This is the fourth book in the Verlaque and Bonnet series. I love this series set in France so much! As usual, the food and wine are exquisite and the location can't be beat (an isolated island off the Coast of Marseilles). Friends of Marine's have opened up a boutique hotel on the island, and Antoine and Marine have been invited to the inaugural grand opening of this hotel. Things are going well, and then the body of one of the guests is found on the beach and the man had been shot through the head. There is no question it is murder. Who on this island had a reason to see the man dead? As Verlaque investigates, he uncovers 50 year old secrets among the guests, and it looks like more than one person had a good reason to kill. I found the pace terribly slow in this one. It had an unusually long start and the murder doesn't occur until almost halfway through the book. That is why I gave the book 3 stars, but I still really enjoyed Verlaque and Bonnet, and the mystery, when it finally occurred, was a tricky one. I look forward to reading the next book in the series. I did listen to this one on audiobook. ( )

This was my least favourite of the Verlaque and Bonnet mysteries so far. The setting sounded quite glamorous, and I do like a closed-circle mystery, but it took over 100 pages for the murder to happen and those first 100 pages contained too much sex for my liking. I prefer when authors close the door or fade out discreetly and let the characters go have sex without the reader peeping in like a voyeur. ( )

Murder on the Ile Sordou by M. L. Longworth is a Verlaque & Bonnet Provencal Mystery,
Book #4.
Antoine Verlaque and Marine Bonnet are on a holiday at a luxury hotel on the Ile Sordou, when a murder disrupts their relaxing (and quite luxurious) stay.
I enjoy this series very much.
The south of France - Provence - is one of, if not the main character. Along with the food, the wine, the ambiance, the well-detailed characters and plot points - the stage is set for a very remarkable mystery.
I liked the author’s note about islands off the coast of Marseille. Sordou is an invented location, but there are many others, some closed to the public and others that can be visited by boat from Marseille’s Old Port.
A good title and a good series. **** ( )

I hovered over the 4.5 star mark for a second or two before settling on the 4 star. This is a really good entry in the Verlaque and Bonnet Provencal series.

On holiday in a new resort 15 miles off the coast of Marseille, Verlaque and Bonnet are trying to keep a low profile, but the resort only has guests in 7 rooms and they all become friendly, until one morning after a storm, one of them is found dead on the shore.

Verlaque is definitely the main focus of this book; Marine Bonnet is there every step of the way but there's very little told from her POV. Verlaque has come a long way from the overly aloof, even arrogant, judge he was at the start and even he worries he is becoming too soft. This is a relief, given that the reader spends most of the time with him.

In spite of the murder, Longworth made me wish I could be there with them; dead body aside it sounded divine: great food, gorgeous setting, wonderful staff and friendly guests. And the way she wraps up the mystery (which was heartbreaking), I wouldn't have even minded sharing my week with the killer.

(This would qualify for a locked room type mystery, and at a stretch, a 'country house' mystery; only the guest and staff, and the old lighthouse keeper are on the island, with no access on or off, and no cell phone reception. This would also work just fine as a stand-alone.) ( )

Judge Antoine Verlaque, law professor Marine Bonnet, & her friend Sylvie (whom I dislike) are vacationing at a once popular revitalized seaside hotel, Locanda Sordou, off the coast of Marseilles.

As the book begins we are introduced the guests & the small hotel staff. The guests include; Bill & Shirley Hobbes, an American couple; Eric Monnier, a retired professor & poet; Clement Viale & his wife, a school friend of Verlaque & hotel investor; Alain Denis, an egotistical-over-the-hill actor; his long suffering wife, Emmanuelle; and her son Brice.

The hard-working staff include: Maxime & Cat-Cat Le Bon, owners of the renovated hotel; Nikki, office, desk, concierge; Marie-Therese, shy waitress, hostess, & kitchen girl; Emile, the nouveau chef who uses fresh ingredients found & grown on the island; Hugo, handyman; Mme Poux, the housekeeper; Serge, the bartender; and Prosper, the light-keeper & purveyor of fresh game,whose family have lived on the island for generations.

The tension between the Denis family is palpable, making for discomfort among the guests. After arguing w/ Alain, Brice runs out of the hotel and disappears. When a single shot is heard all are assured it is Prosper who is out hunting rabbits... but the next morning Alain is found dead on the beach from a single gunshot to the head.

Verlaque immediately calls for Inspector Bruno Paulik who joins the investigation & questioning of the guests all of whom, as eventually revealed, have something in common w/ the murdered man.

The bostory was very interesting and engaging, I could see myself among the guests, drinking in the bar, eating the lushly described meals, sunning myself on the beach... I was entranced by the richness of description, which is what I love about this series. Odd thing is, the romance of this series reminds me of the 1920's not the current modern era in which it takes place. ( )