Looking For a Good Book

Mysteries and wine in France?  Why, yes, thank you!

This book is the first in a winemaker detective series, written in French and translated by Anne Trager.  The series is apparently quite popular in France, with a television series made from it as well.

The book follows Benjamin Cooker, a world-renowned wine-maker, passionate about wine, and saddened by the dwindling French wineries. When a friend calls him to report that an entire batch of wine, in the barrels, has gone bad, Cooker wonders if it might not be sabotage as the winery is too good to have been careless and negligent.  And so we begin a journey into the world of fine French wines, which, like any other multi-billion dollar industry, is full of vice, greed, jealousy, and, as the title suggests, treachery.

This is a mystery, and not a thriller, and at times it moves a little slowly, but at all times, politely.  Cooker is a genial, pleasant man and the book takes on the tone of his demeanor.

This is a very quick read, and I found the information about wine and wine-making extremely informative and fun.  Cooker’s new assistant, taken on during the course of the book, promises to be a good side-kick to Cooker, and it is through him that we readers learn the ins and outs of the wine business.

This is not my favorite of mystery series’, but I found it engaging enough that I’m definitely interested in reading more.  I recently wrote about another mystery series, in which I learned the term ‘cozy’ mystery and how I didn’t care for it.  This is probably also considered a ‘cozy’ mystery,  which, as I say, is not my favorite style, but with the right topic for the reader (in this case, wine) a cozy mystery can be just fine.

Looking for a good book?  Treachery in Bordeaux is the first book in a cozy mystery series with wine-making in France as the subject and locale and is a pleasant, easy read for fans of the ‘cozy’ style … or wine.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

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Treachery in Bordeaux

authors: Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen

translator: Ann Trager

series: Wine Maker Detective Mysteries #1

publisher: Le French Book

ISBN13: 9781939474971

paperback, 140 pages