Disaster at the Vendome Theaterby M.L. Longworth
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780143135302
Series: Verlaque and Bonnet Provencal Mystery #10
Publication Date: October 4, 2022
Pages: 293
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Penguin Books
When Jean-Marc Sauvet, successful lawyer and the best friend of Aix-en-Provence’s examining magistrate Antoine Verlaque, accepted a small role in a local theater’s summer production of Marcel Pagnol’s Cigalon, he had no idea that the lead actress would be played by the great Liliane Poncet. But Jean-Marc’s excitement about rubbing elbows with one of France’s legendary film stars is quickly extinguished. The lead actor, Gauthier Lesage, is rude and unenthusiastic, and nobody understands how he got the part. Chaos reigns backstage thanks to the absentminded theater director. And everyone seems to be harboring a secret. When one of the actors goes missing for good, it’s up to the soon-to-be-a-father Verlaque and his police commissioner, Bruno Paulik, to untangle the threads of a mystery that seems to get more complicated every day…
This is one of those series best read for the atmosphere, the setting, and the characters, rather than for the mystery. The mysteries are good and well plotted, but slow paced; not quite back-burnered, but not front and center either. As the latest entry, this one may be the most leisurely one yet, with plotting that, to me, relies on a far-fetched hunch on the part of the police commissionaire. It works, for reasons that are logical in the end, but that first assumption – the bit that causes the cascade towards denouement, felt like too big a stretch. Verlaque, the titular MC, is a bit of a damp twit in this book, which feels contrary to all previous books, and is an obvious sop to the conceit that (impending) parenthood softens even the most hardened heart.
Otherwise, the book was as enjoyable to read as all the rest – a nice mini-break to France from the comfort of my couch. Now that Verlaque and Marine have reproduced, my anticipation of future books is somewhat dampened, as I don’t think parenting and solving crimes a sensible mix, but I will happily read the next one and hope to be proved wrong.
Apparently the BBC has made a TV show of this series, called Murder in Provence, available on BritBox. I watched the trailer the other day and … everyone is British. I mean, I realise the BBC is a British production company, but the setting is in France, and all the characters are French, at least they are in the books. Listening to Verlaque and Marine speak in very British accents was unnerving. But the show did appear to be humorous, and I admit to being intrigued – possibly enough to sign up for the free month trial.