Braking for Bodies by Duffy Brown

First Line: "What's with the garlic and bottle of olive oil?"

Moving from Los Angeles to Mackinac Island to work in a bike shop is the best decision Evie Bloomfield has ever made. The entire island may be tied up in knots over the Lilac Festival, but so far Evie isn't letting it stress her out. That is, until her best buddy Fiona's former boss Peephole Perry walks off the ferry. 

No one knows why Perry is there, but it certainly doesn't look good for Fiona when he's found dead. Now Evie has her hands full: she's got to clear her friend's name while not bringing down ruin on the island's popular Lilac Festival.

Duffy Brown just seems to get better with each book she writes. Braking for Bodies is filled with humor and the mystery is laced with first-rate misdirection. 

A generous helping of the book's humor centers on the esprit de corps of the inhabitants of Mackinac Island. Tourism is their livelihood, and they go out of their way to hide any sort of bad news from money-wielding visitors. When some of those tourists think Peephole Perry's death is part of a grander scheme for their entertainment, the townfolk use that to their advantage, as they also do their knowledge of the island to help Fiona as much as they can. 

Evie Bloomfield is a junk food-eating amateur sleuth who is an artistic genius with paint, brush, and bicycles. (How about renting the "Nancy Drew," the "Downton Abbey," or the "My Little Pony"?) Away from paint and bikes, it does take her a while to figure out to where all her clean clothes are disappearing. I enjoy the entire cast of characters, although I have to be honest and admit that Irish Donna's brogue sounds completely phony. Since she doesn't have a big share of the action, I can deal with it, but I do wish she'd be struck with some strange type of linguistic amnesia and start talking like normal folks.

If you're in the mood for a light-hearted mystery in the near-perfect setting of no-combustion-engines-allowed Mackinac Island in Michigan, I'd suggest you pick up Duffy Brown's Cycle Path mysteries.
    

Braking for Bodies by Duffy Brown

ISBN: 9780425268957

Berkley Prime Crime © 2016

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #2 Cycle Path mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from The Poisoned Pen.


 

Geared for the Grave by Duffy Brown

First Line: While cowering in the back of a ferryboat, head over railing and losing my lunch in Lake Huron, it occurred to me that no matter how old I am, I want to impress my parents.

Desperately in want of a promotion, Evie Bloomfield travels from Chicago to Mackinac Island in Michigan to help out at Rudy's Rides, a bicycle shop that just so happens to be owned by her boss's father, who's broken his leg. Unfortunately Evie has pedaled straight into more than renting two-wheeled transportation. Wealthy local (and pain in everyone's neck) Bunny Harrington dies in what was thought to be a freak bike accident, but when it's discovered that her brakes were tampered with, Suspect #1 is Rudy. To stay on her boss's good side, Evie's going to have to take off her training wheels and solve a murder.

To be honest, the major reason why I wanted to read Geared for the Grave was its setting, Mackinac Island, and author Duffy Brown paints a fine picture of just how magical this place can be. She also serves up some delightful humor with the euphemisms locals use to keep tourists in the dark about what's going on.

Evie is a delight as well, with her lack of grace, her passion for painting, and her knack for finding all the poison ivy patches on the island. She was in such a rush to make Brownie points with her boss that she didn't even read up on Mackinac Island, so its steep streets and lack of motorized transportation throws her for a loop-- and that loop catches many of the locals, too, who find Evie to be a bit of a handful. 

I enjoyed the entire cast of characters even though Irish Donna's "brogue" didn't sound right. (I almost wanted to ask Donna if she were in the Witness Protection Program and using an assumed identity.) And in the midst of all the humor and getting acquainted with Evie and the islanders, I found a good mystery. Towards the very end I realized that I didn't have a clue whodunnit, and I just managed to figure it all out before Evie did. It certainly was a close race.

The only problem with finishing the book is the fact that I've got to wait for the next episode. Hurry up, Duffy-- I want to go back to Mackinac Island!
 

Geared for the Grave by Duffy Brown

ISBN: 9780425268940

Berkley Prime Crime © 2014

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #1 Cycle Path mystery

Rating: B+

Source: the author