by
Ana T. Drew
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Cozy mystery
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BLURB:
Welcome to Beldoc, a
small town in the heart of Provence, imbued with lavender and fresh baked
bread! You can idle around, or you can puzzle out a murder mystery.
When a man dies on her
watch in her pâtisserie, newly divorced chef Julie Cavallo is dismayed. It
isn’t that she’s a suspect. The local gendarmerie captain signs off the death
as a natural event. A heart attack. But for a reason she won’t discuss, Julie suspects
Maurice Sauve was poisoned. What’s a girl to do? She’ll ignore the risk and
seek justice for Maurice on her own!
Well, not quite on her
own. Julie’s eccentric grandmother, her snarky sister and her geeky sous chef
are keen to help. The team’s amateurism is a challenge. But there’s also the
pesky matter of no evidence, no clues, and soon, no body. The murder—if it was
a murder—was planned and executed flawlessly.
Can a small-town baker
solve the perfect crime?
The Murderous Macaron is a twisty whodunnit mystery perfect for fans of Janet
Evanovich, Alexander McCall Smith, Jana DeLeon and Lilian Jackson Braun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
I sit down across a round table from the gendarme, Capitaine
Adinian, and begin my sad tale of yesterday’s macaron-making workshop that
didn’t go as planned.
He listens, barely taking any notes.
When I get to the part where I asked my students to mix the
ingredients I’d prepared for them, Capitaine Adinian leans forward. “Who
prepared and laid out the ingredients?”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Shortly before the class began.”
“Did you leave the shop, even for a brief time, after you
had everything ready for the class?” he asks.
“No.”
He scribbles something in his little notebook. “Please
continue.”
“Most participants struggled to get their batter to
stiffen,” I say. “Some gave up, claiming it was impossible without an electric
mixer.”
“Did Maurice Sauve give up?”
“Quite the contrary. He whisked unrelentingly, switching
hands but never pausing. He was the first to complete the task.”
Capitaine Adinian writes that down.
“I gave him one of these.” I show Adinian the remaining
badges that Flo had made for the workshop.
“Great Baking Potential,” he reads aloud.
“Then I went around with his bowl and had everyone admire
the perfect consistency of the batter.”
“Did anything stand out or seem unusual at that point?”
I gaze up at the ceiling, picturing the scene of me praising
Maurice Sauve’s firm, satiny batter, students giving him their thumbs-up, and
him smiling, visibly stoked. But he isn’t just smiling, he’s also… Panic squeezing
my throat, I zero in on his face. He’s panting.
Oh.
My. God.
I clap my hand over my mouth. “What if he’d whisked too
hard? What if that exertion caused his heart attack?”
“An intense workout, especially at freezing temperatures,
can trigger a heart attack,” Adinian says.
“He whisked intensely.”
“Madame Cavallo, I’ve never heard of anyone whisking
themselves to an early grave.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Ana T. Drew is
the evil mastermind behind the recent series of murders in the fictional French
town of Beldoc. When she is not writing cozy mysteries or doing mom-and-wife
things, she can be found watching “The Rookie” to help her get over “Castle”.
She lives in Paris but her heart is in Provence.
>>>
Visit ana-drew.com for a free cookbook and a game!
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GIVEAWAY
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The tour dates can be found here
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My review:
3.75 out of 5 stars
The Murderous Macaron by Ana T. Drew stars Julie Cavallo,
whose gluten-free bakery has been the site of a death. Julie’s sense that there
is more to it than meets the eye puts her at odds with Capitaine Gabriel
Adinian, who wants to get this cut-and-dried case off of his plate.
This cozy mystery with paranormal elements is part of the ‘Provence
Cozy Mysteries’ series, and has the typical kooky cast of colorful characters,
including a grandmother who teaches doga (doggy yoga), and a smart-mouthed and
sometimes wise younger sister (I love her advice that…. “if you keep mentally
photoshopping the ugly truth out of people, you’ll surround yourself with
friends you can always rely on to backstab you.”)
The special talent that Julie evidently shares with her estranged
twin was unexpected and added an odd element to the story, which already has
its share of twists and turns. I enjoyed following the investigation and the
red herrings as well as the opportunity to armchair travel to a small town in
France, plus who could resist the sexy capitaine? Julie will undoubtedly have
more adventures to come, and I look forward to reading about more of her madcap
adventures and their alliterative titles.
A copy of this title was provided for review
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your review!
ReplyDeleteLooks great! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGreat post and I appreciate getting to find out about another great book. Thanks for all you do and for the hard work you put into this. Greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your review and the book and author details, this sounds like a good cozy mystery
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your wonderful review of "The Murderous Macaron", and for sharing the book and the giveaway! So happy you enjoyed this Julie Cavallo mystery.
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