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“Mastering the Art of French Murder” by Colleen Cambridge is a captivating mystery set in post-WWII Paris. The story revolves around Tabitha Knight, a young American who is staying with her French grandfather. Through her friendship with Julia Child, Tabitha discovers the joys of cooking and explores the vibrant city of Paris.

The narrative takes an unexpected turn when Tabitha and Julia stumble upon a murder in Julia’s building. Tabitha recognizes the victim as someone she had met the previous night at a party. To her shock, a note in her handwriting was found in the victim’s pocket. Determined to clear her name and find the actual killer, Tabitha embarks on a thrilling journey through the streets of Paris.

So, let’s talk about “Mastering the Art of French Murder” by Colleen Cambridge. May I just say that cover is on point! It caught my eye right away. So, onto the review. This book was an absolute delight! I mean, you’ve got Julia Child doing what she does best - cooking - and then you throw in a friend who solves mysteries. How cool is that? Plus, there are these two adorable Monsieurs and a dog named Oscar Wilde. And it’s all set in Paris after World War II! As if that wasn’t enough, there’s even a connection to Detroit with mentions of Faygo and Boblo Island (I used to go there all the time as a kid). I loved every minute of it!

The writing in this book is fantastic. The pace is fast, keeping you hooked from start to finish. And the mystery itself? So engaging! I couldn’t wait to find out whodunit. Honestly, I’m counting down the days for the second book in the series, “A Murder Most French”!

In a nutshell, “Mastering the Art of French Murder” is a delightful read that combines cooking, mystery-solving, and the magic of post-war Paris in the most captivating way. The author really nailed it with this one. Can’t recommend it enough!

**ARC Via NetGalley**

It’s post-WWII Paris and the city is beginning to recover its energy. Tabitha Knight has recently arrived from Detroit to tutor Americans in French and is staying with her Grandpere and Oncle Rafe. Her neighbor is the inimitable Julia Child and the two strike up a friendship, visiting the farmers’ market, sampling Julia’s Cordon Bleu school treats, cooking together. Tabitha find herself drawn into solving the murder of a young woman who was killed after she left a party given by Julia’s sister Dort. Tabitha left the party with her and was among the last to see the victim.

To add another twist, the murder weapon was a knife from Julia’s kitchen and the victim had a note in Tabitha’s handwriting in her pocket. Tabitha is eager to help solve the crime, but local Inspector Merveille is much less enthusiastic about her involvement.

Ms. Cambridge can be depended on to create an intriguing story with fascinating, fully rounded characters. Even her supporting cast is filled with well-developed players. The time period is meticulously recreated until you feel you’re there with the cast, experiencing Paris’ rejuvenation.

The mystery is well crafted with plenty of clues to follow as you join Tabitha in her efforts to discover what’s going on before she’s the next victim in this period whodunit.

Loved this cozy mystery! The setting of post-war Paris was fascinating, beautiful and melancholy. The mention of Russian spies brought suspense.....and of course the FOOD! Having Julia and Paul Child as characters was wonderful and kudos to the author for bringing them to life as supporting characters. I could "hear" Julia in the story perfectly. The main character was great too and I look forward to reading the second book!

This cozy mystery follows Tabitha, who comes to post-war France to stay with family, makes friends with Julia child, and just so happens to come across a dead body (as is nearly always the case with a cozy mystery). I want to make it clear that the parts of this book that involve Julia Child are simply lovely. Her personality and character come shining through and hearing her speak lovingly about vegetables and kitchen gadgets really added to my enjoyment of the book. BUT - Tabitha is boring and grating. She's a main character that isn't the star of the show. I suppose that would be fine, but she comes across as very young, in actions and spirit. I would have rather seen her have some grit and strength as a result of just having come through a war.

As a cozy, the mystery is just ok. I think I would be more excited to read a book where Julia is our main focus and she's solving some culinary-based crimes. Once I realized that I was only interested in Julia and her chunks of this book, I was eager to zip through whatever Tabitha was doing and get back to some Julia fun! The cover and title are darling, and this was technically proficient with good dialogue and writing, I was just hoping for more of a dynamic duo instead of a main character and guest star situation.

This was a solid cozy mystery that had me engaged from start to finish! I liked the setting - post World War II France - and the cast of characters, including Tabitha, the main character, her grandfather and his friend, and her neighbor and friend, Julia Child.

While I liked Tabitha's character for the most part, I found myself a little annoyed with her at times because she was both unconcerned about turning over important pieces of evidence and very upset with him for suspecting her. It was hard to be completely on her side when some of her actions actually impeded the investigation. This is pretty typical in cozy mysteries, so it didn't really stop me from enjoying her character for the most part.

Overall, this was a fun read, especially with the Julia Child element and Parisian setting. I did not know who the murderer was until near the end, which is always a good thing!

If you remember the famous Julia Child, if you've ever walked the streets of Paris and you enjoy a good mystery
read this book. It is a wonderful way to spend a delightful afternoon.

I had hoped to enjoy this one more than I did. It was slow and meandering and I just could not relate to the characters.

This fictionalization of Julia Child's stay in Paris is a light, beach read mystery. I always enjoy a good mystery set in Paris, and the setting in early 1950's Paris really clicked for me.

I wasn't so taken with the author's depiction of Child. It seemed like the author took all of her reported quirks and over-acted them.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Julia Child themed historical cozy murder mystery that I could not quite get into or invested in. May try again in the future, but for now, not for me!

