A Murder Most French

Cambridge’s second in her charming cozy-adjacent series (following Mastering the Art of French Murder) picks up where the first left off, with American expat Tabitha Knight, best friend of Julia Child, still struggling to cook palatable food and involved in the caseload of inspector Merveille, he of the penetrating stares and ocean-gray eyes. After helping Merveille solve an earlier case and barely escaping with her life, Tabs is once again cast among the murderous when she is an eyewitness to a poisoning by wine. Set in Paris a few years after the end of World War II, the story conveys the devastation of the Nazi occupation of France, looking particularly at the Nazis’ theft of wine. Some bottles survive however, and someone is using them to kill the best chefs in the city. Tabs, often with Julia’s help, is on the case, using her skills, wits, and bravery to track a killer who wants to kill her.