Grand Cru Heist (2004) by Jean-Pierre Alaux & Noël Balen
Benjamin Cooker, renowned wine critic, is waylaid while on a trip to Paris. He is beaten and his prized classic Mercedes is hijacked. But as upset as he is about the stolen car, he is more upset about the briefcase with his wine-tasting notebook which held years' worth all the wines he had tasted the world over. He is sure he will never see any of his possessions again. He is sent to the Tours region to recover where he meets a suave Englishman a car even better than a Mercedes. Cooker has always wanted a Morgan Plus 8--or at least to ride in one. So he makes friends with Sir Robert Morton and fulfills his dream.
While Cooker is in Tours a series of thefts involving priceless Grand cru wines takes place. The wines belong to a friend of Cooker. And the very night that Morton leaves the hotel the young woman with whom he had arrived (and who had packed up and left while he and Cooker were out joy-riding) is found strangled. This discovery is followed by the apparent suicide of the concierge--a young man who Cooker had made friends with. The police believe it to be an easy case--Gaetan, the concierge, had strangled the woman and then killed himself in a fit of remorse. But Cooker doesn't believe it and points out a few inconsistencies to the police. But if not Gaetan, then who--and why? Cooker and his assistant Virgile manage to answer those questions as well as help their friend Boüard get to the bottom of the wine thefts. Oh...and Cooker gets his Mercedes and the notebook back intact too!
This is a perfectly fine little story. Most interesting for the locale and the interesting tidbits about wine. I also really enjoyed Cooker and Virgile and their working relationship. There is, however, no great complex mystery. For one, there just aren't really a lot of suspects to sift through. It's not difficult to figure out whodunnit. Definitely more of a comfort read than an intellectual puzzle. My biggest question is--did the culprit just happen to be in Tours at the same time as Cooker or was it planned? And if was planned, how did they know he'd be there? ★★★
First line: Paris finally returned to its splendor at dusk.
Last lines: "A miracle, yes," Hubert de Boüard said "But also a blessing."
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Deaths = 3 (two strangled; one drowned)
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