Series: American in Paris Mystery

A+ #BookReview: In the Spirit of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A+ Reviews> book reviews
A+ #BookReview: In the Spirit of French Murder by Colleen CambridgeIn the Spirit of French Murder (An American In Paris Mystery, #4) by Colleen Cambridge
Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via NetGalley
Formats available: hardcover, ebook, audiobook
Genres: culinary mystery, foodie fiction, historical mystery, mystery
Series: American in Paris Mystery #4
Pages: 272
Published by Kensington on April 28, 2026
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

After moving to France, Tabitha Knight has a new friend in fellow expat and Cordon Bleu student Julia Child, whose culinary tips can come in quite handy. But something’s cooking in postwar Paris, and it isn’t just cheese soufflé…

Tabitha has enjoyed an entertaining afternoon in Julia’s kitchen, but her return home is a bit jarring. As she arrives at her grandfather’s rue de l’Université mansion, a woman bursts out the door babbling about messages from spirits and a warning Grand-père must heed. Oncle Rafe angrily sends the woman on her way, and neither man will answer Tabitha’s questions.

It’s not the last she sees of the mysterious visitor. While she’s on a date that evening, she’s accosted by her again—and learns that Madame Vierca is a medium who claims to have visions of a dark fate that awaits Grand-père and Oncle Rafe. The very next night, Tabitha’s messieurs host a soiree at their new restaurant, inviting fellow Resistance fighters from the war known as the Nine Bluets. To commemorate the work of the Resistance network, the vase on the dinner table sports nine of the pretty blue flowers.

But shortly after the revelers leave the restaurant, one of Grand-père’s old friends is found dead on the street . . . and one of the nine flowers is missing from the vase. When a second member of the Nine Bluets is found poisoned the next day, and a bluet flower is left with the body, Tabitha cannot ignore Madame Vierca’s frightening predictions about her dear messieurs. She has no choice but to share her suspicions and fears with the enigmatic and unruffled Inspecteur Merveille.

Tabitha soon finds herself caught up in an investigation that takes her and Merveille to the seediest, most dangerous parts of the Left Bank—home of strange, fantastical legends, disquieting events, and unusual people. As she and Merveille desperately try to find a killer, they know they don’t have much time before the rest of the Nine Bluets are targeted . . . including Grand-père and Oncle Rafe.

My Review:

Five years hasn’t been nearly enough time for Parisians to heal from the devastation of World War II and the brutal occupation of their city and country by the Nazis. As this fourth story in the American in Paris series begins, American expat Tabitha Knight hopes that the re-opening of her messieurs’ restaurant, Maison de Verre, is at least a sign that the healing has begun.

Or that at least it heals something for her beloved grand-père and his life partner ‘Oncle’ Rafe, as well as the gang of their old colleagues from the Resistance who are gathering to celebrate their new but well-loved and well-remembered old haunt. It’s just one link in the chain of Paris reclaiming her nickname as the “City of Light” they all love.

But the first complete gathering of their Resistance cell, “Les neuf bleuets”, after the war tragically turns out to be their last. The evening ends with the murder of one of these old clandestine warriors, the man’s throat slit just down the street where the party is still winding down.

The murder is not as much of a surprise to Tabitha as she wishes it were – and not only because she has an unfortunate tendency to trip over dead bodies. This time, it’s not just her penchant for discovering death, it’s that a creepy but rather formidable old fortune teller visited her messieurs just the day before, attempting to warn them that death was coming for all of their old comrades. Very, very soon.

Once the prediction is proven true, Tabitha, along with her best friend and sometime sidekick, the larger-than-life, not-yet-famous, soon-to-be chef Julia Child, hunt down that fortune teller near the old – and infamous – rue des Maléfices. The street of witches.

Madame Vierca may not actually be a witch, but her predictions are frighteningly accurate. So accurate that the killer eliminates her along with as many of the original members of the old Resistance cell as they can get their hands on.

It eventually becomes clear that the killer is re-enacting Agatha Christie’s 1939 classic, And Then There Were None. Which means that one of the supposed early victims is most likely the killer. It’s up to Tabitha, with the able assistance of Inspecteur Étienne Merveille of the Paris police – or the other way around – to unmask the murderer before Tabitha’s beloved messieurs are numbered among the victims.

