Death at the Chateau

Murderous shenanigans and suspicious poisoning by Viagra are some of the unpleasant woes plaguing the crew of a dysfunctional movie production gathered at the Château de Valençay in order to finish filming à wonky historical piece centered around Napoleon and Talleyrand at the tail-end of the First Empire....

And yes, Richard and Valérie are back working as security agents and diving head first into a hilarious mayhem that kept me in stiches for a few hours. I love this wonderful series and its laughing out loud wacky situations, its delightful quirkiness full of goofy slapstick and delicious verbal pyrotechnics, and last but not least its screwy cast of characters, peacocks and hens included...

This terrific novel is the perfect antidote to forget for a few joyful hours the depressing world we live in!

Highly recommended and to be enjoyed without any moderation whatsoever!

Many thanks to Farrago and Netgalley for this very entertaining ARC!

Riotously Good..
More mayhem and madness in the third of the Follet Valley Mystery series. A film crew, no less, have taken over the bed and breakfast owned by Richard Ainsworth whilst shooting at the Chateau de Valencay. When a sudden and suspicious death occurs, both Richard and Valerie are keen to get involved. Of course they are - and this can only mean one thing. Chaos. Wholly engaging and wildly entertaining, once again, as humour dances off every page. Riotously good.

Death at the Chateau is the latest of the Follet Valley Mysteries following Richard Ainsworth, a middle-aged Englishman who has moved to the bucolic Loire Valley where he runs a Bed and Breakfast.

Richard’s B&B has been taken over by a production company shooting an historical film, when everything is stopped due to the sudden passing of an actor under suspicious circumstances, poisoning by Viagra.

Richard and Valerie offer their services and are back sleuthing again.

Another funny and laugh out loud joyous book to join the series. Here’s to plenty more.

If you’re looking for a proper cozy mystery, then this is the book for you. It has everything you’d want: suspected murders, a film crew getting in the way, and of course Valerie & Richard.

Valerie and Richard are back after forming a security business together. In this third book of the Follet Murder Mystery Series, I’m finding myself more drawn to this pair and the other reoccurring characters in the series.

In starting this book, I did have some trouble getting initially invested in the plot, but once the plot was established, it was smooth sailing from there. In the end, I found this book quite entertaining and sweet at times.

A very entertaining romp in the French countryside with distinctive characters and a rollicking sense of humor. The solution to the mystery is far-fetched and disappointing, but the journey to get to it is delightful.

Another good book in this series. It's not for you if you enjoy the darker gruesome crime thrillers but it's a wonderful cosy mystery series.

I really enjoy these for a lighter read and I love the France setting.

Richard and Valerie are back and their company is providing security for a film production company .
As you would expect there is subterfuge and murder a foot .
The film set is full of over the top actors , a stalker and all the over inflated egos which are involved in the production of a film.
Poisoning is the main method of murder here and the pair of amateur sleuths try to get to the bottom of it .
I like Richard and Valerie’s relationship and they work along side each other perfectly.
The book starts slowly but the pace soon picks up and makes a perfect cosy mystery read.
An enjoyable read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Farrago books.

When I saw this book was going to be published I knew I had to read it because I am enjoying this series.
A lot of fun, surprising twists and turns, a solid mystery.
I can't wait to read other stories in this series.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Film sets can be a hotbed of trouble and that's the case in this fun cozy set in French. Richard and Valerie find themselves first intrigued and then investigating when the crew takes over the Chateau and bad things ensue. This isn't dark, it isn't deep, but it's fun. Just the sort of novel you want to while away a rainy afternoon. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Farrago Books for an advance copy of Death at the Chateau, the third novel in the Follet Valley Mystery series featuring Richard Ainsworth, owner of an upmarket chambre d’hôte and Valérie dOrçay, former spy and perhaps assassin who are now working together in a newly formed security company.

Richard and Valérie are providing security on a film set at the nearby Chateau de Valeçay when one of the actors dies, natural causes according to the police, murder according to a disbelieving Richard and Valérie. They proceed to investigate and discover more intrigue than the film script.

I thoroughly enjoyed Death at the Chateau, which is a lighthearted romp in the Loire region with a good mystery attached. It made me smile, perhaps not laugh out loud, but then I’m not a middle aged Englishman in France, so it’s hard to fully get Richard’s feelings. The novel is told from his point of view, so much of the humour comes from his reactions to the notably more volatile Valérie and his desire to underplay life in general. This is a man who finds solace spending alone time with his hens who, obviously as he is a doctor of film history, are named after the greats, like Joan Crawford.

The plot is suitably silly with more murders, a stalker and over the top actors. Still, it is a puzzle as to what is going on and why. I found myself trying to work it out and failing miserably. I feel slightly cheated as not all the information is available before the denouement to make an educated guess, but the literal unmasking of the perpetrator was fun, being a mixture of skill and ineptitude. No prizes for guessing who was which.

Death at the Chateau is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

I have read all of the Follet Valley books and have enjoyed them all immensely, however if I have one complaint it is that this book was not as laugh out loud funny as the others hence the 4 star only this time. That would not put me off buying this book as a gift or in fact reading any other books by the same author. On the hole this was a very good book that continues with the ongoing saga of life in France for our main protagonist.

I previously read Death and Croissants by this author and have to say I enjoyed this one more. A gentle book with farce like qualities mixed with the number of deaths along the lines of Midsomer Murders makes an entertaining light read. Fun quirky characters with a mix of both French and English ex-pats with a good dollop of Hollywood thrown in the mix.

While in the first book Richard was a former cinematography professor who has opened a boutique hotel in France with his wife, which he had been left to run alone (except for his beloved flock of chickens and a grumbling housekeeper), and suddenly he has a new guest who has moved in without his knowledge while ignoring no pets clause, and he also has to find the missing guest and the murderer of his precious chicken ..

Then in this book... Richard still owns a boutique hotel, still loves classic movies, hates IMPD, talks to his beloved flock of chickens, and tries to avoid his "competitors". But on top of that, Valérie, who has now become the permanent lodger in the hotel and Richard's eye candy, has put them to work on the film set, as bodyguards for Valérie's niece ... and the rest of the film crew.

But then an extra, who is 102 years old (a bit lived already) has a heart attack while playing Napoleon in close-ups from behind. And then one of the crew is pushed into a ditch and then … and then ….
If Richard wants to get the money that the film crew has promised him, he must ignore Valérie's ex-husband, his own ex-wife and find out the reason for these strange occurrences.

It's a book in a "Thursday Murder Club" style, but still something totally different, offering both British and French humor.