Mystery In Provence by Vivian Conroy (Miss Ashford Investigates Book One)

 

Publication Date:

October 7, 2022

Length:

314 pages 

Summary:

This series takes place in different countries and locations. That is a draw for me in cozy mysteries. I wasn't exactly sure where Provence was but researched a bit and found it to be an interesting location in the heart of France. When the story begins, it is June of 1930 and Miss Atalanta Ashford has just finished a job teaching at a boarding school in Switzerland. She is shocked when she receives news that she has become independently wealthy due to the death of her grandfather and the inheritance she has been given. 

Never having known him, she is even more surprised and overwhelmed. There's one catch though....she may have a beautiful new home in Paris and lots of money but she also is asked to clandestinely continue the secret life of sleuthing that her grandfather conducted without most people's knowledge. He trusts Atalanta to be worthy of this because he has been checking up on her life and her character and feels she shares a lot of his qualities in this area. Atalanta is willing to try although she isn't sure how to begin. A case has fallen to her already when she is asked to investigate the behavior of a young woman's fiance, the Comte de Surmonne. The lady, Eugenie Frontenac is desperate to make sure the man she is marrying isn't a murderer of his first wife. She wants Atalanta to come to their estate in Provence, posing as a lady's maid of sorts during the week of the planned wedding, and find out the truth. 

Atalanta agrees and as she begins her investigating she finds herself involved with dashing men, more mysterious deaths, and obnoxious relatives of the wedding party. She thinks she has stumbled upon the answer until a surprise upends the whole narrative and she has to look at everyone again in a new light. Will Eugenie marry the Comte? Will the truth about his first wife ever be accurately known?

My Thoughts:

The story started off strong. Even though I said I've grown a bit weary of the whole "1920's independent woman who just happens to inherit a detective agency thing" I was willing to go along with it. But only if I felt I was learning about an exotic location or taken back in time a bit. This story just didn't do it for me unfortunately. By the time I finished I realized it could have taken place anywhere. I think the author tried but that part just wasn't solid. If it was billed as a modern day mystery I think it would be fine, just not historical or in France. 

The mystery was interesting and did keep me guessing. I suspected who the mastermind was but not necessarily the why behind it. I wasn't super invested in the characters at the end enough to want to move on to book two but that might change in the future. Sometimes I go back and start on the second book and it gets better. I'm always willing to give it a chance. The next book is set in Santorini, another place I'm not familiar with. So I just might have to try it. 

If you are looking for a mystery that keeps your attention with some lightheated romance thrown in, all clean and cozy,  you'll like this book fine. If you want the feel of being in Provence in the 1920's, not so much.