Escape Rating A+: The title is more apt than it first appears. In the Spirit of French Murder is a story about hauntings. Not ghosts – well, not exactly ghosts – but the haunting of the spirit. And possibly, haunting by spirits.

And all of that is intriguing and fascinating, making this a, pardon the pun, haunting fourth entry in the American in Paris series.

From the outset, this story is about the way that World War II and the Occupation still haunt both the city and the people within it. Everyone was touched by the Occupation. Everyone did things they regret. Everyone lost people they deeply miss. Ultimately, the murder spree in this story is wrapped around one person who survived but lost everyone they loved along that terrible way. A person who, as people often do, assigned blame to those who were still available for retribution instead of the vast anonymous machinery of the war and the dark souls of those who enabled its brutality.

Alongside the murders and the investigation that stalks Tabitha, her messieurs and all the remaining members of ‘les neufs bleuets’ there’s another type of haunting. The story is also haunted by the spirits that both hide and embody the soul of a place where the veil is thin and porous to both memory and the disturbing myths and legends of the weird and the wonderful that can’t be explained – only told and re-told until they become part of the, well, spirit of the place.

As part of her investigation, Tabitha is exposed to many of those old legends, as they loom over the story every bit as much as the late war. One of those myths even comes to life, right before her eyes, and then vanishes in the smoke. As all the best legends do.

I initially picked up this series with Mastering the Art of French Murder for Julia Child. As, I’m sure, did a LOT of readers. She was a fascinating figure, and even more so after the records of her wartime exploits with the OSS were declassified. In this series, she serves as a terrific introduction to life in post-war Paris as an American in Paris.

But if Julia is the bait, Tabitha Knight and her messieurs are the hook that keeps the reader coming back for more, from A Murder Most French through A Fashionably French Murder and now into the dark haunting of In the Spirit of French Murder.

Tabitha Knight is a fascinating amateur detective. On the one hand, she is very much an outsider, an American expat coming to Paris for a fresh start as the city is itself experiencing the same. OTOH, she has connections both to the city’s past and present through her messieurs and an introduction to her new home through Julia.

Between Julia’s friends at Le Cordon Bleu and her messieurs’ wide circle of friends and colleagues, Tabitha is well-within those six degrees of separation to anything and everything. And yet she’s still just a bit outside and sees things through fresh eyes. So she’s both charmed and scared by those Parisian spirits, and yet determined to keep her loved ones safe – even from themselves and their dangerous assumptions about their old friends.

The case is as twisted as the narrow rues and alleys of the old quartiers of Paris. The red herrings are as tasty as anything served up by Julia Child. Julia herself is a marvelously fluting addition to every scene in which she appears – particularly as she introduces Tabitha and the reader to the delights of post-war Paris, especially its open-air markets, its tiny kitchens, and its delicious food. But Tabitha’s quest is dark and dangerous and pokes into shadows that someone does not want to have exposed. That she has a police Inspecteur at her side – or he has her – for the nearly deadly denouement makes the whole misadventure just that much more captivating – and even more impossible for this reader to put down until the last page was turned.

Hopefully, Tabitha will eventually manage to find a way into the heart of that handsome police Inspecteur,  who often sees her as an infuriating nuisance. This series cannot stop until they figure themselves out. After all, as much as Paris is the “City of Light”, it is also the “City of Love”.

A- #BookReview: A Fashionably French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A- Reviews> book reviews
A- #BookReview: A Fashionably French Murder by Colleen CambridgeA Fashionably French Murder (An American In Paris Mystery, #3) by Colleen Cambridge
Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via NetGalley
Formats available: hardcover, ebook, audiobook
Genres: culinary mystery, foodie fiction, historical mystery, mystery
Series: American in Paris Mystery #3
Pages: 297
Published by Kensington Books on April 29, 2025
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

American expat Tabitha Knight has found a new life in postwar Paris, along with a delightful friend in aspiring chef Julia Child. Yet there are perils in peacetime too, as a killer infiltrates one of the city’s most famous fashion houses.

If there’s one art the French have mastered as well as fine cuisine, it’s haute couture. Tabitha and Julia are already accustomed to sampling the delights of the former. Now fashion is returning to the forefront in Paris, as the somber hues of wartime are replaced by vibrant colors and ultra-feminine silhouettes, influenced by Christian Dior’s “New Look.”

