ARC Review: Off the Beaten Path, by Eloise Corvo

 

Title: Off the Beaten Path

Author: Eloise Corvo

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Level Best Books

Date of Publication: April 29th 2025

Number of Pages: 202

See it on Goodreads: Off the Beaten Path

*I've received a copy of the book via Netgalley. Thank you to the publisher and the author.

Summary

Stone’s Throw State Park Ranger Maudy Lorso spends her days playing cards and sipping drinks with her millennial gal pals, hiking steep sand dunes with her scruffy dog, Martin Short, and trying to ignore the pain of a recent, devastating breakup. After building a quiet life in the Lake Michigan coastal village of Stone’s Throw, Maudy’s emotional safety net is turned inside out when her boss informs her of looming budget cuts that threaten to permanently close the park—and eliminate her job. Determined to prove the park’s value, Maudy throws herself into organizing a successful campground opening weekend, just one week away. But when the body of a missing tourist is discovered in the park, her hope of saving Stone’s Throw State Park quickly begins to fade. In order to save her dream job and maintain her quirky, quiet life, Maudy jumps in to solve the murder of the dead man. 

Review - A Blend of Nature and Murder

Guys, I think I'm entering my cozy mystery era! Well, I have always liked this genre, with my guilty pleasure being a cozy mystery series. However, I find myself gravitating more towards cozy mysteries in recent months, especially as palate cleansers between other books. So, when I saw this gorgeous cover on Netgalley, I couldn't resist.

Off the Beaten Path has everything you'd want from your cozy mystery - a small town setting, a sense of community, secrets, and of course, lots of food. The addition to the setting is the Stone Throw's State Park with a backdrop of Lake Michigan, both of which give the author a great chance to add wonderful descriptions. To be honest, I found the outdoors vibe of the book perfect for a summer read.

Maudy Lorso, our protagonist, works at the park. With the state of the park up in the air, and a dead body found on its grounds right before opening weekend, she feels the pressure to solve the murder before it's too late. For the most part, the mystery moved as I was expecting, yet remaining entertaining. Even though I had guessed the murderer, I still found it a very interesting read.  

My main complaint about this book is Maudy's behaviour. Of course, we have red herrings in all mystery books, cozy or not. However, Maudy was so fixated on one of the suspects - and the one that was the least plausible. And the reason why she was so determined to prove their guilt was simply because they didn't get along. In addition to this, I found some of her actions a bit reckless and weird, as they would hinder the investigation (i.e. taking evidence without notifying the police, or confronting suspects without enough evidence). Sidenote: if you hate pop culture references in book, be warned that Maudy is always talking about Veronica Mars and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

As far as the rest of the cast goes, Maudy's dog, Martin Short, was by far my favourite. He was the best boy, and one that I couldn't get enough of. And Maudy also finds a black cat at the park, and I am a proud black cat owner. When it comes to the human characters, I really liked Eli and I would definitely want to see more of him. We also get mentions of other people from the small town, but no one played a significant role to see them long enough in the book. 

By the end of the book, we also have a romance developing, but it's never the main focus of the story. I'm not sure how I feel about it on its own. However, I do have to say that the epilogue seems to imply that this romance is going to lead to the mystery in the following installment of the series, and I would be curious to find out more about it.

All in all, Off the Beaten Path is an enjoyable and quick read. It is a perfect book for the summer due to its settings, and it feels so cozy and light that it would be great after something darker and more challenging. Since it's just a debut novel, I would expect that the author will find her voice and improve in future installments.

Read more of my reviews here.