The term “easy read” was surely invented for this amiable but scorchingly efficient amusement that comes with the added...
The celebrated author (A Good Year, 2004, etc.) introduces a wine-savvy sleuth who traces an L.A. cellar heist back to France.
Light, slight and very tidy, Mayle’s sixth novel wastes no time on superfluous characters or subplots. Its pared-down story line features vain Hollywood entertainment lawyer Danny Roth, whose pride in his $3 million wine collection leads to a boastful article about it in the L.A. Times and then its theft. Attractive insurance agent Elena Morales hires ex-boyfriend Sam Levitt, a hunk with a nose for fine vintages, to track it down. The trail leads to Marseille via Paris and Bordeaux, affording Mayle many opportunities for travel guide–type asides: “High on the Corniche Kennedy, the restaurant offers an irresistible combination of fresh fish, fresh air and a glittering view of the Frioul islands.” Levitt’s companion is another insurance agent, attractive Sophie Costes, whose presence makes Elena jealous. Sam, suspecting billionaire tycoon and wine-collector Francis Reboul of the theft, pretends to be a publisher working on a book on private cellars, gains access to Reboul’s vast collection, discovers Roth’s fingerprints on some of the bottles and steals the stolen wine back. No hitches, no glitches, and Sam gets the girl too.
The term “easy read” was surely invented for this amiable but scorchingly efficient amusement that comes with the added benefit of menu and wine-list recommendations.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-307-26901-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2009
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.
Too much free time leads a New Hampshire bookseller into yet another case of murder.
Now that Tricia Miles has Pixie Poe and Mr. Everett practically running her bookstore, Haven’t Got a Clue, she finds herself at loose ends. Her wealthy sister, Angelica, who in the guise of Nigela Ricita has invested heavily in making Stoneham a bookish tourist attraction, is entering the amateur competition for the Great Booktown Bake-Off. So Tricia, who’s recently taken up baking as a hobby, decides to join her and spends a lot of time looking for the perfect cupcake recipe. A visit to another bookstore leaves Tricia witnessing a nasty argument between owner Joyce Widman and next-door neighbor Vera Olson over the trimming of tree branches that hang over Joyce’s yard—also overheard by new town police officer Cindy Pearson. After Tricia accepts Joyce’s offer of some produce from her garden, they find Vera skewered by a pitchfork, and when Police Chief Grant Baker arrives, Joyce is his obvious suspect. Ever since Tricia moved to Stoneham, the homicide rate has skyrocketed (Poisoned Pages, 2018, etc.), and her history with Baker is fraught. She’s also become suspicious about the activities at Pets-A-Plenty, the animal shelter where Vera was a dedicated volunteer. Tricia’s offered her expertise to the board, but president Toby Kingston has been less than welcoming. With nothing but baking on her calendar, Tricia has plenty of time to investigate both the murder and her vague suspicions about the shelter. Plenty of small-town friendships and rivalries emerge in her quest for the truth.
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0272-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
A murder is committed in a stalled transcontinental train in the Balkans, and every passenger has a watertight alibi. But Hercule Poirot finds a way.
**Note: This classic Agatha Christie mystery was originally published in England as Murder on the Orient Express, but in the United States as Murder in the Calais Coach. Kirkus reviewed the book in 1934 under the original US title, but we changed the title in our database to the now recognizable title Murder on the Orient Express. This is the only name now known for the book. The reason the US publisher, Dodd Mead, did not use the UK title in 1934 was to avoid confusion with the 1932 Graham Greene novel, Orient Express.
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1934
ISBN: 978-0062073495
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dodd, Mead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1934
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