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

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As their life seems to be going well with a positive attitude towards their relationship, it all comes crashing down when Antione investigates the murder before he was due to retire. Furthermore, a suspect with Church connections would have made a very worthwhile and entertaining addition to the mix of potential wrong-doers (and motives), an opportunity lost through bad preparation. Spoiler: the who-why-how is one of the weakest I have ever encountered in a murder mystery. Marine had an exciting weekend away planned for the pair before he received a call to say that he would no longer be able to go on the trip. Verlaque is, mede door de invloed van Marine Bonnet, iets milder geworden, en hoewel hun relatie nog in een wat aftastende fase zit, zijn ze duidelijk wel gek op elkaar. Marine heeft een kleinere rol, maar zodra zij samenwerken krijgt het onderzoek die sprankeling en de vaart die het nodig heeft, dus meer Marine in een volgend boek, graag! Dit is een licht, sfeervol en vermakelijk mysterie met een leuke setting, interessante personages en soms net iets te veel details, maar ook een mooi afgerond onderzoek en nieuwe vraagtekens die je nieuwsgierig maken naar een volgend boek. prodigalbum added: "If everyone in #MurderInProvence is French, why aren’t they all speaking English with ‘Allo ‘Allo accents?"

In that respect, I got absolutely everything I hoped for from Murder in the Rue Dumas. The book is so French. There is much discussion of food, wine, alcohol, and such things. Warning: this book will make you hungry. There's a certain snobbishness to it, but I found it fabulous. I think this is the first murder mystery I have read with references to Persian Letters by Montesquieu - a discussion I enjoyed so much I plan to read it again very soon. In 2021, it was announced that BritBox planned to adapt Longworth’s novels into a series titled Murder In Provence. [1] The series debuted in March 2022 with co-stars Endeavour actor Roger Allam in the lead role of Antoine Verlaque, alongside Nancy Carroll ( The Crown) as his romantic partner Marine Bonnet. [2] The ITV series is not based on a true story but has been adapted from the books of M.L. Longworth and Downton Abbey writer Shelagh Stephenson.Door alle verschillende verdachten zit er redelijk wat vaart in het verhaal, er moet veel worden onderzocht en er is minder ruimte voor uitgebreide beschrijvingen, al wordt er zeker nog voldoende gepraat over eten, drinken en sigaren, (culturele) geschiedenis, de onderlinge relaties en het persoonlijke leven van de personages. Dat draagt bij aan de sfeer die de auteur neerzet, maar hierdoor zitten er ook wel wat dalen in de spanningsboog, op een gegeven moment hoop je toch dat er vooral wordt toegewerkt naar de ontknoping. De weg daarnaartoe leidt je door verschillende landen en plaatsen, langs kunst en vervalsingen, geheimen, achterliggende motieven en de lastig doordringbare academische wereld.

Murder in the Rue Dumas also happens to be a very academic mystery. The murder victim works in the theology department of the same university where Bonnet teaches law. Most of the large cast of characters work in academia, so there's quite a bit of theological or otherwise very intelligent discussion. In this way, the book reminded me quite a bit of David Lodge's books, which are sort of academic humor and are in fact referenced in this novel. The Verlaque and Bonnet mysteries . . . plunge you into a languid world of epicurean pleasures and good living.”—Eleanor Beardsley, NPR

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. Brian Keen asked: "Can't they make it a little bit more watchable and try French accents to show us who's who?" However, what I won't overlook and this annoyed me big time, is that the (laughably tiny) faculty doesn't include a single member of the clergy. Considering the plot involves an examination of the department's funding (the separation of church and state in France means that no public funds can be provided for the study of religious subjects and so public universities do not have theology departments, a paradox which is brushed aside in a single paragraph which makes only limited sense) , the only way colleges can afford to maintain such courses is with the help of the Catholic Church. Priests and nuns with academic credentials, while just as qualified, are significantly cheaper to employ than their lay counterparts , and are more able to provide support and advice for students planning to emulate them. The Church can also provide direct funding, funnel students , and offer opportunities for placements and other benefits.

The team questions professors and students to distinguish professional jealousies from motives to kill, but the further they delve, the more crimes they uncover.” Making a return appearance in Longworth’s second mystery are magistrate Antoine Verlaque and his girlfriend law professor Marine Bonnet. He has been called to investigate the murder of Dr. Georges Moutte, chair of the Theology Department at the University d’Aix. Moutte’s soon-to-be retirement has become a permanent one, hastened by blows to his head delivered by a blunt instrument. Verlaque is assisted by Paulik in interrogating faculty members, students, and those in attendance at a party the night before. Longworth is an engaging and entertaining writer who holds readers with not only interesting tidbits (such as dropping into Les Deux Garcons, the café where Cezanne and Zola once exchanged ideas), and the badinage between Verlaque and Bonnet while at the same time spinning a mystery. 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. Although the author is British, her absolute love of all things French and Italian, shines through. Almost more than anything else, the book is a delight to read for its detailed descriptions of foods and wines, while art—I’d not known before of Gallés glass and ex-votos--, history—during the plague, the town fathers of Aix closed the city gates resulting in the plague passing without the loss of a single life in Aix--, literature—“What will survive of us is love.”--, and the French countryside receive their fair share of attention, as well.

Another tedious repetition was the author showing off her knowledge of Aix, providing detailed steet-by-street, turn-by-turn routes various people walk through the city (sometimes including non-existent street names for no apparent reason). Enough!

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!)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. 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.