Murder on the Ile Sordou

Author s Note





Chapter One

From here he could see La Canebière rolling straight down into the old port, splitting the downtown into two equal parts, as though someone had drawn a line in the sand with a stick. It made sense that the main street would dump into water, for it had once been La Lacydon, a river. Eric Monnier tried to balance his hip against the handrails of the boat in order to relight what was left of his cigar. He noticed that the farther out from Marseille they got, the more the mountains behind the city seemed bigger, as if they were pushing thrusting the city into the sea. Funny, he thought, when you re in the city you don t notice the white chalky limestone hills. You only hear the beeping car horns, the cry of seagulls, and see the dust, and smell the sea, and dirt. He knew that Marseille made no attempt to fancy itself up for tourists, and each time he returned to the place where he was born it took him a few days to learn to love it again.

Lacydon had been his first and only book of poetry, written in the early 1960s when he was twenty-two and published on a shoestring by a friend in Arles. It was an ode to Marseille, and its history, its bright light, and its fast-talking inhabitants. He had sold a dozen or so copies at weekend flea markets and then had given out the rest to friends and family. He still had a cardboard box under his bed with the proofs typed by the older sister of a friend and five remaining copies of the slim, elegant tome.

With the nonsuccess of his poetry Monnier took a job at a high school in Aix-en-Provence teaching French literature, just until, he initially hoped, his poetry took off. An elderly great-aunt on his father s side died and gave the apartment in Aix s Quartier Mazarin to her great-nephew. He still lived there, surrounded by wealth: his neighbors being a count and countess (below) and a Parisian architect (above). And here he was, one month

M. L. Longworth has lived in Aix-en-Provence since 1997. She has written about the region for the Washington Post, the Times (London), the Independent (London), and Bon Appétit. She is the author of a bilingual collection of essays, Une Américaine en Provence. She is married and has one daughter.

Praise for M. L. Longworth s Provençal Mystery series
 
The Verlaque and Bonnet mysteries . . . plunge you into a languid world of epicurean pleasures and good living. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR
 
Beguiling . . . Longworth evokes the pleasures of France in delicious detail great wine, delicious meals, and fine company.   Publishers Weekly


Praise for Murder on the Île Sordou

Charming.   Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

Thoroughly delightful . . . Longworth deftly handles what is in effect a locked-room mystery, but the book s real strength lies in the backstories she creates for each of the distinctive characters. The puzzle s answer, buried in the past, is well prepared by what has come before.   Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Longworth once again immerses readers in French culture with this whodunit, which will delight Francophiles and fans of Donna Leon and Andrea Camilleri. The setting will also appeal to readers who enjoy trapped-on-the-island mysteries in the tradition of Agatha Christie s And Then There Were None.   Library Journal

Longworth s novels, set in the south of France, are mysteries for foodies, with the plot providing a table upon which the enchanting meals and accompanying wines are served.   Booklist

[A] charming read with a well-crafted mystery and characters as rich and full-bodied as a Bordeaux.   Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A splendid read.   Mystery Scene

The best thing about each novel in this series is that they are as much about lifestyle in the south of France as they are about a legal tangle, a disappearance or a murder. . . . By this third [novel] in the series, Longworth, shows the reader why those who love Donna Leon s Brunetti and Martin Walker s Bruno take up her novels with enthusiasm.   Kings River Life Magazine

Longworth s maritime version of a country-house cozy offers genuine