I really didn't expect to enjoy this book since I mostly only listened to it because it was available. I found myself looking forward to listening to it, though. ( )

This is a great start to a new series! Tabitha is happily living in Paris with her grandfather and "uncle". She has also made friends with Julia Child, and Julia includes Tabitha while she cooks meals. Tabs's gentlemen love that, as Tabs is not a great cook. After a party at Julia's, theatre friends invited by Julia's sister, Dort, a dead body is found. Tabs makes it her mission to investigate, although the inspector repeatedly warns against it. Everyone at the theatre is a suspect. Due to the coat check girl's death, Tabs fills in. Handsome doctor, Mark, helps her some nights. But there are additional murders, and even Tabs is in danger.
This is a new mystery series with enough clues to help you decipher the mystery. I also liked the humor! ( )

Tabitha Knight has recently arrived from Detroit to stay with her French grandfather in Paris. Between tutoring Americans in French, visiting the market, and eagerly sampling the results of her new friend Julia Child’s studies at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, Tabitha has been enjoying her new life. When the body of a woman Tabitha just met is found, she becomes determined to keep herself and her friends free of suspicion.

This was my first time ‘reading’ this author. The 1950’s is not usually a time period I read, but the description of this book caught my attention. The narrator and author caught the high energy of Julia Child, though I will admit I found the constant food references a little tedious. Tabitha herself was an interesting main character.

The plot was interesting, though I did guess the ending early on. I did think the motivation for Tabitha to investigate herself was a little weak. Inspector Merveille was a character I would have liked to know more about. Hopefully, in future books, the reader will learn more about him.

My one criticism was that the constant “everything is better in Paris than in America” was tedious. Otherwise, the pacing was great and the details were delightful.

Readers who enjoy mysteries and fiction set in the 1950’s will no doubt enjoy this one. I received a free copy through NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. ( )

1949. Paris, France.

Tabitha Knight is enjoying her extended visit with Maurice Saint-Léger and Rafe Fautrier. Luckily for the young woman, her dearly loved grandfather and honorary uncle, their neighbors are Paul and Julia Child. Julia not only wants to share the results of her studies at Le Cordon Bleu with her neighbors, but she is also determined to teach Tabitha the preparation of delectable food. Daily life is interrupted as an investigation of a woman's death in their apartment building leads Inspector Merveille to Julia's kitchen and not for food tasting.

I loved every feature of this historical mystery! The novel captures the period highlighting Paul and Julia Child's residence in Paris with historical events. It is a culinary delight of historical tribute to Julia Child discovering her joy of cooking and is a delectable treat from market excursions to item selections to meal preparations. The story immerses the reader's imagination in what it might have been like to be Paul and Julia Child's neighbors enjoying daily life in friendship. Whether in their apartments or together, each meal was relished with good food and conversation. The mystery of the investigation against the backdrop of the local theater had twists and turns, building suspense and red herrings. Although I guessed the perpetrator, I didn't have the motive missing the earlier clue, so I felt caught in the web.

As a chef prepares a menu with care and creativity, so has the author created her masterpiece worthy of the highest star Michelin star equivalent for writers. I wish I had more than 5 stars to award as a book reviewer.

I encourage readers to enjoy the author's Historical Note at the novel's end.

The author published this novel using a pen name. The author published this novel using a pen name. I'm sharing the link to the author's website so you can investigate names used for her writing in multiple genres too! https://www.colleengleason.com/

A special thanks to Author, Debra Borchert and Le Vin Press. At the end of "Her Own Revolution," there was a link to Parisian Page Turners with the feature of the "Current Page Turner…" leading me to add "Mastering the Art of French Murder" to my tbr list. I am pleased to recommend the novel to all who love Paris and will be captivated by "Americans in Paris." I eagerly await more of this series. ( )

This cozy mystery sounded better than it was. How fun that it features chef-in-training Julia Child in 1950s Paris with her (fictional) American friend and neighbor Tabitha Knight. I enjoyed the evocative descriptions of the buildings, the streets, the food, the smells and sounds of the iconic city. The premise is set early when a young woman is found killed with Julia’s chef’s knife and Tabitha feels compelled to clear Julia’s name and find the murderer even though the police inspector orders her to stay out of it and leave the crime-solving to the police.

The rest of the novel consists of Tabitha’s efforts to ignore the inspector, track down clues and find the killer, with one person after another being murdered. This drama is juxtaposed with descriptions of the food Julia is preparing and sharing with Tabitha and the grandfather and uncle she lives with.

I have no tolerance for a foolish amateur detective who continually takes risks and puts herself in danger, especially when it would be so easy (and sensible) to take her findings to the police and let them do their job. But Tabitha finds herself hiding in the murdered woman’s apartment when someone else enters, nearly being run over while riding on her bicycle, asking questions of potential suspects that put her in jeopardy, and creeping closer to see who is in the darkened theater instead of escaping when she has the chance.

This novel is written in the style of those silly insulting cozies. Julia Child is portrayed as a parody of herself, the amateur sleuth is an airheaded young woman who ends up solving the murders despite her carelessness. And she is saved from the murderers at the last minute by the French inspector from whom she has been withholding clues throughout the story.

I was disappointed because the elements for a good story were there – Paris, Julia Child, cooking, a murder mystery – but I won’t be reading any more of the (promised) series. I can’t recommend this. ( )