Review: Stranded in Provence Mysteries by Susan Kiernan-

Last week, I read Stranded in Provence, Books 1-3, by Susan Kiernan-Lewis.

The 3 books in the box set are:

Parlez-Vous Murder?

Crime and Croissants

Accent on Murder.

Personal Note

I'm embarrassed to admit I've had that box set more than a year. I'm so far behind in reading that I decided to make time to read every evening instead of simply collapsing, too tired to do anything.

I 'm delighted that I chose Stranded in Provence, Books 1-3 to take immediate action on my 2021 goal of reading more every single week!

About Stranded in Provence: The Blurb

Ever wonder what you’d do if someone pushed the re-set button on the world?The Stranded in Provence Mysteries tell the story of an American woman on vacation in the south of France when the unthinkable happens. After a dirty bomb explodes over the Riviera she finds herself stranded in a French village where daily life is essentially sent reeling back to the 1950s.

So now forget solving crimes with DNA or accessing massive criminal databases. Likewise forget worrying about international terrorism, because that’s now gone too. But you can also forget spending hours on your smartphone, tablet, computer or even TV set.

On the other hand, the bistros are all still open, the produce and cheese markets still run every morning, bicycles dominate the wide avenues instead of cars, and for a budding amateur sleuth and now permanent ex-pat, any murders she stumbles across will have to be solved the old-fashioned way—with brain power and shoe leather.

Oh, and it turns out that romance still works the same as before too.

My Two Cents

I confess to being a bit of a Francophile, but these books should appeal to any reader who enjoys a quirky, but likable, heroine in stories that are delightfully different.

Jules, our plucky heroine, ends up stuck in France when the worst thing possible happens. there's not much worse than a dirty bomb that kills all of our technology! But Jules is plucky and funny in a self-deprecating sort of way.

The author's voice makes Jules likeable even though she at first may seem self-absorbed, even a bit selfish. She's a young woman who wasn't really close to anyone, not even her mother. It seems the designer-label name dropper has perhaps one friend back home.

When the world changes, it becomes obvious to the reader that Jules is putting together a family with the oddball—totally wonderful—secondary characters in the book. Great premise. Great stories! 

Takeaway Truth

I'm hooked. On to A Bad Éclair Day: A French Country Village Culinary Mystery (Stranded in Provence Mysteries Book 4).