I can best describe this murder mystery, set in the beautiful Loire Valley in France, in one word - magnifique! It has all the ingredients I look for in a classic whodunnit - a cast of interesting characters, a complex and clever plot, a shoal of red herrings, a smattering of jeopardy, a sprinkling of clues as to the identity of the murderer (which I missed) and a satisfactory denouement with all loose ends tidied up. The unusual setting in the Loire Valley is beautifully described and captured my imagination from the outset. The characters, including the relatively minor ones, are very well drawn and allowed this reader to inwardly cheer for or boo them as appropriate. The central characters, juge d’instruction (investigating magistrate) Matthieu Lombard, and his sidekick commissaire (senior police officer) Guy Aubret are superb creations and I would love to see their somewhat reluctant partnership feature in a series of books.

3 stars

This book is a slow moving police procedural. The two main protagonists are two men who are suspicious of one another and who really don’t like each other. This made reading it rather tedious for me. When I read a detective novel, I prefer action.

I did respect Juge Lombard’s wide range of knowledge. I’ve always gotten a kick out of people who can rattle off obscure facts. I didn’t like the tension between him and his Commissaire partner.

The method of murder was unusual, but perhaps a little overdone. (I suspect the perpetrator wanted to get his point across?)

I do appreciate Mr. Moore’s talent for writing a good story. His premise is original and the characters, while I didn’t particularly like them, were well fleshed out and I can believe that their actions were true to life. Perhaps this just wasn’t the book for me.

I want to thank NetGalley and Duckworth Books for forwarding to me a copy of this book so that I may read, enjoy and review it. The opinions included in this review are solely my own.