The first in a new mystery series. This one started out slowly, as most new series do. Now that we know the characters, Richard and Englishman running a B&B in France, and Valerie, a bounty hunter, the rest of the series should be exciting.

DNF at 30%

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the gifted ebook of Death and Croissants! All opinions in this review are my own.

I made it 30% into this cozy mystery but unfortunately it wasn't for me and I'm trying to be better about DNFing books I'm not invested in. I wasn't a huge fan of the main character and the story was difficult to follow at times.

This story took a bit for me to get into, but I did enjoy it. The characters and story were both interesting and kept my attention once I could get into it.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

This one was a cute, cozy mystery with a sense of humor. Loved the feuding twins - lent itself to both high brow and low brow humor. Based on the cover alone I assumed it would be like Richard Osman’s work, and it was definitely similar. I think if you liked Osman’s work, you will enjoy Moore’s!

First in a new series, the French countryside is a great setting. An introverted Englishman who retired to run a bed and breakfast leads a satisfyingly dull life until one of his guests disappears, leaving blood in his wake, much to the ire of his housekeeper. An attractive guest insists on investigating and dragging him along, resulting in an entertaining story in which characters are not always who they seem to be.

Dollycas's Thoughts 

This is the first book in the Follett Valley Mystery Series. It features Richard Ainsworth, a middle-aged Englishman living in France and running a small B&B as he goes about living his boring life and he is very happy doing just that. He has a vast knowledge of old Hollywood movies and watching them keeps him entertained. His wife has left him to find a more exciting life which shouldn't be too hard. He stays in touch with his 27-year-old daughter, Alicia, via FaceTime but the conversations are usually pretty short. He also has 3 chickens, Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, and Joan Crawford.  Nothing much exciting happens in his life.

Then an elderly guest disappears, leaving behind a pair of glasses and a bloody handprint and a beautiful Italian woman checks in with her dog named Passepartout for an open-ended stay. The woman, Valerie, takes one look at the handprint and easily persuades Richard to join her in investigating the elderly guest's disappearance. From that point on Richard's life is new longer his own and it is far from boring. Mostly dazed and confused he follows Valerie hither and yon to solve the case of the missing guest.

_____

Oh, my stars! Ian Moore puts his comedic talents to very good use in a tale that will have you laughing out loud and shaking your head as you read this twisted-up mystery.

Laid-back Richard is a feckless individual that gets drawn into a web of mystery complete with the Italian Mafia and nudist swinger B&B owners as femme fatale Valérie d'Orçay drags him deeper and deeper into the world of crime. It is not long before Brigadier-Chef Principal Philippe Bonneval enters their lives along with Chez Bruno and Judge Grandchamps and they find they end up with more questions than answers. I also have to mention Richard's cleaning woman Madame Tablier. She is a hoot! All these characters are cleverly created and intriguing in their own right.

Mr. Moore wraps his characters in a madcap mystery with so many secrets, twists, and turns I totally lost count and just hung on tight and enjoyed the ride.

I really enjoyed the descriptions of the French countryside and the village of Vauchelles and every other place Richard and Valerie traveled. The people and the food and drink were well described as well.

When I started the book I wasn't sure if it was going to be my "cup of tea", and truth be told I had seen some reviews that almost kept me from reading it, but I couldn't stop reading,  Death and Croissants had it all. A lighthearted mystery, quirky characters, laugh-out-loud funny, and unbelievably crazy situations, along with a few chickens.  I escaped right into this story and I was delightfully entertained. Now I hope we don't have to wait too long for the series to continue but I don't know how the author would top this story.

I think this book is trying to be in the same club as The Thursday Murder club but in that quest it falls short of really achieving anything. I just could not get myself interested.


I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Richard runs a bed and breakfast in France. One day, one of his guests mysteriously disappears and a different guest convinces him they should investigate. He isn’t very invested until someone murders one of his beloved hens.

