Virtual Tour & #Giveaway for Montmartre Mysteries by Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noel Balen

Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Tour, presented by France Book Tours, for Montmartre Mysteries by Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noel Balen.  Please leave a comment or question for the authors to let them know you stopped by.  You can enter their world -wide giveaway by filling out the entry form below. 

Montmartre Mysteries

By Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noel Balen

Winemaker Detective Mysteries, Book 8

Publisher:  Le French Book

Release Date: September 3, 2015

Genre: French Cozy Mystery

Length:  146 Pages

Format:  Print/eBook/Audio

ISBN:  978-1939474476

ASIN:  B010GJOXEI

Buy Links:  Amazon | B&N | Kobo | IndieBound | Le French Book 

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About the Book:

Wine expert Benjamin Cooker travels to the French capital, where his is called to help care for some vineyards in Montmartre, a neighborhood full of memories for him. He stops in on an old friend. Arthur Solacroup left the Foreign Legion to open a wine shop good enough to be in the Cooker Guide. But an attempted murder brings the past back into the present. But which past? The winemaker detective and his assistant Virgile want to know more, and their investigation leads them from the sands of Djibouti to the vineyards of Côte du Rhône.  

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

©David Nakache

Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen, wine lover and music lover respectively, came up with the idea for the Winemaker Detective series while sharing a meal, with a bottle of Château Gaudou 1996, a red wine from Cahors with smooth tannins and a balanced nose.

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Translator Sally Pane studied French at State University of New York Oswego and the Sorbonne before receiving her Masters Degree in French Literature from the University of Colorado. She has translated several titles in this series.

A touch darker in nature than the previous books in the Winemaker Detective Mystery series, Montmartre Mysteries, the eighth entry, takes the reader to Paris, the heart of France where a wine merchant’s murder draws expert Benjamin Cooker and his apprentice Virgile into solving another mystery.  Continuing to develop the relationship between Benjamin and Virgile, the authors continue to showcase their knowledge of wine, good food and French culture.  If you like books set in foreign countries with colorful characters and like to expand your knowledge of other cultures, this is a series you must read!

Scheduled to attend a tasting expo in Paris, wine expert Benjamin Cooker receives a request for help with their vineyards from a small hospital.  Realizing he could assist them while attending the expo, Benjamin agrees and arranges to have Virgile join him as a part of his continuing education.  Deciding to visit Arthur Solacroup , a wine merchant in the area he had befriended years before, Benjamin arrives just after Arthur is shot in what appears to be an attempted robbery.  While Arthur lies between life and death in the hospital, Benjamin is drawn into solving the mystery of Arthur’s past and discovering the identity of who would want him dead. 

Once again the authors do a good job developing the mystery in their story.  Taking the reader along for the journey, Benjamin and Virgile investigate Arthur’s past; his years in the Foreign Legion, his start as a wine merchant and his history with women.  The story takes several unexpected twists and turns as we learn how Arthur’s past caught up with his present and how the sins he committed in his youth are led to the shooting.  The story’s pace is fairly even and the author’s provide the reader with the history of the small vineyards located within the city of Paris itself along the way.  While I was pleased with the resolution of the mystery itself, I think I would have liked for a little more length to the story and I would have enjoyed it if Benjamin and Virgile had spent more time together in Paris providing more information about culture of Paris itself. 

Will Benjamin and Virgile discover who shot Arthur?  Will Arthur survive his injuries?  You’ll have to read Montmartre Mysteries to find out.  I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book to see where the authors take us next.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 Crowns

You can enter the global giveaway here or on any other book blogs participating in this tour.  Be sure to follow each participant on Twitter/Facebook, they are listed in the entry form below.

Entry-Form

Visit each blogger on the tour: tweeting about the giveaway everyday of the Tour will give you 5 extra entries each time! [just follow the directions on the entry-form]

Global giveaway open internationally: 5 participants will each win a copy of this book.
Print/digital format for US residents
Digital for all other residents

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

Thursday, September 3
Review + Giveaway at WordsAnd Peace

Friday, September 4
Review + Giveaway at Queen of All She Reads
Review + Giveaway at TheDiscerning Reader

Saturday, September 5
Spotlight + Excerpt + Giveaway at Mystery Playground

Sunday, September 6
Review + Giveaway at Book And Ink

Monday, September 7
Spotlight + Giveaway at Book Nerd

Spotlight+ Giveaway at Fuonlyknew

Wednesday, September 9
Review + Excerpt + Giveaway at I’d Rather Be At The Beach

Sunday, September 20
Review + Giveaway at LibriAmoriMiei

Tuesday, September 22
Review + Giveaway at Griperang’s Bookmarks