The Critic

What's not to like about Peter May's books? They are set in (at least to me) exotic locales, have intriguing main and secondary characters, use contemporary forensic science methods to solve the crime, and the main detective knows he needs the assistance of others to solve the puzzle.

Enzo Macleod is a Scotsman transplanted to France where he teaches biology and solves unsolved crimes on the side. In this book he is in the Gaillac region of France looking into the death of an American wine critic, Gil Petty, who disappeared four years ago while he was tasting wines of the region. His body has just recently come to light having been preserved in wine for the intervening years. Enzo is staying in the same little cottage that Petty stayed show more in and he wants to get a job picking grapes to do some undercover investigation. Even before he can get started someone tries to kill him by knocking him out and leaving him in the path of a grape picking machine traversing a wine field at night. Soon Enzo has help in his search. He calls in his student Nicole, a computer whiz; then his sometime lover, Charlotte, shows up from Paris; Gil Petty's daughter, Michelle, from California arrives in France to retrieve her father's effects; rounding out the team are Enzo's daughter Sophie and her boyfriend Roland. Michelle seems to be very attracted to Enzo who wouldn't mind exploring this relationship since Charlotte can't commit to anything but they always get interrupted before anything can go too far. When another wine-soaked body shows up in the same area as Petty's the instructing judge makes Enzo's involvement official. That means he can see the evidence collected previously and ask for tests. Michelle gets her father's laptop which initially doesn't have anything too interesting but then Nicole suggests that Petty might have stored his information in the cloud. Enzo knows someone in California that can examine the wine from Petty's body in conjunction with soil samples from vineyards that Petty visited and determine where the wine was produced. (First Enzo has to get the soil and wine samples to California which involves some skulduggery in order to get them past customs.) He knows he must be getting close because someone attempts to kill him (after killing his dog and stringing it up--a piece of information I really didn't need) when he arrives back in Gaillac from the USA. Fortunately Sophie and Roland arrive just in time to chase the killer off. Enzo will undergo one more attempt on his life before the case is over; I guess that's just par for the course in the life of a private detective.

Enzo's love life doesn't seem to be getting any better but it seems that Nicole has found a man that suits her (and her father). Sophie and Roland seem to be matched up well. Maybe Charlotte will finally succumb to Enzo's charms. And maybe Enzo will survive the people who are out to kill him because it seems there is more than one. show less

From Amazon:

Former forensics expert, Enzo Macleod, takes up his second challenge of solving seven unsolved murders written about in a book by Roger Raffin. Gil Petty was the world's leading expert. His review could catapult the price of a particular wine, or destroy a winery until he went missing. No one expected he would turn up three years later as a scarecrow in a vineyard having spent those three years in someone's wine vat.

My Thoughts:

I more than likely would have given this book higher stars IF I had not just read Peter May's Lewis Trilogy. That was a 5 star offering...this lacked the same atmosphere and pizzazz. It also could be that I am not enthralled with wineries but I was enthralled with the scarecrow and also with the show more secret code that the wine critic used to rate the wines. That was the best parts of the book. I will continue this series as I believe that Enzo Mcleod does indeed have promise. show less

I finished Peter May's The Criticthe second book about a Scottish forensic scientist Enzo McLeod living in France. In this outing he is in the Gaillac wine area,and there is a lot about winemaking. I was a litle disappointed in the denouement,as the murderer hadnt been in the story since about page 50,and the motivation was somewhat incredible,the murderer was just insane really. Not my sort of story, I enjoy the gradual revealing of the villain,worked out from clues,not a barely mentioned character suddenly popping up.What the oldtime detective fans called fair play. Not sure if I will continue with the series.

The second in Peter May's "Enzo Files" series set in France centers on the murder of an American wine critic whose body was found in bizarre circumstances a year after he disappeared. Another body turns up during the course of the investigation and there have been additional disappearances. The investigation uncovers a lot of information about winemaking, terroir, GMOs and was very interesting to me but would be even more so to someone who actually drinks the stuff!

I liked this book better than the first Enzo mystery and will definitely seek out the rest of the series. They are not exactly cozies, but are good books to spend a pleasant afternoon with; perhaps to cleanse the palate between two heavier, denser tomes.

The second volume in the Enzo Macleod series was also exciting. This time Enzo is investigating the Gaillac wine region, where a renowned American wine critic disappeared ten years ago and reappeared as a corpse during a night harvest. What's behind that? When even more missing 'dead' appear, Enzo too has to fear for his life. Fortunately, he has strong support from his daughter Sophia, her boyfriend Bertrand and the student Nicole. For a long time he could not expect anything from the authorities because he is not accepted as a recognized forensic expert in France.

The second Enzo book is not quite as intricate as the first (Extraordinary People). But, it was as good a read. There is a puzzle to solve: Enzo has to work out the first murder victim's system of rating wines from his encrypted files on his computer.
I have decided that Enzo is Peter May's alter ego. He is smart, lucky, drinks like a fish, can't keep the women off, and is deservedly guilt-ridden. Despite all his flaws, he is likeable. But someone is trying to kill him. I will keep reading until I find out who.

Lots of great background on wine-making and wine criticism - but great background does not make a great novel - I'm doubtful about Enzo's appeal as a lead character. The book just felt a bit "clunky"