In this decadent installment, Verlaque and Bonnet find themselves hunting a murderer on a remote island in the glittering Mediterranean Sea
Provençal Mystery Series #4
On-again couple Antoine Verlaque and Marine Bonnet are hoping for a relaxing holiday at the Locanda Sordou, but someone has other plans.
Hoteliers Maxime and Catherine Le Bon have spent their life savings restoring the hotel, which lies in an archipelago of sun-soaked islands off the coast of Marseille. To celebrate the grand opening, a group of privileged guests joins Verlaque and Bonnet: Marine’s free-spirited best friend; an aging film star, his much-younger wife, and her disgruntled son; a pair of affable American tourists; and a querelous Parisian couple. But the murder of one of the guests casts a shadow over everyone’s vacation, and things go from bad to worse when a violent storm cuts off all communication with the mainland. Will the killer strike again?
Like Donna Leon and Andrea Camilleri, M. L. Longworth enchants mystery lovers with a taste for good food and gorgeous landscapes in this installment of her acclaimed mystery series.
“A charming read with a well-crafted mystery and characters as rich and full-bodied as a Bordeaux.” —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
I hovered over the 4.5 star mark for a second or two before settling on the 4 star. This is a really good entry in the Verlaque and Bonnet Provencal series.
On holiday in a new resort 15 miles off the coast of Marseille, Verlaque and Bonnet are trying to keep a low profile, but the resort only has guests in 7 rooms and they all become friendly, until one morning after a storm, one of them is found dead on the shore.
Verlaque is definitely the main focus of this book; Marine Bonnet is there every step of the way but there's very little told from her POV. Verlaque has come a long way from the overly aloof, even arrogant, judge he was at the start and even he worries he is becoming too soft. This is a relief, given that the reader spends most of the time with him.
In spite of the murder, Longworth made me wish I could be there with them; dead body aside it sounded divine: great food, gorgeous setting, wonderful staff and friendly guests. And the way she wraps up the mystery (which was heartbreaking), I wouldn't have even minded sharing my week with the killer.
(This would qualify for a locked room type mystery, and at a stretch, a 'country house' mystery; only the guest and staff, and the old lighthouse keeper are on the island, with no access on or off, and no cell phone reception. This would also work just fine as a stand-alone.)
Reading updates
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27 August, 2017:
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27 August, 2017:
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