The 4th entry in the Verlaque and Bonnet series, after Death in the Vines, finds Antoine and Marine away from Aix and on vacation.
Just a few miles off the coast of Marseille lays an archipelago of glittering rocky islands surrounded by the blue-green Mediterranean Sea. The furthest out is Sordou, unvisited for decades, its once opulent hotel, the Locanda Sordou, closed after a legal dispute.
Maxime Le Bon and his wife Catherine have spent years and their life's savings restoring the Locanda, and finally reopen the hotel during an exceptionally hot July week. As the island's first guests gather for a welcome glass of champagne in the hotel's bar greeted by the nervous Le Bons and their small and eccentric staff it's immediately clear that the week will be an eventful one. The guests include a film star famous in the 1960s, now paying the bills by doing dog-food commercials, vacationing with his younger wife and her unhappy teenage son; a disheveled retired schoolteacher/poet; bickering posh Parisians going through a rocky patch of their marriage; and a happy-go-lucky retired American couple. Also present are Judge Antoine Verlaque and his law-professor girlfriend Marine Bonnet, as well as Marine's best friend Sylvie. Everyone is looking forward to a week of relaxing, reading, and exploring Sordou's pristine rocky inlets, but someone has other plans.
The murder of one of the guests jolts guest and staff alike. With no regular ferry service, the murderer is almost certainly still on island. But who could it be? As Verlaque and Bonnet investigate, stories about the island, its guests, and staff are revealed. And just when they get close to solving the mystery, a storm hits the island, cutting its electricity and making communication to the mainland impossible. Will the killer strike again?
In this decadent installment, Verlaque and Bonnet find themselves hunting a murderer on a remote island in the glittering Mediterranean Sea
Proven al Mystery Series #4
Watch the series! Murder in Provence is now on Britbox.
On-again couple Antoine Verlaque and Marine Bonnet are hoping for a relaxing holiday at the Locanda Sordou, but someone has other plans.
Hoteliers Maxime and Catherine Le Bon have spent their life savings restoring the hotel, which lies in an archipelago of sun-soaked islands off the coast of Marseille. To celebrate the grand opening, a group of privileged guests joins Verlaque and Bonnet- Marine's free-spirited best friend; an aging film star, his much-younger wife, and her disgruntled son; a pair of affable American tourists; and a querelous Parisian couple.But the murder of one of the guests casts a shadow over everyone's vacation, and things go from bad to worse when a violent storm cuts off all communication with the mainland. Will the killer strike again?
Like Donna Leon and Andrea Camilleri, M. L. Longworth enchants mystery lovers with a taste for good food and gorgeous landscapes in this installment of her acclaimed mystery series.
"A charming read with a well-crafted mystery and characters as rich and full-bodied as a Bordeaux."-Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
