Customer Reviews

Bike Week Blues (A Daffodils Mystery) (Volume 2)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a huge Evanovich fan, didn't think anything could possibly be as funny. But, Bike Week Blues is.

Imagine Stephanie is from Georgia, has lots of money, is man crazy, and carries a gun. Hm-mm, sounds more like Lula doesn't it?

Okay, a white Lula (who wears flame Harley boots) from an upper crust family, with fairly normal sorority sisters in their mid-40s trying to keep her in line. Also, they're all divorced. One is getting over a very nasty parting. One is long since over it all and into spirituality. And, then there's Penny Sue who's coninuously looking for #4.

An Italian widow from the south (South of Boston) takes these "sweet girls" under her wing. Just so happens, this widow's son is a 30ish, MIT millionaire genius who does Star Trek role-playing, paintball games with his other genius, MIT buddies.

Take that unlikely mix, throw in hot flashes, a half million bikers, cole slaw wrestling, Navy Seals, and a nuclear powered satellite and it's one heck of a hilarious mess.

Absolutely, one of the wildest capers I've ever read!

The DAFFODILS (Divorced and Finally Free of Deceitful, Incentive, Licentious Scum) are in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Leigh is living in Penny Sue's father's home rent free, working part-time, and trying to recover from being dumped for a bimbo her daughter's age. Ruthie plans to attend a metaphysical seminar and Penny Sue has followed her boyfriend down here so they can spend some time together during festivities of Bike Week.

The first couple of days are great for Penny Sue and Rich, but one day out of the blue he dumps her. Shortly thereafter, a dead body is found near Penny Sue's car and she knows that the dead man was hanging around with Rick. The police want to bring Rich in for questioning but he has disappeared with the criminal Vulture and his girlfriend who deals drugs and are wanted for other assorted activities. Penny Sue cajoles Mary Beth and Leigh into helping her find Rich before the police do and what follows is one of the funniest capers this reviewer has had the privilege of reading.

Mary Clay has the right touch when it comes to writing a mystery that will appeal to fans who like something funny, witty, catty, and filled with plenty of action. Penny plays Lucy to Leigh's Ethel and Ruthie is the voice of reason. The plotting is well done, all the characters (villains, odious ex male mates, and heroines) feel real and readers will find themselves reading BIKE WEEK BLUES in one sitting.

Harriet Klausner

After her first successful mystery, THE TURTLE MOUND MURDER, New Smyrna Beach's Mary Clay is at it again with her DAFFODILS...that is, "Divorced and Finally Free of Deceitful, Insensitive, Licentious Scum," in BIKE WEEK BLUES. The ex-sorority pals are visiting Leigh in New Smyrna Beach, and are having as much fun as they did in their youth. Except dead bodies keep turning up. And, as Leigh's policeman buddy puts it, the "girls" have a penchant for getting into trouble.

Leigh is finding herself and worrying about her daughter. Penny Sue has outfitted herself with a Harley and new gear for BIKE WEEK and her new love. When Penny Sue's Rich unceremoniously dumps her and then calls to apologize, she is suspicious. But it's the dead body found next to her car which has a bullet hole in the license plate that really gets her going. Ruthie, the New Ager in the group, contributes sages and scents, which sometimes backfire, but add to the fun. But the real corker is the addition of Frannie May, a rich Italian widow whose MIT educated genius of a son and his Trekkie buddies join forces with ex-Navy Seals to find Penny Sue and Rich, who are eventually kidnaped by a biker named Vulture and his terrorist partners. The remaining DAFFODILS swing into action, join forces with the Trekkies and Navy Seals, and a real Klingon assault is in the making to save the entire Eastern seaboard from uncertain disaster from those dastardly cultist bikers:

"'Yes ma'am.' Klingons, Romulans, and Navy Seals-I'd try not to judge it all. On the plus side, I had to admit narrow, sheltered life had broadened considerably since my divorce."