I didn’t make it very far into this one before DNF’ing. Richard tries really hard to convince you he is ordinary and that he views the world in a very unique way. He constantly tries to convince you he’s different from everyone else. I feel like all of this was being done in a way that was supposed to be ironic and funny but misses the mark by a longshot. He lacked any sort of depth to get away with his offputting personality. His interactions with members of the opposite sex were cringy and the way he viewed them kept me at an arm's length from his character.

I was intrigued by this book because it is being marketed as written by a comedian so I expected a certain level of charm and lightheartedness to a murder mystery and instead all I got was crickets.

Thank you to Poison Pen Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this hilarious new cozy mystery from UK comedian Ian Moore, the main character, Englishman Richard, is a quiet, unassuming Bed-and-Breakfast owner who gets reluctantly involved in a murder mystery. While I know in most cozy mysteries, the amateur sleuth starts of hesitant and wary, Richard, is almost an extreme example. This man needs to almost be physically dragged into taking part in the mystery solving – it’s almost comical!

While Richard would rather be quietly going about his life, he gets roped into the mystery solving by the beautiful and mysterious Valerie, a French woman who seems very determined to get involved in solving the disappearance of a fellow B&B guest. It’s not until one of Richard’s beloved hens gets murdered that he decides to take some action.

The mystery of the missing man is incredibly twisty and complex, with lots of red herrings and surprise turns at every corner. While I usually like to try figuring out whodunnit as I read, this was one book where I just gave up and sat back to see where the story took me. It’s a wonderfully fun mystery that barely lags in action and moves along at a very good pace. The dialogue is snappy and there are some fun movie references littered throughout (Richard is a film buff/historian).

I think Richard being as reluctant as he is makes a wonderful contrast to many other amateur sleuths who seem to rush headlong into danger without the slightest hesitation. I think many of us would realistically want to avoid the bother and go about our daily lives (although maybe with a bit more gusto than Richard). So I can totally understand why someone would prefer quietly running his business and watching movies at home rather than run around looking for a missing man while trying to avoid possible mafia hitmen.

While Richard is the calming (almost to the point of falling asleep) influence at the centre of the story, the rest of the characters are more like a whirlwind of action around him. Along with Valerie, and the missing guest, there’s also Richard’s no-nonsense cleaner, a honeymooning couple, Italian hitmen, a grumpy judge, swinging neighbours, an estranged wife, and a daughter who always seems to call Richard at the most inconvenient moments, resulting in some hilarious Facetime misunderstandings. These characters swirl around poor Richard, who can’t help but be caught up in the action.

This isn’t to say that Richard can’t be brave and take action when he really needs to. But he’s definitely not one to run into it headfirst. I think it will be a lot of fun to see how this reluctant sleuth gets lured into future adventures.

* Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for providing me with copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I picked up this book because it was compared to Richard Osman or M.C. Beaton’s mystery books. I love both of those authors, so was excited to give Death and Croissants a try.

First off, I really loved the unique setting of a B & B in rural France. However, the book was a little bland for me and didn't have the humor or wit I was expecting. Richard is an interesting main character, but the other characters were uninteresting. The mystery was creative and interesting at the outset, but fell a little flat as the story progressed.

This is a short book that tries to pack too many characters and situations within its pages. It started out strong, but failed to keep my interest after the first few chapters. I did finish the book, but I found myself putting it down to read other books on my TBR.

"We've got an old man who detests his brother so much he needs to find him so he can keep annoying him, a policeman who doesn't seem to think Missing Persons is his job, a mysterious Italian couple now in the grip of two British perverts, you bossing me around like we're married, and a dead hen! I have a right to be ridiculous!"~ Richard (from the ARC)

