This was an interesting historical murder mystery set in the world of Julia Child's Paris with a protagonist who is one of her friends. If you love amateur detective stories with interesting characters and an unusual twist and authors like Agatha Christie, where everything gets wrapped up in a nice bow at the end, this is definitely for you.

While I did enjoy this (at times predictable) read I'm still looking forward to seeing what direction the series takes in the next book, if I'm completely honest, I sort of wished the main protagonist would have been Julia. She does make several appearances in the book though and makes for an interesting side character. Good on audio narrated by Polly Lee (a new to me narrator).

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. It's not likely one I would have picked up on my own but I'm glad I gave it a chance!

Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge
Narrator, Polly Lee
It took some perseverance to get into this book but the narrator really nailed Julia Child and I found that very entertaining so I stuck with it. The main character, Tabitha, and her “little internal sprite” were slightly annoying but some of the other characters made up for it. And Paris, of course. One of the main culprits was easy to spot but not the other one. There were some pretty broad hints as to the reasons for the murders. But that was okay because after I got into it, I did like it, anachronistic linguistic choices and all.
The narrator was excellent, especially with the voice and verve of Julia Child. Anyone who has seen the PBS series will be reminded of it. Grandpere and his cher ami were also very well done.
I look forward to another book in this new series and expect sparks between Tabitha and the inspector.

Mastering the Art of French Murder
By Colleen Cambridge

Combining Julia Child and her love of cooking and a friend of hers Tabitha who is learning to cook while living with her French grandfather and uncle in Paris, makes for a delightful read especially when the pair are suspects in a murder! After a dinner party at the Child’s home, Tabitha goes home but they are surprised to hear the next day the very woman Tabitha exited the party with us now murdered in the alley of the home! This is a light and fun read including a theatre group that Julia’s sister is a part of and the disappointment of Julia with several dishes she’s struggling with and then murders piling up around the group!

I enjoyed the audiobook I listened to shared by the publishing group to review. The narrator did an excellent job especially of the French phrases and Julia Child’s epic voice. It could be a book flight with The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell which was excellent!
https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-French-Murder-American-Mystery/dp/1496739590

This was such a fun read, and the audio was really well-done. I am very much looking forward to more books in this series!

This was such a fun book! I enjoyed listening to every minute of it. A historical mystery (post WWII) with elements of truth. Julia Child is one of the main characters! It's an American, a real former "Rosie the Riveter", goes to Paris and a new adventure and mystery ensue. Solving a murder and learning to roast a chicken all in one fun package!

I listened to the audio version of this and it was absolutely delightful. I absolutely adored the premise of Julia Child being the best friend of the main character, Tabs, in a murder mystery novel. I thought the narration was wonderful, and kept me engaged and moved the story along nicely. I will definitely be recommending this, as well as looking forward to more books from the author!

Mastering the Art of French Murder is the first book in a new mystery series. Set in post-Second world war Paris, with a glamorous cast of characters, the historical ambiance is ideal for a moment of pure escapism. I’m glad I was able to read the novel while listening to the audiobook version, because the narrator did a great job bringing the characters to life. Julia Child is not a household name in France, ironically, but I knew who she was because I had seen the 2009 film Julie & Julia, and I could really picture Julia Child’s voice and mannerisms as portrayed by Meryl Streep.

I thought this first plot was interesting, but it suffered from long-winded descriptive parts. The narrator’s soothing voice and interpretation really kept me engaged, otherwise, I might have clocked out sooner rather than later. I did enjoy the author’s attention to details and delicate writing, but it would be more compelling to have a more upbeat pace in the upcoming installments.

The year is 1949 and Tabitha Knight has recently relocated to Paris from her hometown, Detroit. She is staying at the home of her Grandpere and Oncle Rafe while she works as a tutor and unofficial culinary student of her friend, Julia Child. When Tabitha discovers a dead body in the basement of Julia’s apartment building and realizes that she not only has met the woman, but she was also the last person to see her alive, she dives into the investigation to find the killer. As additional clues crop up that further link both Tabitha and Julia to the murder, Tabitha is under pressure to find the killer before blame is cast on her or her friends!

