Murder in a French Village (2023) by Merryn Allingham (Flora Steele Mystery #7)

Thanks to Bookouture publisher and NetGalley for providing me a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

💙 The seventh instalment of Flora Steele Mystery series - a cozy mysteries set on the 1950s - follows another sleuthing adventure of Flora and Jack Carrington, this time farther away from their little village of Abbeymead. Flora is a bookshop owner, while Jack is a crime writer, and through the previous six books they had been both partners in crime and, ahem... a couple in the making.

💙 The story opens when two women were crossing the busy street of Paris, when a black car suddenly jumped from a traffic light queue, hit one of them to death, then drove away. The survived woman is none other than Sybil Carrington, Jack's estranged mother. She summoned Jack to come to Paris, as she's convinced the incident was a deliberate murder, and SHE was the intended target.

💙 Stunned but intrigued, Jack left for France, accompanied by Flora, who has her own unfinished business of solving the mystery of her parents' tragic death in France when she was a kid.

💙 Sybil lives in Provence with a wealthy Italian count called Massimo Falconi. Lately she's been a victim of various incidents, which she claims, done by the count's family, who want her to leave him. Is this true? Or is it just a woman's paranoia? And Sybil's friend's death, is it not pure accident?

💙 Staying at the count's chateau in a small village in Provence, Flora and Jack feel the hostile atmosphere of the household. Then small incidents start to happen. Even Jack and Flora are now targeted for some of them. Are they just coincidences? Or is there a murderer lurking inside the chateau? And what is the motive? Jealousy from the ex-wife? Or inheritance?

💙 This was my second read of the series. I've read the first one: The Bookshop Murder in June, which I loved very much, and ready to read more. But ever since, I couldn't find any e-book of the rest (book 2 to 6). I don't know why, but it's pretty annoying! I wish the publisher Bookouture would soon make the digital edition available.

💙 Anyway, Murder in a French Village is a very engaging read. First of all, due to several minor incidents that scattered along the story, we are provided with a handful of suspects. Moreover, with each incident, more clues are revealed itself. It was exciting to keep guessing who could have done this and that, as we know little by little. more secrets of everyone. Then another thing would happen, that the one we were currently suspecting couldn't have done it, so we suspected another one, and so on. Each suspect is equally explored, which made it more difficult to guess whodunnit until the climax. At least, I couldn't guess, though I have suspected the murderer earlier, along with the others.

💙 I also love how Allingham explores Flora's personal struggle about her late parents. It adds a deeper touch to this cozy mystery, and made me connected more with Flora and Jack. Speaking of the couple, I love how their relationship also develops along the story. I loved them from book one, they have a strong chemistry from the start.

💙 Although I would've preferred the mystery to be set in Abbeymead - a cozy mystery in a cozy English village is always superb, n'est pas? - it is probably quite refreshing (and necessary for the series development) to see Flora and Jack going abroad and have more time with each other alone. Now I can't wait to read the next book, which, judging from an exciting news that came in the end, would most probably be set in Abbeymead, with a literary touch! I miss seeing Flora riding Becky (her bike) to deliver books to her customers, or Jack typing manuscript for his next book!

Rating: 4,5 / 5


**The Murder in a French Village (Flora Steele Mystery #7) will be published on 30th October 2023.