Tag Archives: Julia Child

Parisian Capers: A Fashionably French Murder & Love (and Trouble) in Paris

30 Apr

A Fashionably French Murder
by Colleen Cambridge
A Fashionably French Murder is the third in the charming American in Paris series. The series focuses on Tabitha Knight who grew up in America, but is now staying with her French Grandfather and his companion in Paris. Tabitha tries to help out by cooking for the two gentleman, but is only slowly gaining skills from her famous ex-pat best friend, Julia Child. The novels bring in interesting details from history and about Julia Child and other notable Parisians lives as well featuring interesting mysteries. In this story Tabitha is helping translate for a mother of a bride at a haute couture salon where the rising star designer is murdered. Could the infamous Dior be involved? I enjoyed learning more about the history of French fashion such as the fact that the models at the designer’s studios were referred to mannequins. Although I was originally interested in the series because of Julia Child hook, Tabitha and the other original characters are so engaging that I enjoy the series even when she is taking more of a background role such as in this story. You can read my previous blog posts about books one and two. Book one in the series for today, 4/30/25, is part of Hoopla’s Bonus Borrows, which means you can borrow it without using one of your Hoopla checkouts for April until midnight!

Love (and Trouble) in Paris
Love (and Trouble) in Paris is a fun French Rom-Com from 2022 that will appeal to Francophile fans of Sex and the City. Thirty-six year old chronically (and comedically) clumsy Julie, played by Maud Baecker, is tired of fielding questions from her family about when she will be getting married. On a cab ride home from her sister’s wedding she hears a message from her dream guy declaring his love, unfortunately it isn’t her phone but that of another woman left in the cab. That doesn’t stop Julie from trying to hook up with her ideal Mr Right played by François Vincentelli. Meanwhile Nicolas, Paul Deby, has moved in with Julie, who believes he is one of the candidates from a website designed to match straight women with gay male roommates, but secretly Nicolas is straight and beginning to develop a crush on Julie. Added to this over the top chaos are Julie’s two bffs: Ava, an overwhelmed mother, and Manon, the queen of hook ups. Manon is played by Isabelle Vitari and Ava is Nadia Roz, who also played a mom in Louis XXVIII. If you enjoyed Emily in Paris, you may enjoy seeing this French take on romantic comedy set in the City of Love. The first two episodes have me hooked and I look forward to binging the rest when I have some time.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Fabulous Foodie Fiction set in France: A Murder Most French and The Paris Novel

24 Apr

A Murder Most French
by Colleen Cambridge
A Murder Most French is the second in the charming An American in Paris mystery series which centers around Tabitha Knight who grew up in America, but travels to post-war France to learn more about her French heritage. She is staying with her Grandfather and his companion and works as English tutor. The hook of the first novel was that she had become best friends with Julia Child who was studying cooking and would pass along tips to clueless in the kitchen to Tabitha. In this novel Child again is found throughout and brought alive by Cambridge from what feels like considerable research into Julia’s life and interests, as well as, cooking. The mystery this time is culinary in nature. Famous chefs are being poisoned by rare vintages of wine. Tabitha can’t resist being curious about not only the mysterious wine gifter, but also who has been recently vandalizing shopkeepers’ stalls in the local market. I liked how like the last mystery this one works some history in with what triggers the murderer to act rather than feeling like it could be something set in any place or time. The novel will appeal to foodies, fans of Julia Childe, and historic mystery lovers; if like me you are all three than it is sure to be a fun, enjoyable read. It is also the perfect time to check out the first in the series Mastering the Art of French Murder since Hoboken resident card holders can borrow it for free from Hoopla this month without having it count as any of their 20 monthly checkouts as part of the Hoopla Bonus Borrows.

The Paris Novel
by Ruth Reichl
I’ve been a fan of Ruth Reichl since she was writing memoir pieces including about her time as a restaurant critic. She had published her first novel Delicious! in 2014 and most recently before this work, Save Me the Plums, a memoir about her time as editor of Gourmet. No one can bring to life the delicious smells and flavors of dishes the way Reichl can. The Paris Novel is broken into three distinctive sections that feel as if they could of each satisfyingly be separated into their own individual pieces, but together form the evolution of Stella, a damaged young woman into a happier life by following in the footsteps of two Parisian women before her. The novel is set in the 1980’s. The first section deals with Stella’s discovery of a beautiful couture dress in a shop that once belonged to women named Severine; a chance encounter with someone from Severine’s life leads Stella to many new friends and experiences in the city of light. In the second section Stella looks into the mystery of Victorine the famous muse for artworks like Manet’s Olympia whose own paintings were lost for years and only recently have works like her self-portrait been again displayed. Through these other courageous women, Stella finally explores her own history in third section of the book and through this exploration finds a love of cooking and the love of her life.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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