Murder in the Rue Dumas: A Verlaque and Bonnet Mystery: 2 (Provençal Mystery)

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The setting is a smallish picturesque town in southern France named Aix-en-Provence. The main characters are Verlaque (a criminal judge) and his assistants and Marine Bonnet, a law professor and his girlfriend. I soon felt at home in Aix with Judge Verlaque and Marine Bonnet thanks to the descriptive writing. My weakness for french cuisine did cause hold ups in the reading as I diverted from the text to look up the recipe of a particular delicious morcel ( in case it had anything to do with the plot - you understand!)

Longworth’s charming, if talky, fifth Verlaque and Bonnet mystery (after 2014’s Murder on the Île Sordou) looks at the art world. The book alternates between the now troubled relationship Continue reading » I was going to say that I thought Judge Verlaque as something of a cross between George Simenon's Maigret and Colin Dexters Morse but as I am getting to know him better, I am seeing a bit of Jean-Luc Bannelec's Commissaire Dupin in the mix too. Voor mij was dit niet de eerste kennismaking met M.L. Longworth. Ik las een tijdje geleden al ‘Dood op kasteel Brémont‘ van haar hand en had hier nogal wat op- en aanmerkingen op. Maar toch was ik nieuwsgierig naar dit vervolg. Ik was vooral benieuwd of dit verhaal spannender zou zijn. Dat was ‘Moord in Rue Dumas’, gelukkig wel. Plot: Dr. Moutte, the director of Theology at the Université d’Aix is found dead with his head bashed in. There are plenty of suspects as he recently retracted his retirement, making a lot presumptive successors angry. He also baited a prestigious fellowship over the heads of anxious candidates, also making them angry. As the investigation proceeded, his secretary was mowed down and killed by a hit and run. As with any respectable police protocol Verlaque and his assistants start the investigation by interviewing and looking into all the possible suspects.Beardsley, Eleanor (15 August 2014). "Mystery Writer Weaves Intricate Puzzles In Sleepy French Town". NPR . Retrieved 31 December 2016. If you’d like an intriguing mystery story peopled with unique characters, enhanced with descriptions of mouth watering edibles and lush pictures of the Italian and French country side Murder in the Rue Dumas is the book for you. The three-part drama follows Antoine, a chief magistrate in Aix-en-Provence, France and his partner Mariem who is a criminal psychology professor.

The Verlaque and Bonnet mysteries . . . plunge you into a languid world of epicurean pleasures and good living.”—Eleanor Beardsley, NPR De spanning is niet het hele verhaal aanwezig. Maar hier staat het genre “cosy crime” ook bekend om. Daarom heb ik daar ook totaal geen problemen mee, want hier stel ik mij altijd al op in als ik een verhaal in dit genre ga lezen. Wel had ik de hoofdstukken graag iets korter gezien. Doordat ik al wat moeite had met dit verhaal en het boek eerder aan de kant wilde leggen, helpt het ook niet als de hoofdstukken lang zijn. Als ze korter waren geweest was ik eerder geneigd nog een hoofdstuk(je) te lezen.Death at the Château Bremontoffers charming French locales, vivid characters and an intriguing who-done-it.”—Kevin R. Kosar, author of Whiskey: A Global History