Take a former worker at the Willow Run bomber plant. Send her to visit her French grandfather in Paris after WWII. Then have her make friends with Julia Child and set up both women as suspects in a murder. Bake at 350 for a couple of hours and you have the recipe for a delicious new series starter. If you have watched "Julie & Julia," then you already have scenes in your memory of Julia Child in the small kitchen of her Paris apartment. This delightful mystery adds a fictional neighbor who is also an American, and then drops both women into the middle of a murder investigation.
It is 1949 and Tabitha Knight has come to Paris to stay with her grandfather. Tabitha works as a language tutor, a job she is uniquely qualified for because of her mother's French heritage. But when she and Julia are questioned over the discovery of a body in the basement of Julia's apartment building, life becomes much more complicated. "We're reasonably smart women," she tells Julia, "Let's figure this out ourselves." The woman was found with Tabitha's name and address in her pocket and one of Julia's kitchen knives nearby. Doesn't it seem that the women have plenty of motivation to solve the crime?
The story is filled with details of Paris as it recovers from World War II; the markets, the American community of diplomats, the theater, and the distrust of authority still felt by many after their time under German occupation. Facts about Julia's life also ground the narrative in its historical setting - her lessons at Le Cordon Bleu, her husband's work at the U.S. Embassy, and her sister Dort for instance. The action ranges from conversations in Julia's kitchen while she prepares omelets to stumbling across a dead body in an alley (yes, another body). Tense moments of searching for clues and confronting suspects are leavened with humorous scenes of Julia bemoaning her failure to make a satisfactory mayonnaise.
Whether you love stories set in Paris, foodie descriptions of preparing a chicken, or the idea of a former "Rosie the riveter" deciding to find a murder suspect, this promises to be the start of a wonderful new series. I read an advance copy provided by the publisher for review purposes.
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