The Corsican Caper

Readers who want to engage by proxy in the lives of Europe’s mega-wealthy will best appreciate this frothy bit of fun from bestseller Mayle, his third novel featuring Sam Levitt (after 2012’s The Marseille Caper). Billionaire Francis Reboul owns the Palais du Pharo, which was “originally built for Napoleon III” and is “the biggest private residence in Marseille, and the most glamorous.” Russian businessman Oleg Vronsky, accustomed to getting whatever he desires by fair means or foul, covets the Palais du Pharo, which Reboul has no interest in selling. Vronsky’s machinations and Reboul’s responses, mostly engineered by his American detective friend, Sam Levitt, who is conveniently visiting, provide the slender framework for Mayle to send his characters on outings to a variety of eating establishments around Provence and Corsica. Those who find the excess a bit much may struggle to invest concern in the nominal suspense. Agent: Ernest Chapman, Escargot Productions (U.K.). (Apr.)