The French Bookshop Murder by Greg Mosse

Discover a book about a British woman who moves to France to run a bookshop and stumbles upon a dead body. Was it a 'Oui' or a 'Non' from this reviewer?

The French Bookshop Murder* was a disappointing read. From the title and the blurb, I'd hoped it would be a murder mystery set in France around a bookshop.

The story does have those three elements. But most of the book was focused on Zoe Pascal moving to France to run a bookshop.

The murder was a minor part.

As a 'fish out of water' story, it's a gentle, meandering tale. There are copious descriptions of the French village, Sainte-Catherine, the surrounding countryside, the food and the reactions of the local inhabitants to the incomer.

But as a murder mystery, the pacing is glacially slow.

It takes some time before the murder occurs and Zoe's decision to start asking questions comes even later. As a result, the 'murder investigation' is virtually non-existent.

You're introduced to many villagers and each is well-crafted with detailed back stories. They are probably the most interesting part of the story. What's odd is that the one character with little definition is Zoe herself.

Apart from discovering that she's the half-sister/friend of Maisie Cooper (from the author's other series of books), used to work in musical theatre and had a difficult start in life, we don't learn much about Zoe as the story progresses.

Despite all the other characters, too much of the book happens in Zoe's head. She asks herself questions and ponders the motives of the villagers without coming to any useful conclusions.

The book also ends abruptly once the murderer is revealed, but without any explanation for why they did it.

I'm sure there'll be more stories about Zoe Pascal, but I don't feel this series is right for me.

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of the book. All opinions are my own.

*Disclosure: If you buy books linked to my site, I may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops