Anyone who’s been following The Dorset Book Detective knows that things have been a little quiet around here lately.
With a lot going on in my life, I had a bit of a reading slump, but I was able to get myself back into reading when I discovered Murder In Provence.
Initially, I watched the TV series with Roger Allam and Nancy Carroll, which show a stable, middle-aged couple solving crimes with the help of Marine’s eccentric mother, played wonderfully by Patricia Hodge.
The TV series led me to the books by M.L. Longworth, a Canadian author who lives in France and sets her novels in Aix-En-Provence. In the books, the couple are much younger and eventually marry. They occasionally get help from both Marine’s parents, and we even meet Antoine’s family, who we don’t see in the TV show.
These cosy crime novels are set in the modern era and bring to life the exploits of a local judge, who acts as both magistrate and detective thanks to the French judicial system.
He is joined in his work by his girlfriend and later, his wife, Marine Bonnet, a young, glamorous law professor who often helps her boyfriend, who’s originally from Paris, from understanding the local community and society.
There are loads of these short, cosy novels, so they’re an easy but still educational and well-written read for those who are overwhelmed by everything that’s going on in the world. Here are my top picks from the series and the best ones to start out with.
5.A Noel Killing: One of the best things about the Verlaque and Bonnet series is that Aix-En-Provence is almost a third protagonist. The books include many stunning descriptions of the region and its culture. In A Noel Killing, the setting is incredibly important, as we see the region in full celebratory mood. As Marine Bonnet tries desperately to get Antonie Verlaque to enjoy the festive season, a dodgy local businessman is murdered. He’s got so many enemies that there are many suspects and the duo are soon thrust into a fast-paced and intriguing mystery.
4.Murder on the Ile Sordou: One of the few novels not set almost entirely in Aix, Murder on the Ile Sordou is set on an island nearby, where Antoine and Marine, alongside their spirited friend Sylvie the photographer, are travelling for a holiday. It’s the first season of a new hotel on the otherwise mostly uninhabited island, and a storm makes the area more isolated. When an obnoxious guest is killed, Antoine takes charge. He gets support from local police and his colleagues from the mainland, but being the person on the spot he’s the main investigator. He and Marine quickly realise that the murder goes back further than they thought.
3.The Curse of La Fontaine: For readers who, like me, love their food, this is a great novel. Just as Marine and Antoine are planning their wedding and merging their lives, they find out about a local chef who is expanding his restaurant into a local courtyard with a mysterious fountain. When the fountain stops working and remains of a body are discovered during the work, the pair put their plans on the back burner to solve the mystery and figure out what’s going on. The Curse of La Fontaine incorporates decadent meals with the beautiful backdrop of modern France to create an enjoyable read for cosy crime lovers.
2.The Mystery of the Lost Cezanne: If you’re looking for an educational novel that teaches you about art, Aix and modern French culture then The Mystery of the Lost Cezanne is the perfect read for you. In it, Longworth shows in flashbacks that Cezanne had a fictional affair with a young bakery assistant. He paints her and creates a painting that is hidden for decades, and is eventually found in Cezanne’s old building by an elderly man who is living in a flat there. Verlaque, while at his cigar club, hears about it from a friend. When the old man’s home is broken into and he is killed, and the painting is stolen before Verlaque can look into the matter further, he and Marine are thrust into a tough investigation. Assisted by their parents, and impeded by the machinations of several Cezanne experts, the pair have to separate fact from romanticised fiction to get to the truth.
1.Death At The Chateau Bremont: As always, my top tip for anyone new to the series is to begin at the beginning. Death At The Chateua Bremont introduces readers to judge Antoine Verlaque, who is working himself into the ground as the local judge in Aix-En-Provence. When local businessman Etienne de Bremont dies at his historical Chateau, Verlaque has an excuse to call upon his gorgeous ex-girlfriend Marine Bonnet to help him with the case. As the body count rises, the pair are thrown closer together and into even greater peril.
