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geekwayne's review against another edition
3.0
'Grand Cru Heist'is the second in the Winemaker Detective series and the first book I've read in the series. Originally written and published in France, it has been translated so that an English reading audience can enjoy it, and it's a pretty good book.
When wine critic Benjamin Cooker is carjacked and assaulted. He's lost his car, but more importantly his wine notebook has also been taken. He leaves Paris for Tours for a rest and to recover. While there he meets an interesting British man travelling with a striking Eastern European woman. When she ends up dead, he tries to help out, but the local police would rather not have his assistance. Who is the mysterious man he left and can he be responsible for this murder? Can it be linked to the mysterious theft of Angelus wine?
At first, I found Cooker to be fussy and a little annoying, but he grew on me. When he got back to Paris and had his assistant Virgile along with him, it got better. The mystery was interesting, but the wine culture is what made this book. It definitely falls into the "cozy" mystery genre, but it's a good addition. I'll be looking forward to reading more in this series.
I was given a review copy of this ebook by Le French Book and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this book.
When wine critic Benjamin Cooker is carjacked and assaulted. He's lost his car, but more importantly his wine notebook has also been taken. He leaves Paris for Tours for a rest and to recover. While there he meets an interesting British man travelling with a striking Eastern European woman. When she ends up dead, he tries to help out, but the local police would rather not have his assistance. Who is the mysterious man he left and can he be responsible for this murder? Can it be linked to the mysterious theft of Angelus wine?
At first, I found Cooker to be fussy and a little annoying, but he grew on me. When he got back to Paris and had his assistant Virgile along with him, it got better. The mystery was interesting, but the wine culture is what made this book. It definitely falls into the "cozy" mystery genre, but it's a good addition. I'll be looking forward to reading more in this series.
I was given a review copy of this ebook by Le French Book and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this book.
kcfromaustcrime's review against another edition
5.0
It's hard not to become increasingly enamoured of this wonderful series of books (of which there are now 8 translated), based in the gloriously described wine regions of France, featuring the curmudgeonly, slightly arrogant, ever vigilant Benjamin Cooker, his assistant Virgile and wife Elisabeth. In THE GRAND CRU HEIST, sadly Elisabeth who is missing in action for much of the novel.
This story starts out with our renowned wine critic being bashed and robbed one night in Paris. Bad enough that the young, violent villains pinched his beloved Mercedes, but it contained his briefcase, which contained his tasting notes. A disaster of monumental proportions, outweighing the distress of his physical injuries. To recover, of course, Cooker heads to a wonderful Chateau hotel in the Tours region for rest, recuperation and wine.
Needless to say, his path quickly crosses with that of a murderer, when two people - the companion of a flamboyant British wine lover, and the concierge of his hotel both end up dead in quick succession. This leads to much conjecture on the possible connections between the victims. Cooker and Virgile, however, soon reunited with the missing Mercedes, are heading to Cooker's dear friend, Huber de Boüard, of Château Angélus fame, who has been the victim of a series of baffling wine burglaries followed by cryptic messages from the thieves.
The matter of murder is undoubtedly important, but the theft of valued wine stocks is also a national catastrophe as far as Cooker is concerned. But the resolution of both of these threads must be pursued in the correct manner, and the tasting and enjoying of various wine varieties along the way is of vital importance. It seems that Cooker thinks best when seated at a tasting table, or that of a much loved local eatery.
Cooker is wonderfully ambiguous - an insufferable know it all, astute observer and solver of many problems, there's a gentle side to him in THE GRAND CRU HEIST which is most touching. His poor assistant Virgile is very often put upon, and the commentary on food, other people, surroundings and everyone else is frequently hilarious, all very much part of the fun of these books. This series has proven to be enormously entertaining, and THE GRAND CRU HEIST, a very short novel, is up there with the rest of the series. Not just because, I hasten to clarify, it's impossible to read them without a glass of something (slightly more local) in your hand.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-grand-cru-heist-jean-pierre-alaux-no%C3%ABl-balen
This story starts out with our renowned wine critic being bashed and robbed one night in Paris. Bad enough that the young, violent villains pinched his beloved Mercedes, but it contained his briefcase, which contained his tasting notes. A disaster of monumental proportions, outweighing the distress of his physical injuries. To recover, of course, Cooker heads to a wonderful Chateau hotel in the Tours region for rest, recuperation and wine.
Needless to say, his path quickly crosses with that of a murderer, when two people - the companion of a flamboyant British wine lover, and the concierge of his hotel both end up dead in quick succession. This leads to much conjecture on the possible connections between the victims. Cooker and Virgile, however, soon reunited with the missing Mercedes, are heading to Cooker's dear friend, Huber de Boüard, of Château Angélus fame, who has been the victim of a series of baffling wine burglaries followed by cryptic messages from the thieves.