Tabitha and Julia join a friend for a private showing at an exclusive fashion atelier, Maison Lannet. The event goes well, but when Tabitha returns later that evening to search for a lost glove, she finds the lights still on—and the couturier dead, strangled by a length of lace. The shop manager suspects that a jealous rival—perhaps Dior himself—committed the crime. Tabitha dismisses that idea, but when another body is found, it’s apparent that someone is targeting employees of Maison Lannet.

Meanwhile, Tabitha’s Grand-père and Oncle Rafe are in the midst of their own design-related fracas, as they squabble over how to decorate their new restaurant. And there are strange break-ins at a nearby shoe store—but are the crimes related? It’s up to Tabitha to don her investigative hat and find answers before someone commits another fatal fashion faux pas.

My Review:

As Julia Child once said, “Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.” Her best (fictional) friend, Tabitha Knight, seems to have followed Child’s advice. Unfortunately for the denizens of post-World War II Paris – but fortunate for the reader – she’s discovered that she’s passionate about investigating murders – and the city seems to be encouraging her in that passion by dropping corpses at her feet.

The story begins when Julia and Tabitha, attend a private showing at an up-and-coming new haute couture fashion house. The luxury of Maison Lannet’s location and creations are a complete antithesis to the austerity and rationing of the late war, and Tabitha is a bit entranced by it all – as is the client who brought her to the atelier to serve as translator for all the meticulous and precise terminology of the highly regulated business of providing ultra-exclusive fashion to the fashionably wealthy.

It’s only after the showing that Tabitha does what she seems to do – well, not so much best as often. She finds a dead body. She returns to the atelier after the show to find her missing glove – it’s a miserable winter – and finds the corpse of Maison Lannet’s premiere designer instead. And gets shoved into the side of a desk as the murderer makes his escape.

And that’s only the FIRST body that Tabitha literally trips over, much to the consternation of police Inspecteur Étienne Merveille. He’s dealt with Tab’s penchant for getting involved in murder investigations twice already (Mastering the Art of French Murder and A Murder Most French), and would really rather not deal with her blend of exasperating but effective nosiness ever again.

Or at least that’s what his generally impassive expression has led Tabitha to believe. Even though she’d rather not. Believe she’s not helpful and that he’s not interested in her help, that is. After all, he’s engaged.

But the case won’t leave her alone – and neither will her budding reputation as someone who is more reliable and less corrupt than ‘les flics’ – the police – are reputed. Most of officialdom is still tarred with the brush of collaboration with the hated Nazi occupation even six years after liberation – especially the police. The abuses were legion, the Parisian memory is long, and the past isn’t nearly far enough passed for those who suffered under it to have gotten over it.

Tabitha’s every turn seems to wind this case tighter around her, as it leads from the fashionable ateliers of the post-war fashion industry into the lingering darkness of that past and the still open questions around collaboration versus survival that simmer behind every door – including the door of the maison where Tabitha lives with her elderly ‘messieurs’ – her grand-père and her Oncle Rafe, whose wartime activities and life-long relationship uneasily straddle that very same strand of barbed wire.

As, seemingly, frighteningly and sometimes desperately, does the whole of the City of Light that she has come to love.

Escape Rating A-: This third entry in the series isn’t as light and frothy as the first – and it’s all the more compelling for it. Part of that lesser application of froth is that Julia Child’s presence is reduced in this one – not in the negative sense, but very much and appropriately in the cooking sense, where the flavor of her presence is more intense and concentrated but in fewer scenes. She simmers a lot in this one, but doesn’t bubble over quite as much or as often as she has in the previous books.

Which is totally appropriate, because just as Tabitha’s cooking skills – originally quite execrable – have improved under Julia’s tutelage, her investigative skills have come along nicely as well, and we’ve gotten to know her and her ‘messieurs’ better. She’s grown as a character, and is now more than capable of carrying the story even if her messieurs are still more than willing to enjoy Julia’s cooking whenever it’s on offer. And who can blame them?

While Tabitha’s investigations still rely on her literally tripping over corpses, it’s a pleasant change from some other amateur detective series that she is not intimately involved with any of the victims or those in their immediate circles before they drop. Also, Paris has a big enough population that it’s not quite so outre that there are as many murder victims as Tabs seems to find. (In other words, this is not Cabot Cove or Midsomer County – and it’s quite possible to believe that people will ALWAYS come to Paris in spite of the murder rate!)

