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siria's review against another edition
2.0
Filmmaker Count Étienne de Bremont takes a fatal fall from the window of his family's château near Aix-en-Provence. Local judge Antoine Verlaque and his ex-girlfriend and law professor, Marine Bonnet, investigate the case. M.L. Longworth clearly has a love for this part of southern France, and succeeds in bringing Aix and its surrounding area to vivid life. I'd happily read a travelogue from her.
Ultimately, though, Death at the Chateau Bremont is rather disappointing. The plot's a bit clunky and lacking in actual detection (I guessed the murderer and the motivation quite early on, and I'm normally crap at things like that), as is the prose (omniscient third person that changes point of view from one paragraph to the next is messy and a pet hate of mine) and the dialogue (why repeatedly break what the reader takes as a given—that the characters are "speaking" French and we're just reading an English-language rendition of that—by randomly scattering French words and phrases like non and entendu and le juge throughout? Are we supposed to believe that they're being somehow more French here? If Longworth wanted to convey the fact that everyone's really speaking French more forcefully, she could have Gallicised their syntax more, or used direct translations of French idioms).
I could have put up with that if the main characters were charming. Sadly, they're not. They're prime examples of what happens when an author thinks they're producing complicated, flawed protagonists, but fails to let those flaws have any real impact on characterisation or the progress of the narrative. Marine is a law professor who's Not Like Those Other Girls, with a penchant for looking at herself in the mirror and thinking about how she's beautiful in spite of her tangle of red curls, oh what a flaw, and who chose to become an academic because of the regular hours (um) and because you get the summers off (what). Marine, however, is much more bearable than Verlaque. He's handsome, well-educated, intelligent, made an investigating magistrate at an unusually early age, from a wealthy family, descended in part from English nobility, a snob, a gourmet, a cigar enthusiast, women constantly fall into his bed because of his Intense Magnetism although he's rude and a chauvinist... Longworth seems to have confused self-satisfied male assholery with a three-dimensional male character, but this reminded me of nothing so much as the BBC's terrible Sherlock. There's no chemistry between Marine and Verlaque and by the end of the book I was actively rooting against their getting back together.
(When shelving the book, I noticed that the cover blurb draws comparisons between Death at the Chateau Bremont and the work of Dorothy L. Sayers. Wow. That takes some brass ovaries, publishers.)
Ultimately, though, Death at the Chateau Bremont is rather disappointing. The plot's a bit clunky and lacking in actual detection (I guessed the murderer and the motivation quite early on, and I'm normally crap at things like that), as is the prose (omniscient third person that changes point of view from one paragraph to the next is messy and a pet hate of mine) and the dialogue (why repeatedly break what the reader takes as a given—that the characters are "speaking" French and we're just reading an English-language rendition of that—by randomly scattering French words and phrases like non and entendu and le juge throughout? Are we supposed to believe that they're being somehow more French here? If Longworth wanted to convey the fact that everyone's really speaking French more forcefully, she could have Gallicised their syntax more, or used direct translations of French idioms).
I could have put up with that if the main characters were charming. Sadly, they're not. They're prime examples of what happens when an author thinks they're producing complicated, flawed protagonists, but fails to let those flaws have any real impact on characterisation or the progress of the narrative. Marine is a law professor who's Not Like Those Other Girls, with a penchant for looking at herself in the mirror and thinking about how she's beautiful in spite of her tangle of red curls, oh what a flaw, and who chose to become an academic because of the regular hours (um) and because you get the summers off (what). Marine, however, is much more bearable than Verlaque. He's handsome, well-educated, intelligent, made an investigating magistrate at an unusually early age, from a wealthy family, descended in part from English nobility, a snob, a gourmet, a cigar enthusiast, women constantly fall into his bed because of his Intense Magnetism although he's rude and a chauvinist... Longworth seems to have confused self-satisfied male assholery with a three-dimensional male character, but this reminded me of nothing so much as the BBC's terrible Sherlock. There's no chemistry between Marine and Verlaque and by the end of the book I was actively rooting against their getting back together.
(When shelving the book, I noticed that the cover blurb draws comparisons between Death at the Chateau Bremont and the work of Dorothy L. Sayers. Wow. That takes some brass ovaries, publishers.)
dmwhipp's review
2.0
Chief magistrate of Aix-en-Provence Antoine Verlaque delves into a suspicious death with the assistance of his ex-lover and law professor Marine Bonnet. The plot focused more on the culinary and wine offerings of the region and the relationship of the two main characters than it did on the mystery. Unfortunately, neither of the two main characters was particularly likable. Antoine possessed some sort of magical charm over the female of the species that wasn't made obvious to me and Martine acted like an overly emotional teen where he was concerned. When the first victim's brother is murdered, a little more attention is paid to crime solving, but it's largely propelled by different suspects offering completely unsolicited confessions. This is the first in a series, but the last for me.
jess_segraves's review against another edition
2.0
I had moderate hopes for this book, but I found the characters unlivable and the plot plodding.
johnnyb1954's review against another edition
3.0
The mystery is pretty well constructed. I read the whole book without thinking off not finishing, but I have several criticisms.
The suitcase that is important to the story is pretty contrived. There are some too convenient coincidences in the plot. And leading up to the final showdown Verlaque makes a huge leap to a conclusion that spread him to save the day.
Verlaque is really a jerk so I don’t know that I’d be inclined to read more in this series.
The suitcase that is important to the story is pretty contrived. There are some too convenient coincidences in the plot. And leading up to the final showdown Verlaque makes a huge leap to a conclusion that spread him to save the day.
Verlaque is really a jerk so I don’t know that I’d be inclined to read more in this series.
slferg's review against another edition
4.0
A very interesting read. The main characters are a little different - Marine Bonnet is a law professor in Aix and Antoine Verlacque is a judge. They have a history, but have split up. Etienne Bremont is discovered dead at the chateau owned by his family. He seems to have fallen out of a loft and broken his neck. Marine grew up with the brothers Etienne and Francois at the chateau. Verlaque turns to her for information about the brothers. Most people assume Etienne accidentally fell out of the window but Verlaque has a suspicion that this is not so, that he was pushed. Then, the day of Etienne's funeral, Francois is discovered floating in a fountain at the chateau.
The book is set in France and provides an interesting look at the setup of the French legal system. Of course, the intricacies of the system are not discussed, but a broad overview is provided.
I will read more of the series.
The book is set in France and provides an interesting look at the setup of the French legal system. Of course, the intricacies of the system are not discussed, but a broad overview is provided.
I will read more of the series.