Murder on the Ile Sordou

Starred review from July 14, 2014
In Longworth’s thoroughly delightful fourth Provençal mystery (after 2013’s Death in the Vines), examining magistrate Antoine Verlaque and Marine Bonnet, his law-professor girlfriend, take a vacation on Sordou, a small island off the coast of Marseilles. They stay at the Locanda Sourdou, a newly reopened hotel that retains its 1960s elegance. Fellow guests include Sylvie Grassi, Martine’s best friend; Eric Monnier, an elderly poet; Bill and Shirley Hobbs, an American couple; and over-the-hill actor Alain Denis, whose rudeness upsets everyone, especially his sensitive teenage stepson. When one of their company is shot to death, Antoine must move into professional mode. Longworth deftly handles what is in effect a locked-room mystery, but the book’s real strength lies the backstories she creates for each of the distinctive characters. The puzzle’s answer, buried in the past, is well prepared by what has come before. Agent: Katherine Fausset, Curtis Brown.

September 1, 2014
Hotel guests enjoy breathtaking views, fresh cuisine and murder on an island off Marseille. Aix's judge d'instruction Antoine Verlaque has many reasons for taking his longtime paramour, law professor Marine Bonnet, to the newly reopened Locanda Sordou. First and foremost, because he can. His family's flour mill fortune has left him much better off than a typical examining magistrate, so if he wants to buy his friend's wife a winery (Death in the Vines, 2013) or enjoy a week of luxury with his girlfriend, why not? Verlaque also wants to make peace with Marine's best friend, Sylvie Grassi, if he can divert the photographer's attention from downing mojitos and ogling boating instructor Hugo Sammut long enough. Once on Sordou, Verlaque finds other pleasures, not counting his twice-daily romps between the sheets with Martine. Retired schoolteacher Eric Monnier introduces the judge to Frank O'Hara's poetry. American tourist Bill Hobbs catches tiny rougets, which chef Emile Villey transforms into a delectable ceviche. Housekeeper Madame Poux keeps his towels fluffed and his linens fresh. And novice waitress Marie-Therese introduces him to a unique style of wine tasting. Even watching aging movie star Alain Denis squabble with his young wife and her teenage son Brice is not without its amusements. Too bad a murder disrupts these burgeoning friendships, one that may spell disaster for hoteliers Maxime and Cat-Cat Le Bon. Like Locanda Sordou, Longworth's maritime version of a country-house cozy offers genuine pleasures, more for its location and cast of characters than for its puzzle.

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August 1, 2014

In their fourth outing (after Death in the Vines) Judge Antoine Verlaque and his law professor girlfriend Marine Bonnet try to enjoy a holiday off the coast of Marseille at the grand reopening of the Locanda Sordou, an opulent hotel that had been closed for several decades. Marine and Antoine soon discover that beneath the building's elegant facade lies discontent and quarrels among the guests. Their vacation takes a turn for the worse when one guest is murdered and a storm cuts off all contact with the mainland. Can Antoine and Marine catch the killer before another member of their group dies? VERDICT Longworth once again immerses readers in French culture with this whodunit, which will delight Francophiles and fans of Donna Leon and Andrea Camilleri. The setting will also appeal to readers who enjoy trapped-on-the-island mysteries in the tradition of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2014
Longworth's novels, set in the south of France (principally Aix-en-Provence and Marseille) are mysteries for foodies, with the plot providing a table upon which the enchanting meals and accompanying wines are served. In this, the fourth, series hero Judge Antoine Verlaque, the examining magister for Aix (which position allows him to investigate mysteries), and his girlfriend, law professor Marine Bonnet, vacation at a remote resort in the Mediterranean off the coast of Marseille. In an Agatha Christielike And Then There Were None setup that doesn't quite come off, we're introduced to the small number of guests visiting the isolated resort, including an American couple, a Parisian couple, a failed poet, and a former film star. We're also given marvelous brief bios of the people who work at the resort and the challenges they face. One of the guests is murdered, of course, and Verlaque investigates, but this murder is only a side dish to Longworth's lovingly rendered descriptions of dining.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)