As much as I enjoy this series, this entry is considerably darker than the first two – and not precisely as a result of Tabitha’s predilection for tripping over corpses. Not that that helps. But in this case it’s all about motivation for the murders rather than the actual gore.

While the setting for this entry in the series is draped in the lush fabrics and ultra-feminine silhouettes of Christian Dior’s signature ‘New Look’ for the post war era, the elitist, snobby, wasteful underpinnings of haute couture make a stark contrast to the austerity of the occupation – as Dior intended – and to the still roiling grief that embraces the city even in recovery. It’s not exactly the sense of Nero fiddling while Rome burned, but more that Nero is fiddling while the ashes still smolder. Or something like that. It feels really wrong even though it’s also really true.

But the darkness at the heart of this story is tied up and chained by the lingering pain of the occupation, caught up in the hard questions about who merely paid as much lip service and even actual service to the Nazis and their puppet French government as they had to in order to survive – versus who was a true collaborateur who willingly climbed into bed with the Nazis, literally or figuratively – for profit or power or both.

That her beloved grand-père was one who cooperated enough to stay alive AND to earn money to funnel to the Resistance, while Oncle Rafe was an active member of that Resistance, brings the tension uncomfortably close to home.

It’s not a question about whether the right people were punished, because it’s clear that that wasn’t always the case. But rather, that there is still a taste for more punishment because it is certain that there are plenty of people who have so far managed to avoid reaping what they gleefully sowed.

Which leads back to what made this story darker than the previous books in the series, because the occupation was dark. That darkness still lingers, there are still rats hiding in it and in this entry in the series it turns out to be Tabitha Knight’s calling to pin at least one of those rats in the light.

The story does end on an upbeat note. Good does triumph in this case, evil does get its just desserts, and it looks like Tabitha’s messieurs are well on the way to re-opening their restaurant so that they no longer have to rely on Tabitha’s still somewhat questionable cooking or Julia Child’s expansive culinary charity. Tabitha’s love life seems to be on the uptick as well – much to the delight of her friends and family so they have something to gossip about.

How much those developments will be part of future books in the series, I can’t wait to find out!

A+ #BookReview: A Murder Most French by Colleen Cambridge

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A+ Reviews> book reviews
A+ #BookReview: A Murder Most French by Colleen CambridgeA Murder Most French (American In Paris Mystery, #2) by Colleen Cambridge
Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via Edelweiss
Formats available: hardcover, ebook, audiobook
Genres: culinary mystery, foodie fiction, historical mystery, mystery
Series: American in Paris Mystery #2
Pages: 272
Published by Kensington on April 23, 2024
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

Postwar Paris is surging back to life, and its citizens are seizing every opportunity to raise a glass or share a delicious meal. But as American ex-pat Tabitha Knight and chef-in-training Julia Child discover, celebrations can quickly go awry when someone has murder in mind . . .
The graceful domes of Sacré Coeur, the imposing cathedral of Notre Dame, the breathtaking TourEiffel . . . Paris is overflowing with stunning architecture. Yet for Tabitha Knight, the humble building that houses the Cordon Bleu cooking school, where her friend Julia studies, is just as notable. Tabitha is always happy to sample Julia’s latest creation and try to recreate dishes for her Grand-père and Oncle Rafe.
The legendary school also holds open demonstrations, where the public can see its master chefs at work. It’s a treat for any aspiring cook—until one of the chefs pours himself a glass of wine from a rare vintage bottle—and promptly drops dead in front of Julia, Tabitha, and other assembled guests. It’s the first in a frightening string of poisonings that turns grimly personal when cyanide-laced wine is sent to someone very close to Tabitha.
What kind of killer chooses such a means of murder, and why? Tabitha and Julia hope to find answers in order to save innocent lives—not to mention a few exquisite vintages—even as their investigation takes them through some of the darkest corners of France’s wartime past . . .

My Review:

According to Julia Child, “The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”

While Child absolutely did say that, she certainly hadn’t said it yet at in 1950, the time this second book in the American in Paris Mystery series takes place, directly after the events of the first book in this delicious historical mystery series, Mastering the Art of French Murder.

Julia Child is too busy learning French cooking, living her larger-than-life life in Paris AND at the beginning of writing her masterpiece, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, when this series takes place.

