Death and Croissants: The most hilarious murder mystery since Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (A Follet Valley Mystery)

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While I wasn't tempted at any point to not finish this, it did seem like a much longer read than it actually is. I don't think I will be reading any more of this series. Nevertheless, I rooted for these two to have more quiet and intimate moments with each other because it’s clear that Richard likes her and is interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with her. I just can’t help rooting for middle-aged people to fall in love. It’s all about the yearning, folks.

They say you should not judge a book by its cover but this story is just as charming and brilliant as its cover.Yes you are.' She looked hurt. 'Look, it's not your fault, not really. I'm very easy to push around, but it's Ava Gardner here who's paid the price.' I shall regard the Loire Valley in a different light when I next visit. The children are still scarred from visiting too many Chateaux and really haven’t yet forgiven me, so this book recommendation will help them lay those particular ghosts to rest!! Encouraged by another of his guests, the enigmatic Valérie, Richard sets about investigating the disappearance. Before he knows it, he is faced with a world of nudist colonies and the Mafia. Its author, Ian Moore, is a stand-up comedian so as you’d expect, there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in this delightfully twisty ‘qui-dunnit’. Very minor spoilers: their very softly hinted at ‘will-they-won’t-they’ relationship is what kept me going so that I finished the book in three days, even though I was left a tiny bit disappointed with where Valérie and Richard’s dynamic seemed to be going. With some surreal characters and situations (Richard’s hens are named Lana Turner, Joan Crawford and Ava Gardner) the humor is one of the main ingredients of the novel. The weakest part in my opinion was the mystery itself. For a cozy mystery it was a bit convoluted at times and the fact that sometimes the reader is just told some crucial facts of the investigation without knowing or seeing how the characters found out about them did not help.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Farrago Books for an advance copy of Death and Croissants, the first novel to feature Bed and Breakfast owner Richard Ainsworth, set in the Loire Valley.My favourite character was Madame Tablier, the indomitable and irreverent housekeeper, followed closely by Richard's hens, Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, and Katharine Hepburn. I also enjoyed Richard's obsession with vintage movies, but there were times that I felt the author had 'overdone' the characters, making them more caricatures than relatable people. And that, I think is part of the problem. I really didn't care about any of the characters, and at times Death and Croissants read more like a 'Carry On' novel than a cosy murder mystery. It stars Richard, a British ex-pat running a B&B in the Loire Valley turned reluctant amateur sleuth when one of his guests goes missing and another one, Valérie D’Orcay, compels him to investigate.