Very much enjoy this wonderful series and each book is great. Great characters and plot. The cover is perfect.

Vive La France..
Vive La France for Lady Eleanor Swift when a vacation beckons. It should be a gloriously decadent holiday in Southern France in an extravagant villa. Except, of course, that murder is never far away when she’s around. The search for wine in the cavernous cellars of the villa throw up a dead body rather than a decent Chablis. With the hapless Clifford soon arrested for the crime, Lady Eleanor must work fast to right the wrongs and she hits the social scene of the film world to do just that. With a delightful, albeit reluctant, heroine in Lady Eleanor and an eclectic supporting cast this is another entertaining addition to this series of gently amusing cosy mysteries.

After spending most of her recent past solving murders along with learning how to be a dignified occupant of her late uncle's beautiful home it's unsurprising Lady Eleanor Swift needs a holiday. Along with butler Clifford, bulldog Gladstone, and her staff of four devoted ladies she decamps to the South of France for a relaxing getaway.

Unfortunately after the discovery of a dead body in her temporary residence Eleanor is once again drawn, albeit reluctantly, into a murder investigation and the hedonistic lifestyle of those most likely to be responsible. With Clifford alongside to help sift through those with and without a motive they soon find themselves in a deeply dangerous situation with only their own abilities to keep them safe.

Amazingly this is the tenth Lady Eleanor Swift novel and all the main protagonists are still as entertaining as ever. I have to admit this storyline didn't keep me as enthralled as previous books but that was because the background story wasn't of interest, even in a fictional setting. The, albeit censored, debauched lifestyle held very little appeal and I found myself rushing to get back to more familiar locations and situations whenever possible.

The actual investigation and French way of doing things were however fascinating as were all the new gadgets available in Verity Bright's easy to imagine château kitchen. The other main characters were entertaining with sufficient red herrings to satisfy but overall this didn't hold my attention as much as some in this series has.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. This is once again beautifully written with intriguing characters, a tricky mystery to solve, and is definitely worth a read.

Stunning… Loved the story and the pacing and just everything about it… A great story that I couldn't put down! I loved this book… Everything an old-fashioned sleuthing ought to be… I flew through the pages! Utterly delightful!… And filled with humour in places which added to the storytelling.

Verity Bright’s Lady Eleanor Swift goes to the South of France to have a relaxing break after all the murders she’s been involved with. However, the novel opens with her butler, Clifford, telling her, as she’s admiring the view of the Med from the rented villa, “I apologise for delivering news of an inconvenient nature, my lady, but there appears to be a dead body in the wine cellar.”

Verity Bright is on top form with this novel. Instead of DCI Hugh Selden, we have a French (obviously!) Inspector Damboise, who proves to be very sharp indeed as well as a loving husband and papa to his several children. He believes in eating properly and not discussing business over a meal – a very civilised chap, in my opinion!

The author is very good at showing us an obvious suspect so we think “Nah, it can’t be them – they’re far too obvious” but then teasing us with further little things so our thinking evolves to “Yes, but sometimes the obvious suspect might actually be guilty. But the author knows we won’t suspect them because they’re so obvious and we won’t fall for that. So I’ve seen through the author’s bluff and it really IS the obvious suspect!” And then, an hour later, “No, that’s what we’re MEANT to think. The author’s trying to fool us into thinking ‘It’s the obvious suspect because the author expects us to be too experienced to suspect the obvious one, no matter what they do, but this time it IS them’ but it was a double-bluff and actually it isn’t them at all… But then it might be…”

I also though the presentation of Inspector Damboise as a loving husband and father rather than a rival to Hugh was very well done indeed. The domesticity of Damboise’s home (yes, he takes Ellie home for lunch and to meet his wife and children) is a brilliant counterpoint to the murder investigation.

I really enjoyed this book and totally totally recommend it to anyone who enjoys a cosy mystery with a bit of humour.
#TheFrenchforMurder #NetGalley

Elegant ladies...leisure time...friendship and love...travel...secrets. This book was sent to me electronically for review by Netgalley. What will happen next? Why? Murder...mystery...intrigue...who did it? Who is guilty? Who can be trusted? Enjoy this one.