Meaning that Julia – as much as she steals every scene in which she appears – is not the amateur detective protagonist of this series, even if she is every bit as much an American in post-war Paris as her best (fictional) friend Tabitha Knight.

Tabi probably would not entirely agree with that opening quote from Julia. It’s not fear of failure that dooms so many of Tabi’s cooking forays, it’s the fear of disappointing – yet again – her two messieurs, her elderly grandfather and his partner, her adopted Oncle Rafe.

Tabi does, however, most definitely have a what-the-hell attitude, but it seems to be increasingly focused, not on cooking but on murder. Not committing them, of course, but solving them. It’s an attitude that is immeasurably helped by just how many corpses she seemingly trips over.

The way that corpses seem to follow in her wake, and her inability to ignore the clues that bubble up before her, unfortunately looks like it’s helping police judiciaire Inspecteur Étienne Merveille into entirely too many headaches, if not an early ulcer.

Because somehow, no matter how many times Merveille warns her away, when Tabi rushes in where even angels would fear to tread, Merveille is always on hand to rescue her.

Maybe Tabi is following Julia’s three-part plan for managing men after all – no matter how many times the lady protests too much otherwise.

Escape Rating A+: If you loved the first book in this series – and who didn’t? – you will run, not walk to get this second book because it’s every bit as charming as the first. If you still need a bit of convincing, I’m going to get right to that.

But before I do, if you haven’t read Mastering the Art of French Murder and aren’t sure whether you can start the series here – you can. Everything you need to catch up does get enough of an explanation to make it work. Howsomever, that first book is delightful and delicious so even if you do start here you’ll want to go there immediately afterwards!

Yes, this review is full of squee. It’s that kind of book and that kind of series.

This time around, Tabitha gets involved in the case not because she’s a suspect, but because the murder happens literally right before her eyes – as does the second murder. Also before Julia’s eyes as well, and she absolutely can’t resist egging Tabitha on whenever she falters in her determination the least little bit.

Which is pretty much true for Julia all the way around.

The case is a twisted puzzlement – but in it’s ever increasing list of victims and in its choice of methods. Increasing both Tabitha’s and the reader’s fascination is the way that the string of murders links back to the late war, the simmering resentments of the surviving Resistance fighters and the blot on the French psyche that the collaborators represent.

Then the whole thing dives into the catacombs. Literally as well as figuratively, and the secrets that are hidden among the bones – not all of which are ancient.

When her messieurs receive a beautifully wrapped bottle of pilfered, poisoned wine – just as the first two victims did, Tabitha throws aside her remaining qualms and cautions to throw herself into an investigation that gets her thrown into the pitch black darkness of the catacombs.

Tabitha rescues herself – which is definitely part of her charm for this reader – but she’s afraid she won’t be able to run across Paris fast enough to save her messieurs. Fortunately for Tabi, her apple didn’t fall far from the family tree – and Inspecteur Merveille has been following her a LOT more closely than she imagined.

Their relationship – whatever it might turn out to be – is one of the teasingly dangling threads left at the end of this book. The mystery gets tidily wrapped up, but nearly everyone in Tabi’s life seems to think that Merveille has a tendre for her that would be worth exploring.

If it’s not obvious from all the squeeing, I would love for there to be a third book in this series and possibly more. For one thing, I have to see if Tabitha continues to follow that three-part plan of Julia’s for managing men. Tabi has the first part completed, as she actually managed to feed the man a surprisingly edible – for her at least – Croque Monsieur albeit without the bechamel sauce. Step two in Julia’s plan is to flatter the man which should be easy enough to do as he just saved her life and is quite competent at everything she’s seen of him so far.

Tabitha should have plenty of opportunities as the series continues – which I am oh so hopeful that it will. Because it looks as if investigating murders is looking more and more like it’s Tabitha’s answer to one of Julia’s instructions, to “find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”

“Bon appetit!”

