A Twist of Orchids: A Death in the Dordogne Mystery [Hardcover]

Michelle Wan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Death in the Dordogne Mystery | Publication Date: April 13, 2010

“Cross-pollinates Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief with Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence.”—The Washington Post Book World on Deadly Slipper

 

In this electrifying third installment of the highly acclaimed Death in the Dordogne series, Mara Dunn and Julian Wood are living together in an uneasy, on-and-off way—so uneasy that each begins to wonder if they are really meant to be together. But when Julian, with his unerring understanding of the orchidlover’s mind, thinks he has found the link between a killer and a local murder, one of them might lose the other—permanently.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Any mystery writer who can elicit outrage over the use of orchids to produce the Turkish answer to Viagra can persuade readers of just about anything. In this third installment of Wan’s acclaimed Death in the Dordogne series, she sets herself the difficult task of persuading contemporary, CSI-bred readers that a landscape gardener and orchid enthusiast (Julian Wood) and his girlfriend (Mara Dunn), who specializes in interior design, also possess a knack for solving crimes. As a duo, they are a throwback to Lord Peter Wimsey, but once disbelief is suspended, they prove entertaining and witty. They operate in a tiny village within a region that Wan brings vividly alive—the Dordogne in southwestern France. This landscape, the conversation between Wood and Dunn, and the meals they enjoy help readers forget the unlikelihood of their detective work. In the latest serving of orchid lore and murder, a body found in the ruins of the ancient Roman temple of Vesunna is linked to the illegal selling of salep, an aphrodisiac dependent on the harvesting of 30 million orchids a year. Great for atmosphere and orchid lore. --Connie Fletcher

About the Author

A Twist of Orchids is MICHELLE WAN’s third novel in the Death in the Dordogne series; previous titles include Deadly Slipper and The Orchid Shroud. She lives in Ontario, Canada.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (April 13, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312549946
• ISBN-13: 978-0312549947
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,457,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable amateur sleuth, April 17, 2010

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Twist of Orchids: A Death in the Dordogne Mystery (Hardcover)

In Dordgone, France, English orchid expert Julian Wood and French-Canadian interior designer Mara Dunn love one another but struggle with relational accommodations as both are set in their ways. Especially troublesome to Mara is Julian's obsessive annual hunt for the rare Lady's Slipper orchid.

As the couple struggles with compromise, Kazim, son of Turkish sweet shop bakery owners, sees a woman fall to her death from the balcony of the Two Sisters restaurant. Mara is shocked with her neighbor octogenarian Amelie Gaillard's dying from what everyone assumes was an accident, but even more shocking is that the victim's daughter Christine failed to come to the funeral or assist her Parkinson's ailing dad Joseph with his grief. Soon afterward, Kazim is missing and his parents plead with Julian to search for him. As Mara looks into Galliard family secrets, she finds herself involved with the rhyming thefts while Julian's investigation has him allied with a drug dealer.

The third Death in Dordgone amateur sleuth mystery (see Deadly Slipper and The Orchid Shroud) is an enjoyable dueling investigative tale. The lead couple's personal issues as a new middle aged couple trying to adapt to living with a lover are amusing though extremely minor especially compared with the deep look at Muslims living in France. Fans of French modern day mysteries will enjoy A Twist of Orchids as neither of the lead couple finds their inquiry as simple as expected; almost as hard as they discover living with another adult.

Harriet Klausner

5.0 out of 5 stars A mystery with a great setting, May 1, 2010

By 

T. Elberson "T. Elberson" (Lafayette, LA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Twist of Orchids: A Death in the Dordogne Mystery (Hardcover)

Enjoyed this mystery set in the Dordogne region of France. Makes me want to go and hunt orchids. The countryside sounds wonderful. I enjoyed the characters and the pace of the story. A winning series! Can't wait for the next one. My only question is why they use pictures of tropical orchids and not Cypripediums on the covers of the American editions of her titles. Some of us know the difference!