A Cyclist’s Guide to Crime & Croissants by Ann Claire

I hope you’re not hungry, because if you read this review on an empty stomach you’re going to be dying for some baked goods by the end! Croissants, biscuits, and other yummy delights are highly featured in this story. Add in the the hard to solve mystery of who killed Dom Appleton, and this makes for a wonderful cozy mystery novel.

A Cyclist’s Guide to Crime & Croissants is a cozy mystery that is set in France. It focuses on Sadie and her bicycle tour company. And the tour that she goes on in this book is absolutely her most exciting tour yet. Well, exciting might not be the right adjectives. Other words to describe this tour could be “Stressful” or “Terrifying”. Haha.

Keep reading for my full A Cyclist’s guide to Crime & Croissants book review. And if you’re looking for more cozy mystery recommendations, click here.

What is A Cyclist’s Guide to Crime & Croissants About?

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? (from Amazon.com)

The Characters

This mystery kept me guessing because while I liked most of the characters, there were definitely some bad apples in the bunch. And besides the bad apples, there were some questionable apples. Like Dom, for instance. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy, but he definitely rubs a lot of people the wrong way. When he turns up dead it’s surprising because although he is annoying, he doesn’t seem annoying enough that someone would want to kill him.

Nigel Fox was another questionable apple that turned into a bad apple. His negative attitude definitely made him seem questionable. He really got a joy out of criticizing Sadie and antagonizing the rest of the cyclists on the tour group.

But I loved the rest of the tour. There was the rest of the Appleton crew (Judith, Lance, and Lexi), Manfred, Philly and Conny (sisters). And then there were the employees who worked on Sadie’s tour. Everyone had a unique back story that was revealed in time.

Tour Groups are No Joke, but they do have a lot of Humor

I must admit. I did not envy Sadie while she was dealing with her tour group in this story. I used to work in the hospitality industry so I know how difficult it can be trying to please customers and keep things organized.

It was driving me crazy how every time Sadie wanted the group to head out on the next leg of their journey, someone was late. Or just gone? Lol. I feel like that’s a liability issue so the way Nigel and Lance kept being mysteriously absent was bizarre to me.

The logistics of organizing the group was very chaotic, but there were a lot of funny moments in this story which I appreciated.

Would I Recommend A Cyclist’s Guide to Crime & Croissants?

Yes, I would recommend this book to any of my mystery loving friends. It was a delightful story to read for quite a few reasons which I will share below.

• Sadie was a great character to read about. I really enjoyed her personality. Many people in this book point out how brave she is for moving to another country and buying a business and that is absolutely true.
• Although the main part of this story is figuring out who the murderer is, there is also the interesting backstory of Sadie trying to move on from the loss of her best friend, who passed away the previous year.
• The descriptions of France and the different places they visited were really interesting! I’ve never been to France but the idea of going on a cycling tour there seems so lovely. I think the author Ann Claire did a great job of describing these scenes and planning out the tour that everyone went on.
• The food scenes were pretty great! I consider myself to be a food enthusiast, so I loved all the talk about baked goods. The tour group also has a few nice dinners throughout the story that sounded fabulous.

In Conclusion

This is my first time reading a book by Ann Claire, but I saw that she is also the author of Dead and Gondola and Last Word to the Wise which have been on my goodreads TBR list for a while now. I really enjoyed A Cyclist’s Guide to Crime & Croissants and hope to check out the rest of her books in the near future.

But wait, there’s more!

If you enjoyed today’s book discussion, you can read more of my reviews here. And if you’re specifically looking for some cozy mystery recs click here.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for an eArc in exchange for an honest review!