Following
an exciting life in South America, Laurent de Rodergues settles
down in the sleepy village of Saint-Chartier to write his
memoirs. He is living where his cobbler grandfather once lived,
and is interested to see the place astir due to the castle’s
momentous renovations. The new owner is a mysterious and fabulously
wealthy Irish-Argentine man called Carlos who is living there
with his wife and three young daughters. The place is getting
a very expensive makeover and when it is completed, Carlos
throws a great party…only to be found dead by Laurent.
Police are looking askance at Laurent,so he decides to discover
whodunit.
The
author actually lives in a castle in Saint-Chartier, so perhaps
it is not surprising how well he captures the ambience of
the place, a small town where time seems to have stopped many
years ago. It is these descriptions that made the book for
me, a place where everybody knows everybody else and people
take time to enjoy the good things in life. Laurent, along
with everybody else, seems to spend a lot of time consuming
gastronomic delights and drinking various local beverages,
as well as lusting after the inordinately large number of
fabulously beautiful women the town boasts. Plain women are
in the minority here and are represented by one ugly caricature.
I guessed the dénouement fairly early on, but it is
entertaining to immerse oneself in such a heady stew of tangible
description. Recommended for anybody who is looking for something
set somewhere different to the usual locations.
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