Love & Death in Burgundy

March 6, 2017
Francophiles will welcome this cozy series launch from Shea (Mixed Up with Murder). Artist Katherine Goff and her failed rock-star husband, Michael, have bought an old farmhouse in Reigny-sur-Canne, which is “hardly more than a crossroads in Burgundy’s famous landscape of pastures and grapevine-planted terroirs on rolling hills.” One of their neighbors is a record producer, and Michael hopes for a second chance at a platinum record and concert tour. Meanwhile, Albert Bellegarde, the German-born husband of the local chateau’s owner, dies in a fall down the chateau’s back stairs. Everyone assumes it was an accident, but the French police aren’t forthcoming, and acrimony between one of Katherine’s best French friends and the dead man makes her wonder. Her role as organizer of the village fête in honor of the Feast of the Assumption and the upcoming show of her paintings in a nearby town leave little time for sleuthing. Nonetheless, Katherine uncovers important information that helps to resolve the mystery in the surprising and satisfactory denouement. Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron & Associates.

March 1, 2017
A woman desperate to fit into her community is given her chance by the death of a man with a past.Michael Goff lost his shot to become a rock star when his band members dumped him while stealing his songs. Now he lives with his wife, Katherine, in the insular Burgundy town of Reigny-sur-Canne. A lump-sum payment from the band has barely given the couple enough to live on, and after three years Katherine still lacks any real local friends. So she hopes her plan to run the town's annual festival will help her overcome the long memories and suspicions of local doyen Madame Pomfort and her followers. Unfortunately, the luncheon Katherine gives for local ladies is spoiled when the wealthy Albert Bellegarde smashes a plate over the head of Yves, a local bookseller who'd recently dumped his daughter. When Albert is found dead at the foot of a steep flight of stairs, his wife, Adele, calls Katherine, asking for help until her daughter arrives from Paris. The police investigation, much longer than it might be for a simple accident, sets tongues wagging. Meanwhile, Michael wonders whether he should try reviving his career by making an album and touring with Betty Lou Holliday, a famous American country singer whose own career could use a jump start. J.B., Betty Lou's husband and manager, is set on having Michael record with her. Katherine is a mother figure to Jeannette, a young local woman, whose father is a known thief. Jeannette is adept at snooping around the neighborhood and is not above stealing Katherine's silver spoons herself. Although solving the death is at the top of Katherine's agenda, she must do so to protect Jeannette and perhaps gain the village's acceptance. Shea (The King's Jar, 2013, etc.) kicks off a new character-driven series with an amusing portrait of life in a tiny French town that turns out to be integral to solving what may or may not be a murder.

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April 1, 2017

Katherine Goff is an insecure American expat living in Reigny-sur-Canne, a small village in France's Burgundy region. Desperate to be accepted by her neighbors, she tirelessly inserts herself into local activities. But, it's the death of the aged chateau owner that stirs up conversation. The official line is that the old man just slipped on the stairs, but as the investigation goes on, rumors fly: Albert was killed by Nazi assassins, tourists, or vagabonds. While Katherine wants to quash the gossip, the teen daughter of the town thief not only spies on everyone, she also holds the key to the secrets behind the old man's death. VERDICT Shea (Mixed Up with Murder) launches a cozy series that richly details life in a small French village. The outlandish antics of the eccentric locals add to the humor. Suggest to fans of Rhys Bowen's early "Evan Evans" series for the humor, the characters, and the charming setting.--LH

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March 15, 2017
Expat artist Katherine Goff is desperate to be accepted by the residents of Reigny-sur-Canne, located in the Burgundy region of France. Her husband, Michael, still nursing an old grudge against his former bandmates, is now working with an American singing star and her producer husband, which may lead to the success he craves. The quiet town is thrown into an uproar when the unlikable Albert Bellegarde is found dead on a steep staircase in his chateau. Was it an accident or murder? If the latter, there is no shortage of suspects: men from his checkered past, his daughter's former suitor, an American record producer, and even Nazis or gypsies. Listening to the village gossips, Katherine forms her theory, while also trying to save her young friend, Jeannette, a sly teen, from a thieving family. This leisurely paced story channels a Miss Marplelike investigation and immerses the reader in the life of an American woman trying to fit into an insular French village.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)