Murder on the Mediterranean

April 21, 2014
This zesty stew of a mystery, the fifth in Campion’s culinary series (after 2013’s Death of a Chef), takes police detective Capucine Le Tellier and her restaurant critic husband, Alexandre, on a Mediterranean pleasure cruise aboard a luxury sailboat. Except that it’s not really a pleasure, since their shipmates include Inès Maistre, a judge obsessed with bringing down a corrupt banking family at any cost; the shrill Angélique Bethier and her lecherous husband, Dominique; and Capucine’s lascivious cousin, Jacques. When the brooding and wanton Nathalie Martin, the “boat slave” hired to help with the cooking, cleaning, and sailing, is lost at sea, Capucine becomes the chief suspect in what turns out to be a murder case. After going ashore, she and Alexandre decide to hang out at a friend’s rural estate rather than return home to Paris. While Capucine investigates from afar, Alexandre continues to discover, or make, drool-worthy meals. A resolution that suggests justice has not been served, however, may leave a bad taste. Agent: Sharon Bowers, Miller Agency.

July 1, 2014
Parisian police commissaire Capucine Le Tellier and her food-critic husband, Alexandre, have planned a vacation with six other friends on a chartered boat in the Mediterranean and are scheduled to go from Saint-Tropez to Corsica. Before the cruise begins, though, Alexandre invites another couple, raising the number to 10. The eleventh is the cabin girl, Nathalie. The party starts out in good spirits, enjoying the gourmet meals Alexandre produces from the galley. But a squall on the second night brings trouble: Nathalie is washed overboard. When her body is retrieved, there is a bullet hole in her life vestfrom Capucine's gun. As the local police begin to investigate, Alexandre and Capucine go into hiding, sort of. Covertly, they visit all their shipmates, but taking time to enjoy the best dining southern France has to offer as they go. Between the closed circle of suspects and a host of overlapping motives, the plot moves along, punctuated both by the lush food descriptions and surprise revelations and hidden connections among the cruisers. A tasty treat for cozy fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)