeehouse and I agree. Ms. Thorsen begins her own investigation in the death of her partner to clear herself and Caron, and eventually, other Brookhills' citizens. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - Dry-cynical How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80% Special suspect? - investigator him/herself Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - an organization Age: - long-lived adults Motive of antagonist - power The antagonists are: - radical right wingers How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting United States Yes Small town? Yes Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Unusual forms of death - frying (electrocuted) Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript |
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