A month ago or so my husband and I opened a new mystery series on Britbox: Murder in Provence. Sadly the first season has only three episodes, but we are hoping for another season. It was most enjoyable.

As we watched I had a feeling I had known these stories before. And indeed I discovered I had read the first novel in this series by M. L. Longworth. I re-read that first one and am now on number 4 of 9. (Number 10 is coming out in October – hooray!)

The main characters, Antoine Verlaque, and his partner Marine Bonnet, are very well-drawn, and their relationship forms an important part of each novel. Through their stories of their families and friends, we learn a lot about the very interesting culture of Provence and of life in France generally. Her descriptions of landscape, food, and wine are amazing! I really like authors who set books in specific places and use real names of streets and landmarks. (There is one Seattle author I won’t read because the books are clearly set in Seattle but the very obvious streets are given different names and it just doesn’t work for me.)

This is a very enjoyable series, and I highly recommend it. Here is book 1: