Mastering the Art of French Murder: A Charming New Parisian Historical Mystery (An American In Paris Mystery)

Tabitha Knight, product of the marriage between an American man and a French woman, was raised in the States. While she speaks French like a native, courtesy of her Parisian mother and grandmother, she doesn’t know how to cook at all. During the war, while her then=fiancé was off fighting, she summoned the courage to work in a factory a la Rosie the Riveter. Her mother didn’t approve, but she loved the experience. The war has ended, and so has her engagement to Henry. Feeling unfulfilled and at loose ends, she has jumped at the chance to move to Paris and live with her grandfather and his friend, “Oncle” Rafe (her ‘messieurs’). One of her new neighbors is none other than Julia Child, living in Paris while her husband Paul is stationed there for the Department of State. Julia is determined to teach Tabitha to cook well, and with the help of her circle of friends to find her a boyfriend too. The book opens the night after a party chez Child (at which Julia’s sister Dort, who works at a local theater and is living with her sister and brother-in-law, has set Tabitha up on a blind date). Julia and Tabitha are shopping for dinner ingredients at the local market, and exchanging gossip with the stall owners, but when they return home they find a neighbor’s maid in distress…she has just found the dead body of a young woman. Worse still, the woman was at the Childs’ party the previous night, and had ridden down in the elevator at the end of the night with Tabitha . The murder weapon? One of Julia’ Child’s own knives! The French police, in the person of Inspecteur Merveille, are of course suspicious of the two American women. Therese, the dead woman, had worked at the theater with Dort and several of the other party guests, so Tabitha and Julia decide that they need to do some sleuthing of their own to clear their names. The real life Julia Child is most known for bringing the wonders of French cooking to the homes of average Americans in the 1960’s. During the war, however, she worked for the precursor of the CIA, the OSS, so its not hard to imagine her wanting to investigate a murder close to home. Colleen Cambridge captures the charm of everyday Parisian life as the city regains its footing after the war. The reader meets characters from all walks of life: the ex-pat community of Americans, the theater crowd, market vendors like Madame Marie and Fidelia, maids Clarice and Mathilde…and of course Tabitha’s messieurs, Grand-Pere and Oncle Rafe, who may not approve of Tabitha’s investigations but prove helpful to her nonetheless. As Tabitha pokes around, we get to know an expanding cast of suspects. Why was Therese killed and who could have done it? To quote Julia Child, “Drama is very important in life: you have to come on with a bang.” This first in what I hope will be a series certainly does just that. For lovers of Paris,...

Every once in a while a reader is fortunate enough to stumble on a book that not only provides them with an escape but lures them so far into its world as to make the reader envy the characters in it. Before long the reader craves the surroundings, relationships, and characteristics innate to the author's creation; like one craves bread after smelling it baking—it’s intoxicating! Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge was just such a book from the third chapter. Yes, you’re questioning why not the first chapter. Easy. I didn’t want to like this book. I felt there was no way an author today could capture the voice of Julia Child and nuance this popular real life icon with a fictional best friend in post WWII France. Nope–It’s going to get kitschy, I thought. But, by chapter two I was starting to concede. Julia’s dialogue was so expertly written that I could hear the real Julia Child’s distinct boisterous voice echoing in my head. The interaction between Tabitha Knight, the amateur sleuth, best friend, and protagonist, and Julia flowed with the fully realized dynamic of a friendship today. By chapter three I was sold so completely I was only putting the book down for bathroom breaks. Otherwise, I carried it into the kitchen with me to make tea, grab my assorted macarons and a few lemon madeleines for sustenance...ok way more than a few. So many twists and turns in the intricate plotting that I refused to cook, watch tv, or even check my email until I came upon a less dynamic chapter, but it never happened. The relationships in this book were handled so deftly that I started to feel sad they weren’t real people I could visit. But, where Ms. Cambridge shines with a masterful light is in creating rising and falling action. There are a couple of tense scenes that I remember so vividly because they gave me chills. Not Stephen King 'turn on the nightlight chills' but Agatha Christie 'And Then There Were None' chills. Yes, so good I had to remind myself to stop holding my breath. Now, as a fellow mystery fan you can clearly understand why I want to live in this book. When I finally finished it I was gratified because I had not figured out the full extent of the “whodunnit “ and I was saddened it was over. I was further frustrated to learn that book two in the An American in Paris series won't be avaliable until spring of 2024. I'm book greedy, and in the words of Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka, "I want it all and I want it now!" But I digress. Until then, I’ll have to be content with fantasizing about there being a knock on my door and opening it to find Julia Child with all my market ingredients, ready to teach me one more recipe with glorious pale yellow butter as its conduit of flavor. This will give #AmazonPrime, #Netflix, or #PBS time to scoop this up for serialized movies. My sincerest thanks to #ColleenCambridge, #KensingtonBooks and #...