Murderous Mistral: A Provence Mystery

Peter Mayle fans will welcome this promising series launch from German author Rademacher (The Murderer in Ruins). Solving a political corruption case earns Paris gendarme Roger Blanc a punitive transfer to the south of France. His wife remains in Paris with her lover as Blanc moves into a decrepit house in Sainte-Françoise-la-Vallée and joins the tiny hamlet’s police force. The resentful commandant partners him with Marius Tonon, an alcoholic underachiever obsessed with a 20-year-old killing. When the suspect from that case is discovered shot and burned in a garbage dump, Blanc and Tonon take on the investigation, supervised by a judge who happens to be the wife of the minister who arranged Blanc’s transfer. As the seasonal mistral blows through the parched countryside, wounded hero Blanc and his unlikely sidekick navigate political and social minefields in pursuit of a ruthless killer. The appealing locale, pervaded by the scent of wild thyme, and the charming residents of Sainte-Françoise-la-Vallée make up for some uneven pacing. (Sept.)