Murder and the Missing Dog

by Susan C. Shea

Overview

"The quirky village residents make this an appealing series debut" Library Journal on Murder Visits a French Village

Ariel Shepard has spent the last year renovating her beautiful French ch teau, while also ingratiating herself into the lives and hearts of the quirky locals of Noyers-sur-Serein. The shocking business of the murder of the local historian is behind her and she is finally feeling at home.

However, it's not long before murder and mystery once again seek Ariel out, when she and her friend Katherine find the body of the elderly Madame Toussaint in the doorway of Katherine's flea market shop.

Who would want to harm this lonely soul? Where is the bag the woman never leaves home without? And more importantly, where is her loyal, loving dog who never leaves her side? Could Raoul, Ariel's stoic gardener, really have something to do with it? And could Madame Toussaint have been mixed up with the robberies increasing around the idyllic villages of France?

Despite warnings from the rather handsome Brigadier Allard, Ariel, with help from Katherine and Pippa, once again dons her sleuthing hat . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781448310920
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	03/05/2024
Series:	A Château in Burgundy mystery , #2
Edition description:	Main
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.79(w) x 8.74(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Susan C. Shea spent more than two decades as a non-profit executive before beginning her first critically praised mystery series in 2010, featuring a professional fundraiser for an art museum. In 2017, she debuted a new mystery series set in France, for St. Martin's Minotaur Books. She's a regular on 7 Criminal Minds blog and is a past secretary of the national Sisters in Crime board and is a past board member of the Northern California chapters of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

She lives in Marin County, California, where two cats pretty much rule the house!

Editorial Reviews

01/22/2024

Shea’s rote second cozy featuring American expat Ariel Shepard (after 2023’s Murder Visits a French Village) sees the series showing early signs of fatigue. After the sudden death of Ariel’s husband, Dan, she’s spent the last three years restoring the rundown property he gave her in France’s Burgundy region. Her quiet work is again interrupted by homicide when she finds a bloodied corpse on the ground outside of her friend’s secondhand shop in Noyes-sur-Serein. The victim is the poverty-stricken Madame Touissant, who was preparing to sell her possessions for cash; in the wake of her death, her beloved dog has also disappeared. Ariel believes that Touissant’s head wounds are evidence of foul play, despite the lack of any obvious motives or suspects. She resolves to investigate, and occasionally runs afoul of the official inquiry headed by hunky potential love interest Monsieur Legrand. Along the way, Ariel raises questions about a string of local robberies and casts suspicion on her own gardener, all while keeping her home renovation afloat. Shea sticks steadfastly to formula here, failing to deliver many notable twists or memorable characters. It makes for pleasant enough reading, but in the crowded cozy field, this fails to stand out. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"All the charms of adjusting to life in a little French town with plenty of minor and major mysteries to solve”
Kirkus Reviews

"The lovingly described setting, well-delineated characters, [and] plot twists . . . contribute to this satisfying, leisurely paced cozy”
Booklist

“Ariel is a sympathetic amateur sleuth . . . and the mystery is nicely framed by a view of expat life in France and the details of restoring a chateau”
Booklist on Murder Visits a French Village

“The quirky village residents make this an appealing series debut”
Library Journal on Murder Visits a French Village

“A comedy of errors full of amusing characters, a fine feeling for life in small-town France, and a suitably twisty mystery”
Kirkus Reviews on Dressed for Death in Burgundy

“Francophiles will look forward to Katherine’s next adventure in Burgundy”
Publishers Weekly on Dressed for Death in Burgundy

“A Miss Marple-like investigation . . . immerses the reader in the life of an American woman trying to fit into an insular French village”
Booklist on Love and Death in Burgundy

“Susan C. Shea's novel set in the French countryside offers a pleasant getaway from hard-core killers”
New York Times on Love and Death in Burgundy

“The outlandish antics of the eccentric locals add to the humor. Suggest to fans of Rhys Bowen's early "Evan Evans" series for the humor, the characters, and the charming setting”
Library Journal on Love and Death in Burgundy

“Not since my first visit to Louise Penny's Three Pines, have I encountered a more beguiling fictional world than Susan C. Shea's Reigny-Sur-Cannes . . . Dressed for Death in Burgundy is a box of delights!”
Catriona McPherson, award-winning author on Dressed for Death in Burgundy

From the Publisher

Ariel is a sympathetic amateur sleuth . . . and the mystery is nicely framed by a view of expat life in France and the details of restoring a chateau

Booklist on Murder Visits a French Village

Susan C. Shea's novel set in the French countryside offers a pleasant getaway from hard-core killers

New York Times on Love and Death in Burgundy

Not since my first visit to Louise Penny's Three Pines, have I encountered a more beguiling fictional world than Susan C. Shea's Reigny-Sur-Cannes. Dressed for Death in Burgundy is a box of delights!

award-winning author on Dressed for Death in Burg Catriona McPherson

A Miss Marple-like investigation.immerses the reader in the life of an American woman trying to fit into an insular French village

Booklist on Love and Death in Burgundy

The lovingly described setting, well-delineated characters, [and] plot twists . . . contribute to this satisfying, leisurely paced cozy

Booklist

2023-12-16
The murder of an enigmatic woman may have roots in World War II.

Ariel Shepard’s husband left her a decrepit château in Burgundy that’s already been the scene of a murder she solved with some help from Katherine Goff, another American who owns a small antique shop, and Pippa Hathaway, an ebullient British mystery writer. Ariel’s dreams of a restored château hosting a bed and breakfast and perhaps some cooking classes are proceeding slowly, but she’s found skilled workmen who’ve made a portion of the place habitable. She’s so focused on restoring it into a paying proposition that when she and Katherine discover the body of Madame Toussaint curled in the antique shop’s doorway, she tries to ignore the mystery. Although the elderly lady had always been accompanied by her dog when she brought Katherine small items to sell, he’s nowhere to be found. Brigadier Allard of the gendarmerie, who’d been in charge of the previous death at Ariel’s château, thinks there may be a connection between Madame Toussaint’s bits and pieces and a series of museum robberies. And Raoul, a prized worker who’s assisted with many of Ariel’s restoration needs, has a connection to the dead woman. So despite her reservations, she and her friends start hunting for clues. Her discovery of the dog and a box of old letters and photos leaves her even more confused. Her relationship with Allard becomes warmer even as he warns her not to get entangled with murder.

All the charms of adjusting to life in a little French town with plenty of minor and major mysteries to solve.

Kirkus Reviews