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Winemaker
Detective # 8
Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël
Balen, Sally Pane (Translator)
Le French Book
September 3, 2015/ ISBN 978-1939474476
Cozy Mystery / Paris
Reviewed
by Richard Morelli
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This
latest installment in the Winemaker Detective series by Jean-Pierre
Alaux and Noël Balen has a plucky winemaker, Benjamin
Cooker, solving yet another whodunit where the world of winemaking
and a crime centered on wine meet. This is a fast paced story,
with Benjamin trying to determine why his ex-Legionnaire friend,
who runs a well-known wine store in Montmartre, was seriously
wounded in an attack. After all, who attacks a wine shop owner?
Concurrently, he is asked to rehabilitate a very small vineyard
attached to a hospital in Montmartre. (That vineyard actually
does exist, but it’s not as famous as the better known
but small Cols de Montmartre vineyard.)
I enjoyed reading the story, learning about the wines from
the Rhone Valley and the challenges of running a productive
tiny vineyard in the heart of Paris. I liked how the authors
managed to deftly guide me through the world and politics
of winemaking and wine tasting, while enjoying how the protagonist,
Benjamin, works to solve the mystery of his friend's attack.
I especially appreciated how the authors painted a picture
of the distinctive contrasts between rural France and fast
paced urban Paris. The novel’s breezy style makes it
accessible to those who find the world of wine arcane and
who are easily put off by the seemingly pretentiousness of
wine tasting.
Any reader will come away as surprised as I was in learning
that Paris actually does have several operating tiny vineyards
today, that the Rhone Valley produces some excellent wine
gems, and that the social role of wine and food is still important
in both rural and urban France. In short, grab a glass of
wine, for this is a charming mystery and great summer reading.
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