This was a great cozy, historical mystery that would be a hit for fans of The Windsor Knot and Death at a Country Mansion. It would be a perfect fall read when the weather starts to change, but I enjoyed it all the same in spring! The audiobook narrator did a great job of giving characters a distinct voice, especially Julia Child. Her voice could have easily been overdone, but narrator Polly Lee was spot on. Thank you to the author, High Bridge Audio and Net Galley for the opportunity to advance listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for the free audio book in exchange for an honest review.

The audio book is narrated by Polly Lee, and I highly recommend it! Its very well done and entertaining!!! Loved the voice of Julia which she nailed!

This was such a fun listening experience! For a change, this is a historical fiction, post war, based upon a friendship between Tabitha, an american/french woman living in Paris with relatives, across the street from none other than Paul and Julia Childs! Tabitha is the sleuth in this slow burn mystery with Julia making occasional appearances, which made this all the more believable based upon the characters and the infamy of Julia. All characters were colorful and well developed.

While Tabitha is not a professional investigator, she does a pretty good job trying to solve the murder. I liked the potential love interests for Tabitha and hope to see this story become a series!

Highly recommend!!

I am a lover of all things Julia Child!! And I'm from just outside Detroit so on that alone this book was pretty much a win for me! The mystery was good and I like how they incorporated espionage into post war France. Bonus; I know the answer to Julia's mayonnaise problem!!! I think this book is great conceptually and I have already recommended it to my sister and mom!!!

Thank you Netgalley and Colleen Cambridge for this advanced copy of "Mastering the Art of French Murder" I was not influenced for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are all my own :) '

I literally squeeled when I was approved for this audiobook. A few weeks ago I had shown my Food and Culture class Julie and Julia so Julia Child was fresh on my mind when I read this book. (Meryl Streep is a better Julia Child than Julia Child was--haha) But I truly enjoyed how Cambridge captured Julia Child's boisterous personality. Her over the top cooking and dramatic speech was soup for the soul! I had a great time reading this book.
In addition to a fun "cozy" plot line the descriptions of Julia childs cooking had my stomach grumbling throughout. I also loved our main Character Tabitha and her dear sweet grandpa. I had all the warm and fuzzies of a cozy, but a great clever mystery uunfolding as well.
I have not read anything by this author before, but I am excited to read the next in this series.

Tabitha, half American, half French, is living with her grandpa and uncle in Paris after WWII. Together with her friend Julia Child (yes, the one and only), she stumbles across a body. Since they knew the dead woman, Tabitha decides to start investigating.
I must say that I went into this book rather blindly because I pretty much only knew that I wanted to read this book. When I saw that the title and cover resemble Julia Child’s cookbook, I thought that it must’ve been the author’s inspiration. But when I started listening to the audiobook and found out that Julia Child is an actual character in the book, I was quite surprised. I adored her character. She was fun and of course it was nice to hear about her excellent cooking.
As for Tabitha, I found her to be quite dumb/naive at times, though not throughout the whole book. Something that really irked me was how she called her grandpa and uncle “my messieurs”. It just sounds very weird to me.
I really liked the story, even if the plot twist wasn’t much of a shocker to me. It was a good book and I’m already waiting for the second installment of the series.

loved this cozy who dunnit! this was such an awesome combination of great things: love story, mystery, strong women, friendship, Julia Childs, Oscar Wilde, and French food! such great narration as well.

Amazing!! This has been such a pleasant read! For the past month or so, I have been reading detective novels and this for sure has been one of my favorites. I have listened to the audiobook, read by Polly Lee (amazing acting!). I believe that listening to the audiobook instead of reading the print copy has made a huge difference due to the pronunciation/accent of the words, names, and places in French.

