... this title will indulge you richly. It was categorically cinematic - each page plays out like a scene in the minds eye. Having just read some not-so-light novels, I was surprisingly just as interested in this light read, and rather enjoyed myself.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, which was my first introduction to Peter Mayle. It has caused me to go and purchase all of his other books...non-fiction as well. I think this would make a great movie, provided that the producers stuck to the manuscript.
This is a frothy, fun, food-filled adventure suspense story set in the authors deliciously described Provence along the Mediterranean littoral. An end-of-his-wits ex-pat Britisher accepts an innocuously luxurious job helping to dodge a rich crooks taxes and then his life turns potentially ugly. Mayle never realizes the ugliness; despite the ominous events no one is actually damaged, for the tone and intent is an appetizing entertainment rather than engrossing suspense. The villains are sinister and smooth, the locals are crotchety, while the victims are an engaging couple in love and on the run...and as larcenous at heart as any of the crooks and cops. Peter Mayle has an urbane light touch, almost tongue-in-cheek, but precisely expressed in crystal-clear prose and well-turned with finely crafted sentences. The pb is pleasant to hold, with a flexible letherette feel and generous typography, a true trade pb rather than a pulp novel, although ultimately no more satisfying than a meal of meringue.