The matter of murder is undoubtedly important, but the theft of valued wine stocks is also a national catastrophe as far as Cooker is concerned. But the resolution of both of these threads must be pursued in the correct manner, and the tasting and enjoying of various wine varieties along the way is of vital importance. It seems that Cooker thinks best when seated at a tasting table, or that of a much loved local eatery.
Cooker is wonderfully ambiguous - an insufferable know it all, astute observer and solver of many problems, there's a gentle side to him in THE GRAND CRU HEIST which is most touching. His poor assistant Virgile is very often put upon, and the commentary on food, other people, surroundings and everyone else is frequently hilarious, all very much part of the fun of these books. This series has proven to be enormously entertaining, and THE GRAND CRU HEIST, a very short novel, is up there with the rest of the series. Not just because, I hasten to clarify, it's impossible to read them without a glass of something (slightly more local) in your hand.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-grand-cru-heist-jean-pierre-alaux-no%C3%ABl-balen
fictionfan's review against another edition
4.0
A pleasurable palate-cleanser…
When winemaker and critic Benjamin Cooker is brutally attacked and car-jacked one night in Paris, he feels he needs to take some time out of work to recover, so he heads for the Loire Valley where he can do a bit of wine-tasting while otherwise taking it easy. That’s the plan anyway, until one of the other guests at the hotel is murdered and the waiter disappears. Meantime one of Cooker’s friends in the wine business is being targeted with a series of anonymous letters from someone who appears to be stealing cases of his wine from different places. Suddenly Cooker and his assistant Virgile seem to be involved in two investigations…
This delightfully short book falls firmly into the category of ‘cosy’. There is a plot and an investigation, and there are a few darker moments around Cooker’s feelings of vulnerability after being attacked and the illness of Virgile’s sister. But these are all tucked comfortably into the spaces between the long leisurely meals, discussions of fine wine, post-prandial cigars and drooling over vintage cars with which Cooker fills his day.
This is the second in a series, though the first I’ve read, and both Cooker and Virgile are well-developed and likeable characters with whom it is a pleasure to spend some time. Cooker is middle-aged and happily married, with a temper but loyal to his friends, and with a zest for life that covers both his work and leisure time. Virgile is his young assistant, attractive and unattached, who is learning about the business and occasionally about life from the older man. The rest of the characters aren’t quite so well-developed, perhaps unsurprisingly in a book that comes in at around 150 pages; and the murder element of the plot is fairly easy to work out, though the other strand about the wine-thefts and letters is less straightforward. The quality of the writing is good as is the translation by Anne Trager.
I’m not going to pretend that this book counts as great literature – it’s not trying to be. But it’s a light, pleasurable read that works beautifully to cleanse the palate between heavier books. I’ve already downloaded one of the others in the series to have in reserve for the next time I need a quick pick-me-up – recommended.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Le French Book.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
When winemaker and critic Benjamin Cooker is brutally attacked and car-jacked one night in Paris, he feels he needs to take some time out of work to recover, so he heads for the Loire Valley where he can do a bit of wine-tasting while otherwise taking it easy. That’s the plan anyway, until one of the other guests at the hotel is murdered and the waiter disappears. Meantime one of Cooker’s friends in the wine business is being targeted with a series of anonymous letters from someone who appears to be stealing cases of his wine from different places. Suddenly Cooker and his assistant Virgile seem to be involved in two investigations…
This delightfully short book falls firmly into the category of ‘cosy’. There is a plot and an investigation, and there are a few darker moments around Cooker’s feelings of vulnerability after being attacked and the illness of Virgile’s sister. But these are all tucked comfortably into the spaces between the long leisurely meals, discussions of fine wine, post-prandial cigars and drooling over vintage cars with which Cooker fills his day.
This is the second in a series, though the first I’ve read, and both Cooker and Virgile are well-developed and likeable characters with whom it is a pleasure to spend some time. Cooker is middle-aged and happily married, with a temper but loyal to his friends, and with a zest for life that covers both his work and leisure time. Virgile is his young assistant, attractive and unattached, who is learning about the business and occasionally about life from the older man. The rest of the characters aren’t quite so well-developed, perhaps unsurprisingly in a book that comes in at around 150 pages; and the murder element of the plot is fairly easy to work out, though the other strand about the wine-thefts and letters is less straightforward. The quality of the writing is good as is the translation by Anne Trager.
I’m not going to pretend that this book counts as great literature – it’s not trying to be. But it’s a light, pleasurable read that works beautifully to cleanse the palate between heavier books. I’ve already downloaded one of the others in the series to have in reserve for the next time I need a quick pick-me-up – recommended.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Le French Book.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
attytheresa's review against another edition
2.0
Another light entry in the Benjamin Cooker wine maker series. Heist and mystery maybe too simplistic, but I did enjoy how easily taken in Cooker was by the conman, and how Virgile was suspicious from the beginning.
Read for the heist prompt in 2018 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge.
Read for the heist prompt in 2018 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge.
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