All in all, BIKE WEEK BLUES is a delightful reprise of the DAFFODILS in action. Mary Clay expands her characters considerably in her sequel, and the addition of Star Trek enthusiasts is a stroke of genius. Her characters are carefully drawn and keep the reader laughing throughout the entire novel. The additional frequent references to menopause in the DAFFODILS as they are trying to keep up with the younger generation simply add to the mirth. There are plenty of moments of sobriety well interspersed in-between, which keep the book and plot focused on the mystery. BIKE WEEK BLUES is a story most luscious, as Poirot would say.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

Bike Week Blues is a terrificly well written mystery read...full of witticisms and wonderful twists and turns - even a touch of romance. The Florida location and biker tradition is true American! The characters are delightful...Frannie May and the southern belle gals are a gas as a team out to out maneuver the "bad guys." A perfect vacation read. Not to be missed!!

This is my favorite of the Daffodils series. The ladies get caught up in one of their wild and weird scenarios again. This one keeps up a great pace and has a story line that is wacky, but believable. It's a great beach book! I'm anxiously awaiting the next one from Mary Clay. I'm addicted.

The Daffodils are back! A great book!! It is very entertaining and well written. I look forward to the next book in the series. I hope Mary Clay is busy typing!

At the start of the second book in the Daffodils series, Leigh Stratton is living in New Smyrna Beach while recovering from her recent divorce and the sale of the family home. It has been about four months since the action in the previous book The Turtle Mound Murders. Leigh's been busy settling into a new routine, with a part-time job at the Marine Conservation Center, a couple of new friends including a paint ball playing Klingon and she is learning to enjoy her solitude.

That is until the other two members of the Daffodils - Daffodils stands for Divorced and Finally Free of Deceitful, Insensitive, Licentious Scum - Ruthie and Penny Sue arrive to visit and partake of the festivities of Bike Week. That's Daytona Bike Week where half a million people from around the world get together to celebrate their love of motorcycles, denim, leather and tattoos. "A Daytona Beach tradition dating back to 1937, it started out small with just a handful of bikers racing a three-mile route, half of which was on the beach. Since then, Bike Week festivities have spread out to the surrounding communities and evolved into a ten day festival of bikes, beer and scantily clad babes."

Penny Sue, desperate to impress her new man who just might be her soulmate, has bought out the Harley Davidson store. Clad in the wedding ensemble, bright white riding leathers, perched on a brand new silver Harley Fat Boy she's going to try to land Rich as husband number four. The ladies are really getting into the swing of things, when Rich abruptly dumps Penny Sue. She's distraught, but not entirely convinced that it doesn't have something to do with the mysterious "old friends" on his patio that he refused to introduce. When one of those men turns up dead, and the other turns out to be a well-known criminal, Penny Sue is certain that Rich is in deep trouble. It's time for the Daffodils to ride to the rescue!

Mary Clay has really pulled out all the stops on this one, like its predecessor this book is laugh out loud funny. As silly as the plot line gets it is still within the realm of possibility, which makes it that much more endearing. Who would have thought that the trials and tribulations of three middle-aged divorcees could be so amusing? This reviewer is really looking forward to reading the next book in the series Murder is the Pits and sincerely hopes that the author is busy working on future titles.

...of course I'm an old Star Trek fan and really cracked up at the Klingon thread. I also like the middle-aged Southern characters. Growing up in the South, I have known women exactly like them!

My job is detail oriented, so I enjoy light mysteries with wacky characters a la Evanovich and Anne George. The DAFFODILS fit that bill, hence I was surprised by JerseyGirl's review. So, I took a look at her other reviews and realized we simply don't have the same taste. I don't like historicals and she doesn't particularly like mysteries. I also didn't see a single review of an Evanovich book. I'm a huge Evanovich fan, but admit that I thought some of her Plum books (especially the earlier ones) were much better than others. I wonder which Plums JerseyGirl was thinking about.

Not that impressed. Many reviewers have compared this to Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series but I beg to differ. Bike Week Blues is not even close. The humor is forced and the story is cluttered up with so many characters that it is difficult to relate to all that is going on. Constant references to the need for black cohosh for the women to deal with menopause were overdone. I also thought that chasing after Penny Sue's soulmate, Rich, with whom she had spent very little time was unrealistic. I had to force myself to complete this book. It was just not that good.