The setting is a smallish picturesque town in southern France named Aix-en-Provence. The main characters are Verlaque (a criminal judge) and his assistants and Marine Bonnet, a law professor and his girlfriend. Another egregious plot device which made me want to throw the book across the room was that our hero, a JUDGE, deliberately breaks into premises outside his jurisdiction with his accomplice a LAW PROFESSOR, based on nothing more than a hunch and conjecture. In the real world they would both have been fired and prosecuted, not been invited to dinner. And they aren't even contrite about it. Even so, the whole sequence should have been resolved with a simple telephone call (which, in a way, it ultimately is). French-set mysteries have never been more popular [and] among the very best is a series set in Provence featuring Monsieur Verlaque, an examining magistrate, and his sometime girlfriend, law professor Marine Bonnet.”— The Denver Post When Dr. Georges Moutte is found mudrered, investigator Antoine Verlaque is stumped. Certainly the director of theology at the Université d’Aix had his enemies. Moutte was just about to name the recipient of an elite fellowship as well as his own successor—a highly coveted position—when his lips were sealed permanently. But Verlaque isn't convinced that anyone in the tiny community of academics is capable of murder. The three-part drama follows Antoine, a chief magistrate in Aix-en-Provence, France and his partner Mariem who is a criminal psychology professor.

The mystery is there; witnesses and suspects interviews, clues followed and investigation done. However, it does seem somewhat secondary to the abundance of characters and descriptions. Oddly, this is not a complaint. Plot: Dr. Moutte, the director of Theology at the Université d’Aix is found dead with his head bashed in. There are plenty of suspects as he recently retracted his retirement, making a lot presumptive successors angry. He also baited a prestigious fellowship over the heads of anxious candidates, also making them angry. As the investigation proceeded, his secretary was mowed down and killed by a hit and run. As with any respectable police protocol Verlaque and his assistants start the investigation by interviewing and looking into all the possible suspects.Verlaque is, mede door de invloed van Marine Bonnet, iets milder geworden, en hoewel hun relatie nog in een wat aftastende fase zit, zijn ze duidelijk wel gek op elkaar. Marine heeft een kleinere rol, maar zodra zij samenwerken krijgt het onderzoek die sprankeling en de vaart die het nodig heeft, dus meer Marine in een volgend boek, graag! Dit is een licht, sfeervol en vermakelijk mysterie met een leuke setting, interessante personages en soms net iets te veel details, maar ook een mooi afgerond onderzoek en nieuwe vraagtekens die je nieuwsgierig maken naar een volgend boek.

Who is responsible for the murders? Are they related to the art forgeries? Will Judge Antoine Verlaque, his on again/off again lady friend law professor Marine Bonnet and Commissioner Bruno Paulik of the Aix police unravel these mysteries? The Verlaque and Bonnet mysteries . . . plunge you into a languid world of epicurean pleasures and good living.”—Eleanor Beardsley, NPR If you’d like an intriguing mystery story peopled with unique characters, enhanced with descriptions of mouth watering edibles and lush pictures of the Italian and French country side Murder in the Rue Dumas is the book for you. And being a French intellectual snob, why are all the Judge's literary heroes and touchstones English or American? Yes , he had an English grandmother, but that is no excuse; he had a very expensive exclusive French education and appears not to give much of a damn about his heritage other than food. And no self-respecting French intellectual has ever read any Larkin, and probably has never heard of him. Nor, for that matter, would he count distances in miles ::eyeroll:: Murder in the Rue Dumas also happens to be a very academic mystery. The murder victim works in the theology department of the same university where Bonnet teaches law. Most of the large cast of characters work in academia, so there's quite a bit of theological or otherwise very intelligent discussion. In this way, the book reminded me quite a bit of David Lodge's books, which are sort of academic humor and are in fact referenced in this novel.Not that Allam had the opportunity to test out his own cooking skills while filming however – and nor does the onscreen cuisine sound all that appetising either. The latest book in the Verlaque & Bonnet Mystery series, The Curse of La Fontaine, is available now from Penguin Books! Wel blijf ik ruzie houden met de Franse invloeden in het schrijven en de uitdrukkingen. Doordat Longworth bijvoorbeeld de omgeving best uitgebreid omschrijft, worden er ook vaker Franse woorden gebruikt en hier had ik, net als bij het eerste deel, vaker moeite mee en vroeg ik mij ook geregeld af wat ze nu bedoelde. Dit vind ik toch jammer, want dit haalt de vaart uit het verhaal en nu was ik toch vaker geneigd om het boek aan de kant te leggen. Professor Moutte, the Doyen of the School of Theology at the University of Aix, is found murdered in his office. The murder occurred just after he announced that he would not be retiring. His announcement affected three of his colleagues who thought they in the mix for his prestigious position. Also affected were 4 post-graduate students in the competition for the lucrative Dumas Fellowship. Two days later, the professor’s secretary was killed in a hit and run accident. Coincidence or related to the murder? Into this turmoil, another crime is added – art glass forgery. When Dr. Georges Moutte is found mudrered, investigator Antoine Verlaque is stumped. Certainly the director of theology at the Université d’Aix had his enemies. Moutte was just about to name the recipient of an elite fellowship as well as his own successor—a highly coveted position—when his lips were sealed permanently. But Verlaque isn’t convinced that anyone in the tiny community of academics is capable of murder.