To The Last Drop by Sandra Balzo is the ninth book in A Coffee House Cozy Mystery series. Maggy Thorson owns Uncommon Grounds with her business partner and friend, Sarah Kingston in Brookhills, Wisconsin. Maggy inherited almost $50,000 from her brother and is visiting Lynne Swope, a financial advisor. Lynne is married to William who just joined Maggy’s ex-husband’s (Ted) dental practice. That evening the book club group is meeting at Uncommon Grounds. The group includes Lynne and William. Ted storms in very angry and wishes to see William. They go outside, but Maggy manages to hear a tidbit of their “discussion”. Ted tells William to pack up his office and leave. The next day Maggy is visiting Thorsen Dental when a body is found on the ground by protestor, Rita Pahlke. It turns out to be William Swope. Did William jump out his tenth-floor window or did someone give him a little help out that window? Maggy, of course, cannot help but look into the matter much to her boyfriend’s dismay. Maggy is dating Sheriff Jake Pavlik, the Brookhills County Sheriff. Maggy is soon knee deep in the secrets of the Swope family. Will Maggy be able to uncover the truth?

You will enjoy To The Last Drop if you read at least the first novel in the series first. It is really not a stand-alone book. It can be confusing trying to understand the characters, relationships and their backstories. I really did not enjoy To The Last Drop. I tried, but was not a fan of the human characters (the dog was the only one I enjoyed). The main character, Maggy Thorsen is unappealing. Maggy comes across as nosy and pesky (annoying). Maggy’s best friend, Sarah Kingston is odd (I do not see what they have in common besides the business). The author tried to make the mystery complex, but it was very simple to solve (the killer was extremely obvious—there might as well be a giant arrow pointing to the culprit). I was able to identify the killer by the time I was 25% of the way through the book. I give To The Last Drop 2.5 out of 5 stars (not for me). Some information is repeated a few times throughout the book. An example is Maggy’s divorce from Ted and why they are divorced. I was astounded that anyone would trust Lynne Swope with their money. I thought that once Maggy got to know Lynne, she would take back her $50,00 (and give it to someone more reliable). The book does have a sweet, romantic ending. This was just not the right cozy mystery for me. ( )

I thought this series ended after the last one, Murder on the Orient Espresso, was published in 2013 and had one of the most delightfully macabre methods of murder I'd read yet in a cozy mystery. So I was very happy to see this 9th book released this year and I snapped it up.

Maggy Thorsen, a 40-something divorcée running a coffee shop, Uncommon Grounds, in the small fictional town of Brookhills, Wisconsin.

I love Maggy; her inner voice is so wonderfully sarcastic and mirrors my own inner dialogue so much, the pages just fly by. I hadn't realised how much I missed these characters until I picked up the book last night, and then read it all in one sitting. Balzo writes one of the most realistic settings and some of the most intelligent characters in cozies, in my opinion. I have no problem imagining any of these people living next door or down the street.

The mystery was good; looking back I think the clues were there and I missed them and a little twist at the end made it a touch more interesting too.

The only thing that didn't work for me was the weird, forced, drama between Maggy and the Sheriff, Jake. What was the point of that exercise? It never felt believable and its resolution lost the oomph it might have had under different circumstances. The whole thing was a fail, although I'm thankful Balzo didn't string it out over another book or two.

I don't know if she plans to write any more in this series or not, but if she does, I'll happily snap them up. ( )