M. L Longworth

"A museum director walks into work one morning to discover that the entire collection of porcelain, old documents, and paintings is gone. He calls the local police, and examining magistrate Antoine Verlaque sets out to learn the thief's identity. Verlaque wonders if this could have something to do with the recent robbery of Madame de Montbarbon's apartment. He is distracted by the impending of birth of his first child with his wife, Marine Bonnet....

"Beguiling. Longworth evokes the pleasures of France in delicious detail--great wine, delicious meals, and fine company."--Publishers Weekly When a scandalous author moves to the outskirts of Aix-en-Provence, Verlaque and Bonnet are called in to investigate whether he's haunted by more than just his past, in this delightful new mystery from M.L. Longworth One hot summer night, Aix-en-Provence is aflutter with news that controversial author Valere...

Chef Sigisbert "Bear" Valets has just opened his own restaurant, La Fontaine, in Aix-en-Provence. It's an immediate success-glowing reviews and a loyal clientele, including our favorite investigative duo, Verlaque and Bonnet. But when he decides to extend his restaurant's seating into a historic courtyard, some very powerful neighbors are against him. The local historical society wants the courtyard, which witnessed a seventeenth-century hanging and...

"A friend in his cigar club asks Antoine to visit René Rouquet, a retired postal worker who has found a rolled-up canvas in his apartment. As the apartment once belonged to Cézanne, Rouquet is convinced he's discovered a treasure. But when Antoine arrives at the apartment, he finds René dead, the canvas missing, and a mysterious art history professor standing over the body. When the painting is finally recovered, the mystery only deepens. The brushwork...