Grade A #BookReview: Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Grade A #BookReview: Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen CambridgeMastering the Art of French Murder (An American In Paris, #1) by Colleen Cambridge
Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via NetGalley
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genres: culinary mystery, foodie fiction, historical mystery, mystery
Series: American in Paris Mystery #1
Pages: 304
Published by Kensington on April 25, 2023
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads

Fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Marie Benedict, Nita Prose, and of course, Julia Child, will adore this magnifique new mystery set in Paris and starring Julia Child’s (fictional) best friend, confidante, and fellow American. From the acclaimed author of Murder at Mallowan Hall , this delightful new book provides a fresh perspective on the iconic chef’s years in post-WWII Paris.
“Enchanting…Cambridge captures Child’s distinct voice and energy so perfectly. Expect to leave this vacation hoping for a return trip.” – Publishers Weekly
As Paris rediscovers its joie de vivre, Tabitha Knight, recently arrived from Detroit for an extended stay with her French grandfather, is on her own journey of discovery. Paris isn’t just the City of Light; it’s the city of history, romance, stunning architecture . . . and food. Thanks to her neighbor and friend Julia Child, another ex-pat who’s fallen head over heels for Paris, Tabitha is learning how to cook for her Grandpère and Oncle Rafe.
Between tutoring Americans in French, visiting the market, and eagerly sampling the results of Julia’s studies at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, Tabitha’s sojourn is proving thoroughly delightful. That is, until the cold December day they return to Julia’s building and learn that a body has been found in the cellar. Tabitha recognizes the victim as a woman she’d met only the night before, at a party given by Julia’s sister, Dort. The murder weapon found nearby is recognizable too—a knife from Julia’s kitchen.
Tabitha is eager to help the investigation, but is shocked when Inspector Merveille reveals that a note, in Tabitha’s handwriting, was found in the dead woman’s pocket. Is this murder a case of international intrigue, or something far more personal? From the shadows of the Tour Eiffel at midnight, to the tiny third-floor Child kitchen, to the grungy streets of Montmartre, Tabitha navigates through the city hoping to find the real killer before she or one of her friends ends up in prison . . . or worse.
“Part historical fiction, part mystery, Mastering the Art of French Murder is totally delectable entertainment.” – The Washington Post
“Certain to appeal to a broad readership, especially fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Rhys Bowen, and Cambridge’s own Phyllida Bright series.” –First Clue, STARRED REVIEW

My Review:

“Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper. Everything can have drama if it’s done right. Even a pancake.” So said the real Julia Child, whose larger-than-life fictional persona has barged into the life of her neighbor in Paris, fellow expat Tabitha Knight, just a few months before a murder in Julia’s building bangs into both of their lives.

It’s the murder of a very recent guest in the apartment shared by Julia, her husband Paul Child, her sister Dorothy (Dort) McWilliams on the “Roo de Loo” as Julia called it. A murder committed with one of Julia’s distinctive chef’s knives, making Julia, at least initially, the prime suspect in this tragedy.

But Julia is not the amateur sleuth – she was too busy with what became her lifelong obsession, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” as evidenced by the title of her first cookbook.

The amateur sleuthing is left to Tabitha Knight, a former “Rosie the Riveter” living across the street with her elderly French grandfather and her honorary “oncle”, his equally elderly best friend (and probably lover).

Tabitha and Julia have already bonded over their shared infatuation with French food and French cooking – the difference being that Julia is already extremely capable at that art while Tabitha is lucky not to burn or otherwise ruin the meals she attempts to make for her elderly ‘messieurs’ and their two spoiled pets, Oscar Wilde the tiny papillon dog and Madame X the slinky cat.

But the murder isn’t merely a curiosity for either of the women. The victim died just after leaving a party in Julia’s apartment, a guest of Julia’s sister Dort, killed by one of Julia’s knives. Tabitha rode down in the elevator with the woman, and was the last to speak with her other than her killer.

The police, in the steely-eyed persona of Inspecteur Merveille, seem convinced that either Julia or Tabitha committed the foul deed. Or so it seems to Tabitha, who grew up on a steady reading diet of Nancy Drew and other mystery stories as well as her police detective father brought home. Julia is just certain – and Julia was always certain if she was anything at all – that Tabitha will be able to solve the murder ahead of the police – and pushes her into trying.

Not that it takes much arm twisting to get Tabitha on the case. A case that leads from one murder, to a second, and a third – and even a first before the one that dragged Tabitha and Julia into the mess. A mess that, surprising to everyone but the two old men yearning for Julia’s cooking rather than Tabitha’s, leads back to the war late war in which they all, in their own way, served.

And the colder war that has just begun.

