Title:	Minced, Marinated, and Murdered: A French Culinary Mystery (Gourmet Crimes Book 1)
	Author:	Noël Balen and Vanessa Barrot and translated by Anne Tragor
	Published:	February 20, 2018, Le French Book
	No. of Pages:	200
	Cover Price:	$16.95 Paperback, $.99 Kindle

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For Francophiles and lovers of French food, the first novel in the Gourmet Crimes series is a welcome treat. Minced, Marinated, and Murdered, by Noël Balen (who is co-author of the popular Winemaker Detective Series) and Vanessa Barrot, introduces Laure Grenadier, an acclaimed food writer and managing editor of a popular food magazine, Plaisirs de Table, and Paco Alvarez, her photographer. The pair travel from Paris to Lyon by train to do an article for the magazine. As soon as they arrive, they learn that a bouchon (small restaurants that have been passed down from family members to other family members) owner, who happens to be a good friend of Laure, was recently murdered at his restaurant after hours. The next evening, another popular bouchon owner is also murdered in the same manner as Laure’s friend, and Laure fears that this is a serial killer at work.

Laure and Paco begin to investigate to help the police, and put themselves in danger. During the course of the story, they visit several other bouchons, and readers are treated to descriptions of gourmet French dishes – some that sound mouthwatering and some that sound absolutely disgusting (oh, the life of a gourmet!).

The authors are good storytellers, and the translation is excellent, so readers will have a good understanding of the story. The characters are quite well developed, and also likeable. They have a foreign aura, which makes reading this novel a bit different from the norm. The authors capture the French ambience and readers will feel they are actually in France.

Minced, Marinated, and Murdered is definitely a fun and fast read. Anyone who loves food, loves things French, and loves culinary mysteries will enjoy this book.

Special thanks to the editors of Le French Book for supplying a review copy of this book.