Review: Murder on the Île Sordou (Verlaque and Bonnet #4) by M.L. Longworth

Judge Verlaque and his girlfriend, law professor Dr Marine Bonnet are taking a much needed vacation on a secluded island off the coast of France, Sordou.

The island was once a haven for the rich and famous in the 1960’s but was long forgotten but the elite in favor of other island destinations in the south of France.

However the Le Bon family, Cat-Cat and Max, just bought the hotel and hope to restore it to its former glory.

With the opening weekend on their life’s savings on the line, they need everything to go perfect….the last thing they need is a murder.

This novel totally reminded me of Clue, set in France. It was full of a number of eccentric characters each seemingly with no motive.

Continue reading “Review: Murder on the Île Sordou (Verlaque and Bonnet #4) by M.L. Longworth”

Special Feature: M.L. Longworth featured on NPR’s Crime in the City

When the seasons start to change from summer to fall….I find myself instinctively drawn to reading a good murder mystery.

For me, fall means curling up by the fire with a pumpkin spice latte and reading a good who-dunnit!

I was recently approached by Penguin to review M.L. Longworth’s latest novel Murder on the Île Sordou (Verlaque and Bonnet #4) and let me just say that this book is satisfying my urge to read a good mystery!

I should finish it up tonight, I started reading it this weekend and haven’t put it down since!

My review will be up later this month but in the mean time…..M.L. Longworth was recently featured on NPR’s Crime in the City series (“Mystery Writer Weaves Intricate Puzzles in Sleepy French Town”), in a wonderful introduction to the author, the Verlaque & Bonnet series, and Aix-en-Provence.

This is a wonderful article that I highly encourage you to read!

I can’t wait to read the other books in the series as I am starting in the middle, however you don’t need to read the other books to appreciate this wonderful mystery series set throughout French countryside!

About the Author

M. L . Longworth has written for The Washington Post, The Times (London), The Independent, and Bon Appétit magazine. She divides her time between Aix-en-Provence, where she writes, and Paris, where she teaches writing at New York University’s Paris campus.

For more information on M.L. Longworth, please visit her blog and web page!

Special Feature: Harbor Island (Sharpe & Donovan #4) by Carla Neggers

I recently reviewed one of Carla Neggers’s Sharpe & Donovan novel, Declan’s Cross and though I didn’t read some of the other novels in the series, it was an interesting plot with with history, romance, and suspense.

I am looking forward to the novel book in the series, Harbor Island.

In this book, Emma Sharpe finds herself on a wild ride which takes her from Boston, to Ireland, and back across the pond to Maine.

I am thrilled to be able to post this except from this thrilling novel! Please enjoy the excerpt and be sure to add it to your TBR list today!

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Review: The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent (Maggie Hope Mystery #4) by Susan Elia MacNeal

Maggie Hope has been under the spell of the ‘black dog’ for what seems like an eternity.

Her depression and post traumatic stress are taking over her life.

She can hardly remember what life was like before she became a spy and had her life turned upside down.

She’s been throwing herself into her work as a trainer at an elite spy institute in Scotland, trying to escape the ‘black dog’.

Maggie has nothing to distract her but her work. John Sterling and her are not on speaking terms, her mother faces death at the Tower of London, and as a spy she doesn’t have ‘friends’ that she can talk to either.

Depressed and alone, Maggie knows she needs to start moving on and getting it together but she just isn’t sure how.

Continue reading “Review: The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent (Maggie Hope Mystery #4) by Susan Elia MacNeal”

Review: Baudelaire’s Revenge by Bob van Laerhoven

During the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, Paris is stuck in a proverbial gridlock.

Social and political tensions are mounting and the people are looking for any kind of distraction from their daily lives.

A grizzly series of murders provides that distraction.

Not only are the murders grotesque in nature but they have an interesting signature.

Each body is inscribed with a verse from the controversial Charles Baudelaire’s  poetry written in Charles Baudelaire’s own hand.

There’s only one problem, Charles Baudelaire’s  is dead.

Continue reading “Review: Baudelaire’s Revenge by Bob van Laerhoven”