"Look out Diane Mott Davidson, there's a new writer with an appetite for murder."
Denver Post
Running on Empty
A Main Street Murder
April 2011
Severn House
Hardcover: ISBN 978-0727869814
Buy now from Amazon
It was the call every adult child dreads:
"AnnaLise? You should come home. Your mother Daisy went and drained all the blood out of poor Ema Bradenham."
Well, maybe not every adult child.
While life on Sutherton's Main Street had often been inexplicably hazardous, the day Daisy Griggs siphoned nearly three pints from Mrs. Brandenham during the annual blood drive seemed to set a new standard, even by the unusual measure of this North Carolina resort town.
Answering the summons, AnnaLise returns home to find Labor Day preparations in full swing. But this traditional celebration promises to be no picnic. People are dying and, unless AnnaLise can figure out why, her mother Daisy may be next.
What They're Saying
Booklist: "Balzo has created a lively southern town full of quirky characters and matched them with a lively plot. Readers who enjoy Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott mysteries will have fun with this one."
Publishers Weekly: "Balzo (A Cup of Jo) introduces a beguiling heroine in this wryly amusing first in a new series. . . . readers will cheer the resolute and feisty AnnaLise every step of the way."
Kirkus Reviews: "A Wisconsin reporter comes home to murder and mayhem in a High Country resort town. Balzo's Maggy Thorsen series (A Cup of Jo, 2010, etc.) was a mild jolt, but her new franchise is a full-throttle joyride."
Library Journal: "The author of the Maggie Thorsen mysteries (From the Grounds Up) introduces an appealing new amateur sleuth who is calm, good-natured, and nosey for someone else's own good. For readers of G.A. McKevett and Joan Hess."
Coming this fall: