Murder Most Delicious: A witty and charming Parisian cosy crime, perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club and The Tea Ladies

This is a lovely cozy murder mystery.

It is so lovely and easy to sink into, that you could vanish into one of the side streets without noticing. I read it in one sitting, turning pages, needing to know what happened next and how it unfolded. An almost breathless anticipation, tempered by the deliberate pacing of the novel. This author knows exactly where she wants you and makes sure she keeps you there.

It is possible to work out the mystery and figure out the murderer but that doesn’t take away from the story.

The book is at its heart at straightforward murder mystery. But it is also wound around social media, our own preoccupation with a life online and how that impacts our everyday.

It is also a look at the rarified world of fine dining, with its emphasis on the best sommeliers and chefs, the best ingredients, fabulous presentation and the finest wines.

Of what happens when the very thing that defines your professional and public self is taken away.

It is gentle and brutal, amusing and cringe inducing.

The protagonist is very human, kind, thoughtful, intelligent, blissfully unaware of the privilege her natural talent bestows on her, but rueful when she finds out.

Everyone in this book is genuine, real, in a way that you find with Agatha Christie’s books. This is, in a way, Hercule Poirot if he were in the 21stcentury.

The author has created and fleshed out her cast of characters with care. She understands community and human nature. She brings life to the Parisian suburb where all the action takes place, the people who inhabit it, the smells, the sounds, the food, the flowers. The food and drink in this book has a life of its own, not in the sense of a cookbook, more in the sense of the sheer enjoyment of it. This is an author who understands cozy, understands the things that make cozy and understands that a bit of gore is the perfect seasoning.

I’m left contented and delighted by this book. I want to try the food and drink the wine, smell the flowers and see the riot of colours at the florist. I want to know what it is like to have a nose and a palate so fine tuned it makes dinner into theatre. I want to walk into a perfumerie and smell the sheer abundance of beauty held in tiny glass vials.

I want you to read this book - enjoy the gentle hush of a quiet afternoon lunch and that rush of anticipation as you realise you might just know whodunit, the giddy delight of working out the mystery, that decadent bite of perfect handmade chocolate and that slight fear that the chocolate might have secrets. I think you should read this book, on a sunny afternoon out on the deck. I think you should read this book on a rainy day, snug and warm indoors while the rain lashes the windows. I think you should read this book because its lovely and cozy and delicious and charming without being twee.

Ive never yearned to be in a murder mystery before but the setting in Paris and just general wholesome cozy vibes of the neighborhood watch made me feel like I was missing out in not being one of them.

The plot was brilliant to be honest and it being set in the wine world also just gave an interesting perspective into a world i know nothing about. The twist had me going and surprised me in the end, was honestly at the edge of my seat but I think the characters deserve the biggest round of applause here. They're all well rounded and i found i wanted to know more about everyone in this story?? They all just played into the cozy mystery vibe so well.

I hope to read more cases taken on by the neighborhood watch!!