Customer Reviews

Monsieur Pamplemousse Rests His Case

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This is a charming, "perfect murder" mystery, with a serious flaw.
It also demands certain prior experiences by the consumer.

The serious flaw is discontinuities, but not in the sense of the minor
details such as the character in the background is smoking a cigarette
and in the next scene he is lighting it. Here we have major gaps.
Our hero is sought by the police and locked in a room, with his hands
cuffed behind his back. Then he is cruising down the highway. It felt
like watching every other episode of a "Perils of Pauline" serial.

The story is amusing. There are many smiles and some grins waiting for you.
There are no plot or character similarities, but I was reminded of an old
film, "Mr. Hulot's Holiday."

Some food mysteries have recipes, some don't. This one does not.

The story includes French lessons. Many food, wine, and cooking terms
are given in French, as are a number of other nouns. Most are obvious
in the context, or made clear in the next few sentences. Most do not
matter to the plot -- Oh, thats a kind of wine, for example.
But they do interrupt the story while you try to determine if you need
to know the translation.

I suspect that it would be easier to deal with the French in the book
rather than the audiobook.

Overall, it was good enough to send me back for another of Michael Bond's
"Mr. Grapefruit" series, but I'll try reading it instead of listening to it.