Book Review: Death and Croissants by Ian Moore

This first novel in a new series from author and comedian Ian Moore is such a fluffy treat!

Richard Ainsworth is a bit of a sad sack. Having retired from his previous career in England to run a bed and breakfast in the bucolic Loire Valley, he now finds himself sans wife and adult daughter—both of whom have opted to stay in the United Kingdom. The formidable Madame Tablier helps keep the inn tidy for Richard, but his main feminine companions are his beloved laying hens, named after the bygone film actresses he’d once devoted his life to studying.

In general, Richard is not a bad innkeeper. But neither this unexpected competency nor his lifelong love of film noir have prepared him at all for a bloody handprint left on the wall in the wake of a disappearing guest. Madame Tablier seems more put out by the extra cleaning work this makes for her than by anything else, but another guest, the dashing Valérie d’Orçay, immediately suspects foul play. She confesses to Richard that the missing guest had confided in her that someone was hunting him. She had not taken him seriously, and now worries she might have been able to prevent harm from coming to him if she had.

Despite Richard’s protests, he’s soon swept along with her as she, an avowedly bored widow with an overactive sense of curiosity, drags him along to investigate. But as the stakes rise and they find themselves in danger, he attempts to put his foot down on their snooping, prompting the mercurial Valérie to chide him:

“Maybe it would do you good to actually live a life rather than just watch a load of silly old films about it!”

 

“Oh really? You know the advantage of watching silly old films, Madame d’Orçay? They don’t kill you! They don’t torture you; watching Singin’ in the Rain of an evening isn’t going to get me buried in the desert!”

 

She looked disappointed but put her hand gently on his arm. “I think also it would do us both good.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Richard had the distinct impression that he had somehow managed to gain two wives and both were overtly, terminally disappointed in him. Or worse, trying to improve him.

The dialog throughout this novel is snappy and effervescent as the unlikely detecting duo chases murder suspects through the French countryside. As the story progresses, readers gain a window into the unexpected personal and professional lives of our two protagonists, with clear homages to classic films and TV series. In particular, Richard’s domestic life or lack thereof is played for laughs. While he’s clearly not the most enlightened, modern fellow, Valérie’s responses to his occasional bouts of ridiculousness make it very clear that we’re meant to laugh at Richard almost as often as we laugh with him.

For all that, there is definitely thought and sensitivity invested in fleshing out who he is and why he’s so ready to get involved with Valérie’s sleuthing instead of leaving the case to the local authorities. His past experiences with both sides of the law, while few and far between, have left a lasting impression:

He’d once had to plead for leniency to a magistrate to avoid a driving ban and, on the other side, he’d once wandered into the wrong East End pub on the day of a gangland funeral.  He’d found the experience with the magistrate far more intimidating. He was made to feel like a criminal for having exceeded a motorway speed limit at two in the morning driving through unmanned roadworks yet made to feel welcome like a member of the family by weeping London hoodlums. Richard wasn’t a huge fan of certainty and didn’t easily trust people who had no doubts, and the law, as far as we was concerned, required conviction and absolutism, the naked “I’m going to do this no matter what,” like a drunk karaoke stalwart, plowing on regardless.

Funny, twisty and with delightful descriptions of its characters as well as more than one Loire Valley landmark, Death and Croissants is just the novel for anyone wanting a bit of springtime escapist reading. Combining farce with travelog and mystery, this is a winning recipe with which to start off a series of light-hearted cozy capers.