Customer Reviews

Coq Au Vin (Nanette Hayes Mysteries)

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This has the promise of being a great series. I didn't enjoy it as much as the the first book, Rhode Island Red, but Nanette Hayes is a hoot and a half. Can't wait for the next one!

This fast-moving yet thoughtful mystery is refreshing on a number of levels, in particular because the crime solver isn't a middle-aged white guy who cracks wise about the same topics as every other detective in American crime fiction. Other plusses are the Paris setting and the interesting peek into the world of black musicians over the past several decades. Give this one a whirl; it's worth your time.

Here is a book that is quick on a good evening and won't totally bog the reader with a lot of filler. Nanette Hayes, on request of her mother, goes in search for her idol, Aunt Vivian, who seem to have left a couple of cryptic messages with mom. On route of searching, she is derailed by playing sax on street corners, meeting her male antagonist, who will be her lover, dirty dives, and a hotel room where her aunt resided. A duffel bag, one hundred dollars in a jacket pocket, and a picture of a old jazz musician puts her and her new conquest on the search, and somehow leads her to the missing relative, along with the drama and danger that comes along. Straight to the point and humerous, Nanette is a heroine that will charm you and a story that will keep you turning the pages.

Move over Kinsey and V.I--here comes Nanette Hayes, the most interesting female protagonist in a mystery I've come across in a long time! Charlotte Carter has a razor-sharp ear for dialogue, and many lines had me laughing out loud. Nanette is sharp, witty, and, like the rest of us, screwed up--and a heck of a sax player to boot! Mark my words--Charlotte Carter is definitely a talent to watch.

In the disco seventies, Aunt Viv was saxophonist Nanette Hayes role model and heroine. Before disappearing in Paris, Viv taught Nan that life was worth living to the fullest. So when her mother asks her to find her missing aunt after receiving a telegram pleading for help, Nan rushes to Paris on a quest.

However, Nan seems to have vanished, leaving behind a suitcase filled with clues including a con and a murder. Meanwhile, Viv relishes her tour of her favorite city. Making it even more fun for Viv is her meeting with fellow musician and American expatriate Andre. The twosome plays a mean "You Took Advantage of Me." Though her love life has picked up, Nan's work as an amateur sleuth seems to be going no where except into danger.

Readers will be singing the praise of the second appearance of Nanette Hayes. Like RHODE ISLAND RED before it, COQ AU VIN is a fun mystery because of the enthusiastic Nan. Jazz and Paris feel like characters as they add much to the moving plot. Crafty Charlotte Carter proves that her debut was no fluke as she is a major talent.

Harriet Klausner

Charlotte Carter's absorbing Coq au Vin is a witty, erotic and moving love song to Paris and its "glamorous black past" of jazz musicians, singers, and artists. Sax-playing New Yorker Nanette Hayes is on a mission in her beloved Paris to find her missing free-spirited aunt. Nanette finds hot sex and romance first, and big trouble second, confirming her fear that she brings doom to those she cares about. While the mystery is slight, Coq au Vin's romantic comedy is the real deal, and so is the serious heartbreak.

Nanette Hayes is a young, free-spirited, artist. As far as her mother knows she is a teacher, but really Nanette floats by as a musician surviving off of the gigs that she has acquired. All of her life Nanette has admired her aunt Vivian, who has lived the "free" lifestyle that Nan so desires. One day Nan receives a disturbing phone call from her mother and finds out that her aunt Vivian may be in Paris, in serious trouble. Nan's mother has the brilliant idea that Nan should take off of "work" to go and rescue her aunt. Despite the circumstances, this is probably the best news that Nan has heard in a long time.
Initially, the book began a little slow. It was a little difficult to determine the direction that the story would take. My interest was piqued once Nan landed in Paris and began her adventure. It was exciting how the same man that Nan had a disagreement with turned out to be the love of her life, even if only for a moment. The romance that they shared seemed to overshadow Nan's purpose for traveling, but it made for an enjoyable read. Most of the action took place when Nan and Andre, her love interest, searched together for Nan's aunt and anyone she may have been associated with. The characters they met along the way were interesting to say the least. While neither the book, nor Nan's romance ended the way that I would have desired, the book was a true mystery. Complete with murder, motive, and money this is definitely a page turner for the sleuth in you.