Book Review with Spoilers | Stop at Nothing by Michael Ledwidge
February 27, 2024
February 2024 Reads
March 12, 2024
A Cyclist’s Guide to Crime & Croissants
Finished: March 2024
Book Source: Library
Book Publication Date: May 2024
Vicariously tour the sundrenched Mediterranean Coast in this perfectly escapist new cozy mystery series starring American expat-turned-bike tour company owner in Southern France.
Perfect for fans of Donna Leon’s The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries, M.L. Longworth’s Provençal Mystery series, and armchair travel!
Nine months ago, Sadie Greene shocked friends and family by ditching her sensible office job in the Chicago suburbs and buying a sight-unseen French bicycling tour company, Oui Cycle. Now she’s living the unconventional life of her dreams in the gorgeous village of Sans-Souci-sur-Mer. Sans souci means carefree, but Sadie feels enough pressure to burst a tire when hometown friends arrive for a tour, including her former boss, Dom Appleton. Sadie is determined to show them the wonders of France and cycling—and to prove she made the right move.
She hopes her meticulously planned nine-day itinerary will win them over, with its stunning seascapes, delicious wine tastings, hilltop villages, and, of course, frequent stops for croissants. When Dom drags his heels on fun, Sadie vows he’ll enjoy if it kills her. That is, until Dom ends up dead. The tragedy was no accident. Someone went out of their way to bring a permanent end to Dom’s vacation.
As more crimes—and murder—roll in, suspicions hover over Oui Cycle. To save her dream business, help her friends, and bring justice, Sadie launches her own investigation. However, mysteries mount with every turn. On an uphill battle for clues, can Sadie come to terms with her painful past while spinning closer to the truth—or will a twisted killer put the brakes on her for good?
Trigger Warnings:
Murder, hit and run accidents
Characters
- Sadie
- Gemma – Sadie’s diseased best friend that died in a biking hit and run
- Al – Sadie’s ex boyfriend/fiance
- Bea – previous owner of Oui Cycles
- Nadiya – works at the cycling company
- Jordi – works at the company also, he is the SAG van. He is an ex-felon from hacking people’s data
- Dom – murder victim, owner of an actuary firm
- Judith – Dom’s wife, Dom and Judith owned a house that Sadie and her mom lived in their guest cottage
- Lance – Dom and Judith’s son, works at the company as their business person, mainly doing the shmoozing
- Lexi – Lance’s long time girlfriend, fitness influencer
- Manfred – German data analyst on the trip
- Nigel – travel reviewer
- Conny and Philly – sisters
- Laurent – detective on the case, his mom owns a local hotel
My Review
I loved Ann Claire’s Dead and Gondola series, it got me on the cozy mystery kick that I’m on. I was so excited when I realized she had this book out!
This was such a delightful read! The French setting added such a charming backdrop to the story and the cycling tour aspect was a refreshing twist. It made me want to sign up for one immediately!
The characters were a real highlight for me. Each one seemed to have their own motives lurking beneath the surface, which kept me guessing until the very end. And let’s not forget about Manfred! What a gem of a character. His unwavering positivity was like a breath of fresh air amidst all the drama.
This cozy mystery is definitely worth a spin (pun intended!).
Spoilers/Summary
SPOILERS BELOW. Stop here if you do not want to read spoilers.
Who murdered Dom and Nigel and why? Lexi was the murderer. She programmed his navigator to run him off the road after doing research to understand the route that they would take. She sent him a fake email from his biggest client to get him alone. She then tampered with the route so he would fall to his death. She killed Dom because he knew that his car was used when it hit and killed Gemma. He originally thought it was Lance who was driving. He was going to come clean to Lance/Lexi during the trip.
Nigel was run off the road by the van. He must have seen Lexi tampering with Dom’s equipment so she had to silence him.
Who were the other suspects and motives?
- Lance – He wanted his dad dead so he could take over the company and not live under his shadow
- Judith – she inherited the company with Dom’s death
- Conny and Philly – Nigel had written a bad review of their tea shop that led them to going out of business; one of them went into the bike barn to get their sweater the night before the accident – they could have tampered with the bike thinking it was Nigel’s and got Dom’s bike instead
- Nadiya or Jordi – Dom was harassing Nadiya and threatened she would lose her job; Jordi and Nadiya were together
- Laurent – His mom submitted him for taking over Oui Cycles because she was worried his job was too dangerous; he could be sabotaging because he was jealous he didn’t get it
Why was Nigel sabotaging the tour? He was a very competitive person, competitive cycler – he wanted to turn the cycling group into an elite training group. His submission was not chosen so he wanted to sabotage the tour. He had been outsourcing all of his reviews previously, this one he wanted to do himself
Fun ending: Manfred is actually a covert travel reviewer and give the trip a good review.