Murder in Provence

French countryside, French food, and a sexy French husband are not quit fulfilling American transplant, Maggie Newberg's life in her French country vineyard. Plus, her best friend is returning to the states.  Though Maggie is trying to fill her time writing a French cookbook with a twist, she's just finding that to be one more annoying part of her dull and duller days. Besides that,  she can't cook and her chef husband isn't cooperating or collaborating as she had wished . Then people start dying all around her.  When one of these is the daughter of a friend who is convinced her daughter's philandering cheating husband beat her to death, Maggie finds her calling--again. The hunky French policeman is missing many clues and really does not seem to have his heart in his work.  Maggie finds herself wondering if she would like his heart to be drawn to her.  But they eventually decide to compare notes when there is another attempted murder.   This is a fun mystery with many twists and turns.  The setting, food and scattered French phrases made me feel like I was taking one of those mystery vacation packages in Provence!!  The clues and solutions may fool you into following the wrong suspect, and the life threatening tension at the end of the book will make you glad it's a book instead of a real life mystery.  Great vacation beach read!!

This story is about an unlikely American sleuth in a small town in France. Maggie has a rather uneventful life and takes on the project of writing a cookbook of American tastes in France. She drives her husband, the owner of a vineyard and excellent cook, to distraction. He often shoos away her inquiries driving Maggie to seek entertainment/answers for her cookbook elsewhere. Maggie has few friends and one of her friends Grace is moving back to the US, and Maggie goes in search of a replacement friend. When she meets Brigitte, it seems the balance in her world will be righted. Much to Maggie’s horror Brigitte is murdered and sets her on a quest to solve the mystery the bumbling police are unable to. I usually enjoy murder mysteries, but unfortunately Murder in Provence fell flat for me. The pace in the beginning was slow and finally picked up halfway through the book where the story acknowledges movement to the murder committed in the prologue. It was hard to decipher the voices of the characters, and I confused Maggie and Marie often. The only character that really stuck out was Pijou, the jealous sister. I noticed some quirky uses of character perspectives and use of (dog’s name) instead of using a dog’s name. I think one more round of editing would polish the story and give it a bit more dimension. I would recommend this book as a good, soft mystery that has a strong, albeit predictable ending.

Poorly written. Actually checked to see if English was the writers first language.

Horrible mispellings & incorrect words.

Laurent and Maggie are having problems communicating without fighting. Maggie's not sure what the problem is but she finds herself on the end of temptation with sexy detective Roger Bedard who is investigating the murders of women who have a connection with the local hospital. Who is murdering these women and why? I enjoyed Murder in Provence. I thought I had it figured out early in the book but I was so wrong. The murders are not pretty but the mystery is well done. There is just enough information given that I tried to solve the murders but not enough information was given that I could get the right person until the end when it is explained. I like Maggie and Laurent. They are still working their way through the early days of marriage. Neither is given to talking about it but Maggie is thinking and coming up with the wrong answers. The secondary characters are good. Marie and Rene and their family give the story the French touch. The police come across as incompetent. I loved how Maggie compared them to American crime shows on TV. At times there is a bit of a disconnect between a character and what I thought he would do in the case of Laurent's friend, Jean Luc, when he is out hunting. That scene and his subsequent scene seemed unfinished. Other than that I enjoyed this book and will get the first two so I know how Maggie and Laurent start.I was given this book by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

It started out a bit slow for me. I wanted it to go faster, but it did pick up as I became more involved with the story. I loved the descriptions of Provence, the house Maggie lives in, her chef husband, the never-ending cookbook project, but most of all I loved the mystery. Who is killing her friends? Will she be targeted next? The ending and resolution were satisfactory. The killer was a surprise. Overall good book.

Not fond of the french

This is one of those shorter e-novels that current writers are often required to produce in conjunction with a more standard novel. Specifically, this e-novelette is a sequel to Susan Kiernan-Lewis's book Murder a la Carte (a murder mystery set in Provence, France). I enjoyed the former book partly for its setting, partly for its characters and partly for the interesting way the mystery was resolved. Obviously from my rating, I did not care for this book as much. While I enjoyed the return of a familiar set of characters, I found too much of this book way too farfetched. Also (and this is true in both books), while Kiernan-Lewis often throws in some French, not all of it is correct. Finally (minor point), the lack of editing and final proof reading showed up at several points in this book. (Apparently, Kiernan-Lewis had been undecided about what the last name of a character should be and in the final rendition, instead of a name, there is a note that a name needs to be inserted.)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the French flavor of this book, including the French phrases, food, and wine references. The protagonist is an intelligent and modern woman. The description of the area is an important aspect of the plot. I have read all of the books in this series.

I loved this book! Since the theme was set in Provence & that is one of my favorite places in the whole world I was dying to read this book! I couldn't put it down until I finished it! The main character, Maggie Newberry, is an ex-pat living in Provence with her French husband, Laurent. She's working on writing a French cookbook whose main ingredient seems to be murder. While the body count is rising, Maggie tries to help the bumbling local French police. I was instantly thrown into the French culture & I found the story & characters highly addictive. This book kept me guessing all the way to the end & that is very unusual for me! MURDER IN PROVENCE is a quick read that keeps you wanting for more. I can hardly wait to get my hands on the rest of the books in this series. It's a must read series!

Maggie is an American in the French country-side whose husband works his vineyard and does the cooking. She is bored with nothing to do and when a new friend is murdered decides to investigate it herself. It has twists and turns to keep you in suspence and trying to figure out who the killer is. A great read for those who love mysteries. I recommend this book.