Sunday, October 12, 2014

French Pastry Murder by Leslie Meier

This cozy mystery is set in Paris, France.  Imagine the mystique, the romance, and the fragrances of Paris.  Now imagine murder...

Kensington Books sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published this month, so check with your local bookstore for a copy.

Lucy is an interesting character.  She's pretty low keyed, safe and sane, and she's always had a dream of visiting France.  When she and her friends win a trip, she's ecstatic!  Her daughter is living there now and she wants to visit with her and see the sights.  Sounds good, right?

She's traveling with her husband and three other couples.  They're good friends and a breakfast club at home.  When they get to Paris, they find they have different ideas of how to have a good time.  That's OK.  Somehow they all agree to go to the cooking class they won and then they'll see whatever they personally want to on their own time.  

The cook is a bit odd and doesn't seem to know as much about French cooking as one of the women on the trip.  But the classes are paid for, so they go.  When Lucy forgets something and runs back up to class to retrieve it, she finds the cook dead.  This is where their real trouble begins.  The French police take away their passports.  How are they going to get back home?  Especially since the police have no clues on who actually killed him.  They might even put Lucy in jail...

There are different nationalities, different goals in life, and different laws in this story.  Once you're imprisoned in a foreign country, it can be very hard to get out.  The consulate isn't helping them much.  It's up to Lucy to figure out who killed the chef and why if she wants to get back home and not spend years in jail.  That would be enough to motivate me.

I found this to be an enjoyable cozy mostly because of the description of Paris.  The plot was a bit weak, but I like Lucy so it was good to see her solving another odd crime.  Grab yourself a cup of tea or coffee and settle in your favorite chair and take a trip to Paris...

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