That is a pretty good summary of the entire book. It was a rather madcap adventure with a lot of parts to get tangled up in. I could easily have seen this more as a movie back in the 1950s with Jack Lemmon staring as Richard, the B&B owner. For a book, I feel like maybe there were too many parts and the result was somewhat difficult to follow at points and left a big question hanging, no pun intended. As there are already a couple other books in the series, I'm interested in seeing if this carries over and if Val plays a continuing part in the series. I like how she kept making Richard do things. (And no I haven't peeked to find out. That's cheating!)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Death and Croissants 🥐
A mix of British dry humor and a British-style mystery, I found myself chuckling as poor Richard bumbled along in the Val de Follet with a mix of characters ranging from a glamorous B&B guest to a pair of quirky wannabe swingers.
The author’s characters were all ones I could imagine because they were the types of people everyone has come across in one of Richard’s beloved classic movies, which made the story even funnier to me. My favorite references were to Casablanca and it wasn’t lost on me that the author deliberately named his reluctant “hero” Richard.
I enjoyed the witty internal dialogue that brought the store to life in my mind.
I wouldn’t quite call this a cozy mystery and not exactly a comedy-type mystery, but something in between guaranteed to keep you guessing until the end.
Also, it’s set up to be the beginning of a series!
*All opinions are my own, as I was given an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion #poisonedpenpress #netgalley #deathandcroissants

I was looking forward to this but found the narrator's voice from start all too arch for my taste; vague stereotypes of female characters and not entirely credible launch into the mystery .. hmm .. just not for me .. I couldn't go on after a third of way through .. a matter of taste, I suspect

I am not the target demo for this.
Middle aged men who think they're funny and who haven't had a conversation with a woman before might enjoy it.
Obligatory 3 stars since I DNF'd it

This was such an entertaining book. It had lots of amazing bits in it as well as intrigue. The story just flowed very well and I was desperate to find out who did what. I’m glad this is the start of a new series and hope to read more in the future. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Death and Croissants
Author: Ian Moore
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3⭐️

Swipe right for synopsis➡️

What I Thought: I really tried to connect and get into this book. While there were parts that I loved, most of the time I spent reading I had trouble painting the story in my mind, so to speak. I’m not sure if it is because I have never been to France and had a hard time picturing rural areas. I tried to relate it to places in rural Indiana, my home state, with no luck. Unfortunately, I will not be reading the rest of this series.

Read if:
* You wanted a French take on Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club
* You like whodunits
* You have been to France and can picture the rural French countryside

This first novel in a new series from author and comedian Ian Moore is such a fluffy treat!

Richard Ainsworth is a bit of a sad sack. Having retired from his previous career in England to run a bed and breakfast in the bucolic Loire Valley, he now finds himself sans wife and adult daughter, both of whom have opted to stay in the United Kingdom. The formidable Madame Tablier helps keep the inn tidy for him, but his main feminine companions are his beloved laying hens, named after the bygone film actresses he’d once devoted his life to studying.

In general, he is not a bad innkeeper. But neither this unexpected competency nor his lifelong love of film noir have prepared him at all for a bloody handprint left on the wall in the wake of a disappearing guest. Madame Tablier seems more put out by the extra cleaning work this makes for her than by anything else, but another guest, the dashing Valérie d’Orçay, immediately suspects foul play. She confesses to Richard that the missing guest had confided in her that someone was hunting him. She had not taken him seriously, and now worries that she might have been able to prevent harm from coming to him if she had.

Despite Richard’s protests, he’s soon swept along with her as she, an avowedly bored widow with an overactive sense of curiosity, drags him along to investigate. But as the stakes rise and they find themselves in danger, he attempts to put his foot down on their snooping, prompting the mercurial Valérie to chide him:

QUOTE
“Maybe it would do you good to actually <i>live</i> a life rather than just watch a load of silly old films about it!”

“Oh really? You know the advantage of watching silly old films, Madame d’Orçay? They don’t kill you! They don’t torture you; watching <i>Singin’ in the Rain</i> of an evening isn’t going to get me buried in the desert![“]

She looked disappointed but put her hand gently on his arm. “I think also it would do us <i>both</i> good.”

