The Perfect Cozy
Ellen Byron’s Body on the Bayou is a masterpiece of mystery and romance set in the South. It left me with a big fat smile on my face. Not only did I not figure out the murderer, but I was also shocked by a plot twist at the end. Byron’s characters are richly drawn, the setting, pun intended, is to die for. A gentle sense of humor permeates the story keeping the tone light, but at the same time, the characters make insightful comments.
My favorite lines:
- “That woman is the worst kind of Glossie,” Gran’ declared, using an acronym she’d invented that stood for ‘gracious ladies of the South.’ “She’s a … a … Flossie—a fake lady of the South.” (Chapter 4)
- “Little Earlie might be as annoying as a tick on a dog, but he was still part of her community …” (Chapter 17
- “The landscape was littered with potential emotional landmines.” (Chapter 19)
- “I’m trying to find the words that could tell you how much this means to me. But I don’t think they exist.”
And this is my very favorite:
- “Magnolia Marie died at age 101 in 1941, knowing that she’d helped Doucet and its employees survive three wars and the Great Depression. If Magnolia Marie could triumph over such great losses and traumas, Maggie could certainly power through the lesser obstacles that currently challenged her. “That,” Maggie told the teen, is the woman I was named after.” (Chapter 23)
I’m going to download more of Ellen Byron’s books, and I highly recommend this book to readers who love cozy mysteries.