MURDER IN THE LATIN QUARTER won First Place for Mystery/Suspense in the Kindle Book Review’s Best Indie Books of 2016.Maggie’s much anticipated Paris holiday takes a dark turn when she ventures into the city’s famed Latin Quarter to visit Laurent’s ailing aunt—only to find a very healthy aunt and a very dead body. Does the murder have something to do with Aunt Delphine? Was she the intended … intended victim? With her new baby daughter in tow, Maggie struggles to find the answers. In the process she learns more about Laurent’s family—and stumbles across a terrible secret that would tempt anybody to commit murder.
Can Maggie find the murderer without destroying the Dernier family name? And can she do it before the killer catches her in a dark, lonely alleyway in the Latin Quarter?
This book is a clean read: no graphic violence, sex or strong language
Genre: light culinary cozy mystery, women amateur sleuth, cozy animal (dog)
MAGGIE NEWBERRY MYSTERIES
Murder in the South of France
Murder a la Carte
Murder in Provence
Murder in Paris
Murder in Aix
Murder in Nice
Murder in the Latin Quarter
Murder in the Abbey
Murder in the Bistro
Murder in Cannes
Murder in Grenoble
Murder in the Vineyard
Murder in Arles
Murder in Marseille
Murder in St-Rémy
more
Enjoyed reading this because I love Paris and the Latin Quarter, but it was also a good murder mystery that kept me glued. I also judge the writing good when I’m not at all conscious of it and only conscious of the story.
I’d read several of Kiernan-Lewis’s books staring Maggie Dernier written before and after this one and must admit this was my least favorite. If I had to sum it up in one word, that word would be “too”.
Let me preface this by noting that I’m one of those people who reads in bed last thing at night. Perhaps if I had read Murder in the Latin Quarter when I was bright and alert and armed with a pen and paper or some other way to keep tract of all those mostly unlikable characters and who was related to whom how, I would have enjoyed the book more. Or had the author not added the sub-plot of her deteriorating relationship with her friend Grace and Grace’s odious boy friend to the plot; there was more than enough going on without them and as best I can recall, their presence added nothing except a reliable baby sitter and place in Paris for Maggie to stay to the plot. No joke, last night when I finished the book and mentally replayed the plot to account for all the relationships and dead bodies, I wound up with an extra dead body. It took me several minutes to recall why and how this person was involved and met her end where she did, but I fell asleep before I could remember her name.
And speaking of Grace and adding Maggie’s husband Laurent (who was absent during most of this book), these two characters’ past ability to rein in Maggie’s tendency to jump to conclusions then pose a gazillion questions and probabilities when these proved false was sorely missed. Barring them telling her to calm down, the reader must deal with too many of Maggie’s questions-without answers, too. Worse, I found these maddeningly distracting when I was trying to figure what was going on for myself. But perhaps this is a literary device too.
Love the Maggie Newberry series, and this book is a great part of it
The best word to describe this book is “boring.” It’s too bad the author didn’t end the book chapters ago. It was dreary and kept introducing new villains. No intentions of reading a book by this author again. Once more, “boring.”
Good little mystery with the charm of Paris and French food!
I’ve been a fan of this series for awhile now. Maggie is very real, a mother , wife and prone to bodies finding her path!
This story, like the previous, is engaging and will probably keep you up at night!
There was only one flaw, late in the book and had to do with one physical feat which I question the main character’s ability to actually have accomplished. Hence the 3 star rating.
not for me
I love this series. Maggie is a likeable, loyal character with her own flaws. I always wonder what she sees in her friend Grace. The books are full of adventure and hard to predict.
Too convoluted. Some loose ends.
Read it through non-stop!
This is one of a series of books and they are all wonderful books. i just wish there were more.
Was a follow up in the series. Thought the husband/wife relationship off.
I enjoyed this book very much. It had great twists and turns and believable entertaining characters. I look forward to reading more by Susan Kiernan-Lewis.
One of the better books in the series
It was okay. Not my favorite by this author.
Enjoyable entry in an enjoyable series.
Loved it . Have read several of her books and enjoyed them all.
After the first few in the series, they become predictable. Easy to read.
Very realistic story telling through characters and investigation in the book leading to unfolding of some World War ll circumstances. Interesting, informative, appealing.
Absolutely loved it! Best in the series so far.