the characters were developed , the plot was fine, there were cigars and cuisine. I may try another, but think it was just not my cup of tea, no disparagement of the author ( )

2.5 stars

Overall I liked this book. I felt the storyline was strong and the writing style flowed really well.
However there were a few things I didn't like and found them distracting. First was the misspellings and/or typos. Probably just over a handful but still annoying.
There are parts where Marine's memories of the brothers is muffled. I understand what the author is trying to do here but I don't feel that this pulled off very successfully.
Lastly, there is a conversation between the two main characters that keeps getting postponed and never gets finished. Maybe this storyline is meant to continue into follow up books but this felt a bit unfinished.
Neither of these were main components to the book so someone else could probably read this and not even notice them. Based on just the writing style and plot this would likely be a 3.5 to 4 star for me but unfortunately it didn't work for me. ( )

I love this series. I looked up Aix en Provence on the internet. Sadly I will probably never see it, but I get a clear picture of the town and the atmosphere from Longworth's books. ( )

Antoine Verlaque, a head district judge from the Palais de Justice and favorite colleague Bruno Paulik are investigating the death of Count Étienne de Bremont on the grounds of the bastide (manor house) that has been in the family for generations. The count is best known for his work at the film production company, Souleiado Films in Marseille. The count’s body is discovered by caretaker Jean-Claude Auvieux and he is the only one living on site in a small cottage. As circumstances related to the death are suspicious, Charles and Eric Bley, first cousins of the deceased have requested an inquest.

Verlaque loves his food, wine, and cigars with specific preferences for each. At times he seems more interested in them than the investigation or perhaps it should simply be said that he intersperses pursuit of them seamlessly into his daily life during an open investigation. Verlaque’s former girlfriend Marine Bonnet is a law professor at Aix’s university and is first invited to the bastide as a childhood friend of Count Bremont. Verlaque’s personality adds different sparks to his interactions with Marine and the undercurrent reveals more of their past relationship simultaneously guiding their investigative actions.

As another of Verlaque’s preferences is "to interview people where they lived, so they’d be more comfortable, but also so he could see their surroundings" the travel between the countryside and cities eases the addition of twists and red herrings simultaneously adding varied cultural activities and interesting atmosphere in the setting changes.

It was easy to accept Marine’s participation in the investigation in Book 1. The copyright page indicates "a Verlaque and Bonnet mystery" as the subtitle. This sparks my curiosity to continue reading the series to learn if Marine’s assistance was merely for the opening of the series or if she will continue to become part of future investigations at Velaque’s invitation. ( )

I picked up this book after watching Murder in Provence, the BritBox miniseries based on this series of books. This is the first in the book series but the basis for the second episode of the show. Overall, the adaptation is faithful to the source text, with some minor changes to character names. It’s a nice easy read, with descriptions of the gorgeous scenery and delicious food as well as a mildly complex plot. My primary nitpick would be about the slight overuse of exclamation marks in dialogue and the odd instance of phrases that jarred somewhat (e.g., when Marine figures out that their vintner friend Marc’s wine is the one they’re enjoying in a fancy hotel in Cannes, she says “How cool is that!” and that sounded a bit dissonant to me). This series may be of interest to those who like Louise Penny’s Three Pines series, because of the descriptions of good food. ( )