Read Nightmare in Burgundy Online
Authors: Jean-Pierre Alaux,Noël Balen
Tags: #Detective, #cozy mystery, #wine, #Burgundy, #France
Nightmare in Burgundy (10 page)
La Traviata
took off on a thrilling flight that the violins could not bring back to earth.
“You see, Virgile, we wandered in the age of the Pharisees, in the footsteps of the apostles and the mystic Jews. We experienced the tonsure of Cîteaux and the dungeons of the Middle Ages. We even came close to believing in the devil and ghosts, and finally, it was nothing but a modern story: divorced unemployed mother no longer entitled to benefits, children taken away, court orders. Hopelessly modern!”
Cooker turned to look at his assistant. Virgile had fallen asleep. He was snoring peacefully, his mouth half open like an angel. Cooker swerved a bit as he reached for his coat to cover his passenger. Then he lowered the volume of
La Traviata
until she didn’t have a breath of life left in her.
“Sweet dreams, my boy. Come the night, all is forgotten.”
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Nightmare in Burgundy
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The Winemaker Detective Series
A total Epicurean immersion in French countryside and gourmet attitude with two expert winemakers turned amateur sleuths gumshoeing around wine country. The following titles are currently available in English.
Treachery in Bordeaux
The start of this wine plus crime mystery series, this journey to Bordeaux takes readers behind the scenes of a grand cru wine estate that has fallen victim to either negligence or sabotage. World-renowned winemaker turned gentleman detective Benjamin Cooker sets out to find out what happened and why. Who would want to target this esteemed vintner?
Grand Cru Heist
In another Epicurean journey in France, renowned wine critic Benjamin Cooker’s world gets turned upside down one night in Paris. He retreats to the region around Tours to recover. There a flamboyant British dandy, a spectacular blue-eyed blond, a zealous concierge, and touchy local police disturb his well-deserved rest. From the Loire Valley to Bordeaux, in between a glass of Vouvray and a bottle of Saint-Émilion, the Winemaker Detective and his assistant Virgile turn PI to solve two murders and very particular heist. Who stole those bottles of grand cru classé?
About the Authors
Noël Balen (left) and Jean-Pierre Alaux (right).
(©David Nakache)
Jean-Pierre Alaux
and
Noël Balen
came up with the Winemaker Detective over a glass of wine, of course. Jean-Pierre Alaux is a magazine, radio, and television journalist when he is not writing novels in southwestern France. He is a genuine wine and food lover, and won the Antonin Carême prize for his cookbook
La Truffe sur le Soufflé
, which he wrote with the chef Alexis Pélissou. He is the grandson of a winemaker and exhibits a real passion for wine and winemaking. For him, there is no greater common denominator than wine. Coauthor of the series Noël Balen lives in Paris, where he shares his time between writing, making records, and lecturing on music. He plays bass, is a music critic, and has authored a number of books about musicians, in addition to his novel and short-story writing.
About the Translator
Sally Pane studied French at State University of New York Oswego and the Sorbonne before receiving her master’s degree in French literature from the University of Colorado where she wrote
Camus and the Americas: A Thematic Analysis of Three Works Based on His Journaux de Voyage
. Her career includes more than twenty years of translating and teaching French and Italian at Berlitz and at Colorado University Boulder. She has worked in scientific, legal and literary translation; her literary translations include
Operatic Arias; Singers Edition,
and
Reality and the Untheorizable
by Clément Rosset. She also served as the interpreter for the government cabinet of Rwanda and translated for Dian Fossey’s Digit Fund. In addition to her passion for French, she has studied Italian at Colorado University, in Rome and in Siena. She lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her husband.
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