Thank you @NetGalley for an advanced copy of Mastering the Art of French Murder! Here is my honest review in return. 4 stars! It is a fun and quirky who done it! The main character is a young girl who moved from the states to France and is staying with her uncle and grandfather, just across the street from Julia Child’s flat. Julia befriends the girl and teaches her tricks from the cooking school LeCordon Bleu. When one night, Julie’s sister Dorothy brings her theater troop home after a rehearsal for a party, but not everyone makes it home. Thus indicting everyone from the party as murder suspects. I have read some other reviews saying they didn’t understand the need to bringing Julia Child, her husband Paul, and her sister Dorothy into the storyline, that there was still a good story without the “gimmick”. I happened to love them in the story. It made for an exciting neighborhood full of politics and theater geeks. The author intriguingly weaved in Paul Child’s political career and how it could affect the political world with having the Child’s in the long list of suspects. Besides without Julia we wouldn’t have this delightful cover!

I have read two books ( and have the third on my shelf) from the author's other series. That series fictionalizes Agatha Christie's home while this book has Julia Child in it.
I am glad I decided to pick this up because I liked the setup and writing of this even more than the other series. Liking the lead protagonist may have something to do with that.
It is Paris post WWII, and Tabitha is living in France and eking out a living by giving French coaching to English-speaking clientele. She ends up in the murder investigation when a knife from Julia's kitchen is used to kill someone after a party thrown by Julia's sister. Tabitha was present at this party, and soon after the death ends up helping people by doing odd jobs at the theatre.
Tabitha is an enterprising woman who likes the people she associates with. She enjoys the freedom cycling provides her and takes some heedless risk in hunting down the perpetrator.
The final reveal is a lot more complex than an average narrative, but it matches up to wartime seriousness. There is some hint of a romance, some of it may continue into the next book.
I am not sure how authentically French the lifestyle was, but it felt believable, and I can imagine European living and priorities of that time to be the way the author portrayed it.
I would recommend this as a solid start to a historical/cozy mystery series.
I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

If you like cozy mysteries, food, and Julia Child, you should read this. I had so much fun and I would definately continue the series. I could also see this as a Hallmark Murder Mystery Movie and it would be so much fun.

Thank you for Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book for my honest review.

I was definitely drawn to this book by the cover and the play on Julia Childs' cookbook with a similar title. Such a clever idea since Julia is a character in the story. She does have a big personality as she did in real life, but she does not take over the story from Tabitha, Julia's friend and neighbor. Julia does convince Tabitha to investigate the murder, but she does most of the investigating on her own. Tabitha is a wonderful character that is also American like Julia, but fluent in French and is finding her way now that the war is over and her job as a "Rosie the Riveter" has ended. I loved her grandfather and uncle, and I look forward to learning more about their mysterious pasts. The post-war Paris setting, the food descriptions and the mystery were intertwined in a delightful way. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of "Mastering the Art of French Murder" and to interview its author, Colleen Cambridge, for the Storytime in Paris podcast. I really enjoyed the book,which made me wish that I too were best friends with Julia Child.

Here is what I said:

"What would you do if you were living in Paris in 1949 and Julia Child just happened to be your best friend and neighbor? What then if the two of you stumbled upon a murder?

My guest is week is Colleen Cambridge, who also writes under the name Colleen Gleason. Colleen is an award-winning USA Today and New York Times bestselling author whose books have been translated into 8 languages. Colleen is a prolific writer, and her latest book "Mastering the Art of French Murder,” is the first in her new An American in Paris Mystery Series featuring Tabitha Knight and the aforementioned bestie Julia Child.."

You can listen to the full episode on the Paris Underground Radio website, on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, YouTube, Spotify and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

I really enjoyed this historical mystery starting Julia Child’s (fictional) best friend. I'm sad it took me so long to get around to reading my ARC.

In typical cozy mystery fashion, she rather stupidly gets trapped in a building with the murderer — but all in all Tabitha Knight is a bit more clever than the average amateur sleigh. And 1949 Paris is a wonderful setting!

At loose ends after the death of her French grandmother and end of a very long engagement, Tabitha Knight jumps at the chance to go live with her Parisian grandfather and honorary Oncle Rafe as she sorts out the next phase of her life. After working in a factory during the war, Tabitha is happy to tutor Americans in French, with her new friend Julia's husband Paul's connections with the embassy. In addition, Julia is willing to teach Tabitha how to cook, much to the delight of her grandfather and oncle. The author does a great job of describing Julia's big personality without overwhelming Tabitha. Julia's sister Dort provides Tabitha with some young, single companions and at one very late soiree, Tabitha is the last to see Therese. She is found dead the next morning. The inspector is maddingly secretive, but Tabitha feels her input will help clear Julia's chef knife and those that had access to it from murder. The descriptions of the city, coming back to life after the war were wonderful and I especially liked the market visits and all the gossip the small area of the big city revealed.

This is a promising start to a new historical mystery series set in post-WWII Paris.

The main character of this story is Julia Child’s fictional best friend, Tabitha. Tabitha is busy studying cooking at Le Cordon Bleu, taking care of her grandfather and uncle, tutoring Americans in French, among other activities. When a man is murdered with a knife from Julia’s kitchen, Tabitha attempts to help solve the murder.

I liked that this story was more about Tabitha investigating the mystery. Julia plays more of a background role when solving the murder but we still get plenty of cooking content from Julia. The mystery was interesting and it kept me guessing until the end.

I liked this book so much, I hope it continues as a series.

4.5 rounded up

This was a delightful mystery and I love that Tabitha and Julia are characters in the story. it was very intriguing and i look forward to the next installment.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a really fun book! Historical fiction + cozy mystery + Julia Child…..all the makings of my favorite things! This book was so entertaining and I loved how it mixes real people and events in to a cozy mystery.

As a lover of all things Julia Child, this is a fun look into the fictional world of her Paris. Great for lovers of food, cozy murder, and vintage Paris.