Murder Most Delicious by Danielle Postel-Vinay
Daniel Postel-Vinay is a devout Francophile who frequently visits France with her French husband. Murder Most Delicious is both a cozy mystery and love letter to beautiful Paris, the City of Light. American sommelier Olivia Beech, rolling suitcase in tow, has flown to the French capital from New York and anxiously rushed from the airport to what may be the most important job interview of her life. She is here by invitation from the famed celebrity chef and owner of Chez Jacques, one of the finest bistros in France. Jacques de Bizet left his three-star Michelin restaurant in Lyon to take over his family’s Parisian bistro. Olivia’s wine expertise will be rigorously tested by this renowned chef, who will pour six glasses of wine for her to identify by origin, production date, vintner, grape varietals and quality. Once this would have been a simple task for her, but now she must rely on her uncanny ability to discern the subtlest scents.
A Promising New Beginning Turns Deadly
At age 27, Olivia became one of only a handful of women to have earned the title of “Master Sommelier.” Wine Spectator celebrated her remarkable achievement by calling her “the Nose of the Future.” She had worked her way up in a cutthroat specialized industry to a dream job as the head sommelier at a New York Michelin-starred French restaurant. Olivia excelled in the heady competitive business of augmenting a restaurant’s rare vintage wine cellar to sell bottles for thousands of dollars to the most sophisticated, discerning customers and/or those with the deepest pockets. Additionally, she was eminently capable of judging worldwide wine competitions.
Six months ago Olivia contracted Covid-19 and recovered except for the devastatingly lingering side effect of the complete loss of her sense of taste. Food and drink might smell divine but taste only of cardboard. Her remarkable sense of smell remained intact, and although she was still affected by the alcohol content, wine tasting became futile as it couldn’t even be distinguished from water or vinegar. She chose not to reveal this predicament to her perfectionist boss. Somehow a disastrously costly error was inadvertently made involving a $16,000 bottle of wine, and Olivia was summarily discharged. The superstar was blackballed as word spread, resulting in her present inability to secure employment.
Punctual in arrival for her audition, Jacques, whom she had met previously in New York, greeted her affectionately and complemented her knowledge before presenting the flight of wines for her to taste. Immediately, she detected the anomalous odor of bitter almonds in the first glass of burgundy and expressed her concern. Ignoring her observation, the now-offended chef snatched the glass from her, drank its contents, recoiled and dropped dead. Tunisian immigrant Hedi and Romaine from the municipal police patrol are the first at the Chez Jacques crime scene. As Olivia is the obvious prime suspect, her passport is seized and her suitcase stashed in a bistro closet, but instead of placing her in a cell in the homicide division, the policemen take her to the home of Augusta Dupin, Hedi’s former partner in the detective division.
An Unlikely Team of Amateur Detectives
Augusta is descended from a long line of eccentrics, including her great-aunt, author George Sand, and was a brilliant crime solver before severe agoraphobia forced her to retire. This affliction prevents her from meeting new people or leaving her imposing, beautiful home, where she presides over convivial weekly meetings of the Neighborhood Watch.
This circle consists of observant resident merchants who act as amateur sleuths dedicated to protecting their elite 7th arrondissement Gros-Caillou district in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. Former police investigator Augusta serves as their leader assisted by her British Shorthair cat, Chateaubriand. The other members are the florist Chantal, third-generation baker Gaston, café owner Martine, and the rebellious American Library employee Prosper. Along with the two police officers, they are all friends of Jacques and instinctively anxious to vindicate Olivia and identify the actual murderer. Surprisingly, the Neighborhood Watch has enveloped Olivia Beech in its warmest embrace. Enjoyable reading ensues as the plot unfolds before the killer strikes again.
Danielle Postel-Vinay has written a charming mystery in Murder Most Delicious brimming with compassion, kindness and friendship, which also serves up tantalizing descriptions of exquisite foods and wines that readers may contentedly savor.
About Danielle Postel-Vinay:
Danielle Postel-Vinay is the French alter ego of the New York Times bestselling author Danielle Trussoni, whose fiction has won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Prix Bête Noir des Libraires 2025 and has been translated into over thirty languages. She is married to a Frenchman and spends part of the year in Paris with her family.
