It's a great mystery But a little crazy and very quirky, but, slightly over the top cosy mystery, and I loved it. A sweary cleaning lady, chickens named after famous actresses, a retired judge who hates his twin brother, a young Italian couple, mafia connections, a tall American with a Stetson, an actor who dresses up as a chicken, a senior policeman, and a kinky English couple straight out of a Carry On film are among the panoply of c The plot is not complicated but nicely done and I found the whole set of characters really interesting and colourful.

There's a lot of quirkiness and some of the humor misses the mark but points for the setting and the hens. The murder was just the right side of cosy crime and the pace of the story was so good I did not want to put the book down and I finished the book in 2 days and desperately want to start on the 2nd in this series. Treads that perfect balance between thigh-slappingly hilarious and heartbreakingly human: a unique and wonderful book. So very droll, so English, a perfect combination of English understatement and Gallic exaggeration, perfect for fans of Jonas Jonasson ( Sweet, Sweet Revenge) and Richard Osman( The Thursday Murder Club).Ian Moore is apparently a successful standup comedian in The UK and once I read that upon finishing the book so many things made sense to me. He likes the quiet life, doesn’t really enjoy his guests , but adores his hens, all named after classic film stars. Until he becomes embroiled in a mystery when a guest disappears leaving a bloody handprint and a broken pair of glasses. 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. The story is not meant to be a murder mystery that you can try to solve along with the cast, but more a cozy read for you to just kick back, relax, and enjoy.

There’s something for everyone in this book – from hitmen to mistaken identities to identity swapping! Still I liked both Richard and Valerie (and the dog Passepartout) very much, and look forward to their further adventures. He has the typical self-deprecating humour of the English, and a lot of the story involves him trying to find his place in all this chaos, and his character arc is really quite lovely. Ian Moore’s Follet Valley mystery was my first book of 2022 and it definitely got me out of the inevitable New Year’s reading slump.

The cast is, alas, sometimes stereotypical, but in a charming way--it serves the humour and is diverse enough. It is a good mystery, written with lots of humour (of course making a little bit of fun of the French countryside life in the process) and it made me chuckle often. Richard is dejected, slightly boring even, and his only interest in life is old movies, so much so that the hens in his establishment are named after actresses—Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner.

We will find here is some thing I can to the fun of watching a 40s screwball comedy in the golden age of film. It’s the same idea as The Thursday Murder Club and while I wouldn’t read another one in that series I will read this series again.

I knew I was going to enjoy this debut mystery from the first line - "Is there anything in this world quite as joyless as muesli? Full of witty one liners that had me literally laughing out loud and with a solid plot that kept me guessing. Finally and thanks to Mr Moore, I will probably waste lots of time during my next camping trip around Tours or Blois, asking every hen or rooster unfortunate enough to cross my path if they knew Ainsworth's beloved Ava Gardner. Death and Croissants is a well-crafted light and entertaining read, I didn't want to put it down, and I came across a number of edifying new words including passepartout, chunter and (my ultimate fave) gurning contest.

You can just tell from the very beginning that Richard and Valerie are off on a great adventure and that Valerie may not be exactly who she seems to be. The humour comes from the fact that people like this really do exist and their many foibles are a constant source of amusement to the rest of us. According to the blurb at the back of the book there are two more: Death a la Cuisine and Death at the Banquet. Even if the start is somewhat slow, soon you’ll be giggling and go along with this mad carnival ride and you’ll enjoy this ride. Encouraged by another of his guests, the enigmatic Valérie, Richard sets about investigating the disappearance.Like Richard Osman in his Thursday murder club series, the main reason to read this book is for the sparkling, hilarious dialogue and inner thoughts of its characters. Persuaded by another guest, the glamorous Valérie Dorçay, to investigate he soon finds himself caught up in all sorts, the mafia, nudity and murder most fowl. Another guest, Valérie d'Orçay, a formidable Frenchwoman, decides to investigate and Richard finds himself tagging along, not entirely by choice. I started reading this and then for one reason or another, stopped about a third of the way through to pick up something else.