“What are you talking about?” Richard had the distinct impression that he had somehow managed to gain two wives and both were overtly, terminally disappointed in him. Or worse, trying to improve him.
END QUOTE

The dialog throughout this novel is snappy and effervescent as the unlikely detecting duo chases murder suspects through the French countryside. As the story progresses, readers gain a window into the unexpected personal and professional lives of our two protagonists, with clear homages to classic films and TV series. In particular, Richard’s domestic life or lack thereof is played for laughs. While he’s clearly not the most enlightened, modern fellow, Valérie’s responses to his occasional bouts of ridiculousness make it very clear that we’re meant to laugh at Richard almost as often as we laugh with him.

For all that, there is definitely thought and sensitivity invested in fleshing out who he is and why he’s so ready to get involved with Valérie’s sleuthing instead of leaving the case to the local authorities. His past experiences with both sides of the law, while few and far between, have left a lasting impression:

QUOTE
He’d once had to plead for leniency to a magistrate to avoid a driving ban and, on the other side, he’d once wandered into the wrong East End pub on the day of a gangland funeral. He’d found the experience with the magistrate far more intimidating. He was made to feel like a criminal for having exceeded a motorway speed limit at two in the morning driving through unmanned roadworks yet made to feel welcome like a member of the family by weeping London hoodlums. Richard wasn’t a huge fan of certainty and didn’t easily trust people who had no doubts, and the law, as far as we was concerned, required conviction and absolutism, the naked “I’m going to do this no matter what,” like a drunk karaoke stalwart, plowing on regardless.
END QUOTE

Funny, twisty and with delightful descriptions of its characters as well as more than one Loire Valley landmark, Death And Croissants is just the novel for anyone wanting a bit of springtime escapist reading. Combining farce with travelog and mystery, this is a winning recipe with which to start off a series of light-hearted cozy capers.

DEATH AND CROISSANTS is the first book in the Follett Valley Mystery series by Ian Moore. The story is told from the first-person perspective of expat Richard, a middle-aged Englishman who prefers a boring life while running a B&B in the Loire Valley. He’s so boring that his wife has left him to return to England. But the humor and action ramps up when a beautiful French woman, Valérie, checks in and another guest disappears, leaving behind a bloody handprint. Overall, I enjoyed the book, once it got going, with lots of quirky and over-the-top characters. And how could you not love Richard’s hens named after famous actresses like Ava Gardner, Joan Crawford, and Lana Turner? He’s also a walking encyclopedia of old movies and actors/actresses. The way Richard uses his knowledge to compare current day situations, and to the investigation, adds fun to the narrative. The author, who is also a comedian, writes laugh-out-loud one liner zingers that kept me turning page, looking for the next one. As far as the mystery goes, Richard would just as soon not have anything to do with it and it’s Valérie who drags him into the investigation. The complex plot had some twists I didn’t see coming, and the conclusion wrapped up most of my questions, except one very important one: who killed Ava Gardner?! If you like dry humor, quirky characters, and zany situations, then I’d recommend Death and Croissants.

I was provided with an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When an intriguing Frenchwomen upsets Richard’s ho hum life as an innkeeper during her visit to the Loire Valley he finds himself living out his wildest noire film fantasies as they search for a missing guest with mafia ties. An entertaining and complex mystery that while slow at times, proved to be worth the effort!

Death and Croissants is a promising series starter set in the Loire Valley written by Ian Moore. Released in 2021, this paperback edition was released 14th March 2023 by Sourcebooks on their Poisoned Pen Press imprint. It's 256 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. Hardcover format available from Farrago. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a light humorous cozy featuring a pair of unlikely amateur sleuths: Richard, a hapless middle aged Englishman running a B&B in France and Valérie, a force of nature femme fatale and current patron of Richard's establishment.

The comparison between this and Osman's excellent Thursday Murder Club books is not entirely apt and unfortunately this series suffers by comparison. There is a frenetic bantering quality to the humor here and there's more self-aware aspect; almost breaking the fourth wall in places. (Metalepsis for the English majors in the room). Despite that, it's entertaining and easy to read and the denouement and resolution are satisfying and well written.

Three and a half stars. There are three books in the series currently, along with a couple of shorter stories, and it would make a good choice for binge/buddy read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.