Escape Rating A: First, and most important, this was an absolutely charming, utterly lovely read as well as a captivating mystery. The way that evokes post-World War II Paris, just as the lights came back on in the City of Light draws the reader and keeps them mesmerized every step of Tabitha’s way.

And I could hear Julia Child’s voice in my head in every single bit of her dialog. She was such an iconic figure in the 60s and 70s, and so ubiquitous in seemingly EVERY promo that PBS broadcast during those decades, that even though I never watched any of her programs I STILL heard her distinctive voice every single time she barged into a scene. The character as fictionalized sounded and behaved very much as at least her public persona did and swept the reader along in her wake.

But Julia was not the star of this show, no matter how often she seemed to hold center stage in any individual scene. That honor – even if she didn’t always see it as an honor – was reserved for Julia’s fictional friend and neighbor, Tabitha Knight.

And Tabitha turned out to be a terrific point-of-view character for this story. She’s impish, impulsive and intelligent, and can’t resist being the fool who rushes into a crime scene where police have barred the way and angels rightfully fear to tread.

As much as the blurbs for this book invoke Jacqueline Winspear and her Maisie Dobbs, the character that Tabitha reminds this reader of is Mabel Canning in her first outing, A Body on the Doorstep. Both Tabitha and Mabel’s stories are set just after the ending of a World War, although not the same war, at a point where their worlds are changing and new possibilities are opening up even as others close down. Both young women choose to uproot themselves from the familiar and chart a new course for their lives, and are still in the exploratory stage of that new life and new opportunities.

And both have a fortunate knack – one that often seems unfortunate as it occurs – of tripping over murder victims and being unable to resist poking their own noses into investigations that should be left to the police.

At the same time, Tabitha’s post-war Paris is a place that, if given the opportunity at the right time, It’s almost impossible not to imagine taking that opportunity and running with it to a new life in a storied city just as it is coming back into its own after the darkness of war.

The secondary characters introduced in this first book do an excellent job of drawing the reader into and filling out the corners or Tabitha’s Paris, from her charming, elderly messieurs, their equally idiosyncratic pets, the even more idiosyncratic members of the Child household, to the implacable, unreadable Inspecteur Étienne Merveille, who looks like he will become both a thorn in Tabitha’s side – and vice versa – in the books ahead.

If not, perhaps, something more.

And then there’s Julia Child herself, much too boisterous to ever be considered merely a secondary character and certainly not a sidekick, who draws readers in with her true-to-life mannerism, her real, documented history working for the OSS in the war, and her larger-than-life presence on so many wonderful pages of this story.

The alchemy of all of the above makes this reader so very glad that a second book in this An American in Paris series, A Murder Most French, will be coming out in April. I’m anticipating its arrival with nearly as much pleasure as Tabitha’s messieurs look forward to their next delicious repast from the kitchen of Madame Child.

It’s impossible to leave this story behind without one final word from that famous chef. Fortunately for the fictional Julia Child, this quote postdates her post-War years by a considerable margin. If this had been attributed to her at the time, Tabitha might have had considerably more difficulty convincing the Inspecteur that Julia was not guilty of the murder.

According to Julia Child, “The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded, and whack the hell out of a chicken. Bon appétit.”

TLC

TLC tour schedule:

Monday, February 19th: @books_old_and_new

Tuesday, February 20th: @diveintoagoodbook

Tuesday, February 20th: @suethebookie

Wednesday, February 21st: @mrsj_readsbooks

Wednesday, February 21st: @dianas_books_cars_coffee

Thursday, February 22nd: @abookwormwithwine

Thursday, February 22nd: @amys_book_addiction

Friday, February 23rd: @bookapotamus

Friday, February 23rd: @bookgirlbrown_reviews

Saturday, February 24th: @nissa_the.bookworm

Sunday, February 25th: @pineshorelittlefreelibrary

Monday, February 26th: @donasbooks

Tuesday, February 27th: Reading Reality and @reading_reality

Wednesday, February 28th: @the.caffeinated.reader

Thursday, February 29th: @aneedleinmybookstack

Friday, March 1st: @oilycaffeinatedmama

Friday, March 1st: @whatkarinareads

Saturday, March 2nd: @cmtloveswineandbooks

Saturday, March 2nd: @ablueboxfullofbooks

Sunday, March 3rd: @lyon.brit.andthebookshelf