The Curse of La Fontaine

February 20, 2017
In Longworth’s beguiling, leisurely paced sixth mystery featuring magistrate Antoine Verlaque and law professor Marine Bonnet (after 2015’s The Mystery of the Lost Cezanne), Bear Valets, the chef at a popular restaurant in the newlywed couple’s neighborhood in Aix-en-Provence, France, wants to expand into a historic courtyard—but finds himself running up against some powerful neighbors who are outraged at the idea of diners in their communal space. Valets barrels ahead with his plan, but while digging near the courtyard’s ancient fountain, he uncovers the skeleton of a murder victim and triggers what locals believe is a centuries-old curse. Bonnet goes undercover into a royalist group to learn about their possible connection to the murder, while Verlaque investigates the victim’s family—and the threats now being delivered to Valets. Longworth evokes the pleasures of France in delicious detail—great wine, delicious meals, and fine company. Agent: Katherine Fausset, Curtis Brown.

March 1, 2017
A chef's plan to expand his restaurant ignites a furor in a wealthy quarter of Aix-en-Provence.Married at last, examining magistrate Antoine Verlaque and law professor Marine Bonnet (The Mystery of the Lost Cezanne, 2015, etc.) still maintain two apartments: Antoine's near the Palais de Justice and Marine's in the posh Mazarin. But Marine's tranquil flat has become the center of a storm ever since Bear Valets announced a plan to introduce outdoor seating in the courtyard of La Fontaine, his upscale eatery. Although Valets plans to seat only five parties outdoors and promises not to play music, the neighbors who share that courtyard envision noise and disruption. While the Association Historique Aixoise discusses how to thwart the chef's plan, Valets starts to dig a garden only to find a body buried at the foot of the courtyard's fountain in the same spot where a peasant was once executed for failing to salute the king. Verlaque, charged with investigating, learns that the body probably dates back about eight years to the time when the black-sheep son of a local count disappeared. Soon the furor over the restaurant expansion blows up on its own as Verlaque discovers monarchist plots, human trafficking, and drug sales all cascading from a fountain the locals view as cursed. Longworth confirms her long-standing lovebirds as Aix's Nick and Nora; their pursuit of miscreants never interferes with their enjoyment of the good life.

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