The plot combines a murder mystery, Paris, a sweet main character, and Julia Child's cooking. What could be better? Colleen Cambridge does an outstanding job in taking the reader through the streets of the City of Light and really setting the scene there, since I felt as if I were in post-war Paris . The protagonist, Tabitha Knight, is extremely curious and can't stay put when there's a mystery to be solved: who killed Julia's neighbour? And why was Tabitha's name written on a note in the deceased's pocket? Isn't that reason enough to be scared? But no, Tabitha decides to investigate and obviously there are moments when the I thought "don't do it, please don't go in that deserted/suspicious place", but there she goes anyway.

Both the crime resolution and the author's lighthearted writing made me want to keep reading/listening non-stop. I finished the 9-hour-long audiobook in a little more than a day, so if that is not indication that I highly recommend it, I don't know what is.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book.

Interesting concept but I did not love the audiobook. The narration may have taken away from the plot but I still enjoyed the setting, mystery and the food. I think adding Julia Child was genius and probably very believable given her time in France with her husband Paul. The espionage twist was a nice touch given the time frame. I would probably read another title by this author but not an audiobook.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for this audiobook arc copy!!!
This is such a fun, pretty fast-paced, historical mystery! I loved it’s connection and play on words with Julia Child’s cook book! It was filled with culinary twists! It kept me entertained throughout and I loved the narrator!

This one started out strong. I love the idea of working with Julia Child in Paris but I found Tabitha a little annoying, especially with her need to slowly spell out details of the murder. This got tedious about halfway through and only picked up towards the end, where the ending fortunately saved it for me. Julia Child is a welcome addition but she feels added in just to give the reader something to look forward to; the sections with her, while informative, seem forced and don’t really fit in the story. The writing was easy to follow but was repetitive and overly descriptive in some places. Not sure if I will continue with the series.

Mastering The Art of French Murder is a wonderful escape to The City of Lights in 1949. The text is beautifully written-descriptive passages of the City of Lights, historical contextual references, biographical tidbits about Julia Child and bursts of humour.
Narration by Polly Lee is superbe! The audio is well paced and very pleasant to listen to.
Thank You to HighBridge Audio, NetGalley and Colleen Cambridge for the opportunity enjoy the audiobook version of this ARC.

Set in Paris, France in the early 1950s. Tabitha Knight is learning how to cook along with her friend and neighbor, Julia child. Although Julia is much better at it then tabitha is. When they’re coming home from their daily market trip, they hear a woman screaming! They rush to investigate and find a dead woman! Just around the corner from where they both live. And tabitha knows this woman…she was at a party at Julia’s house the night before. The party was hosted by Julia’s sister, Dorothy. During the initial investigation Tabitha, Julia, Dorothy, and even Julia’s husband Paul are all suspects! This doesn’t sit well with Tabitha at all! So she decides to do her own investigating. Who is this woman? Why would anyone want her dead? And what does Russian spies have to do with it??

This was a cute first book in a brand new series!! The author did a great job of being Julia’s personality to life in this! And I loved the little cooking tidbits she gives throughout the book! It feels like you’re really in the kitchen with Julia child!! And I enjoyed tabitha! She’s a woman that wants to learn how to better her skills in the kitchen. She’s not exactly into investigating on her own at first but little by little she discovers things that the police have missed. This is a darling start to a series that I hope continues for a long time!

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to listen to this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review!

Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge
I loved this book! I am a big cozy mystery reader and this has all the elements that make a great cozy-great setting (Paris), great/likable main character (Tabitha), great side characters (the incomparable Julia Child plus her husband and sister) and a fun mystery.
I have long loved Julia Child, having watched her as a kid and read books about her. I liked how the author made Julia a side character but let her larger than life spirit shine.
The narrator was wonderful and did a great Julia. She was so good, that I will keep this as a series I do on audio.
I look forward to more of this series!