A Twist of Orchids

February 1, 2010
In Wan's diverting third Dordogne mystery (after 2007's The Orchid Shroud
), unlikely couple Julian Wood and Mara Dunn—he's an English orchid expert, she's a French-Canadian interior designer—must sort out some relationship issues as well as the consequences of some local murder and mayhem. One market day in Ecoute-la-Pluie, a belligerent youth's assault on a Turkish vendor, who had the audacity to impugn a passing pig farmer's manhood, leads to general commotion in the town square. As the gendarmes race in, Amélie Gaillard, an elderly neighbor of Julian and Mara's, dies in a flying fall down the stairs of the Two Sisters restaurant. Meanwhile, the body of an unidentified male with needle marks in his arm turns up near the Temple of Vesunna, the apparent victim of a gangland killing. A Turkish love potion, thefts by a rhyming burglar, and a hunt for a hitherto unknown orchid all figure in a winning tale that will appeal in particular to Francophiles.

December 1, 2009
Finding corpses turns out to be easier than sighting the rare Cypripedium incognitum.

Landscaper Julian Wood and interior designer Mara Dunn are having trouble accommodating one another. Both middle-aged and independent, they find love delightful but living together difficult, particularly when Julian's annual quest for the rare Lady's Slipper orchid leaves Mara feeling slighted. She's even more distraught when he agrees to search for Kazim, missing son of the owner of Julian's favorite Turkish sweet shop, the only one in France's Dordogne region. Miffed, Mara occupies herself with the mystery of why Amlie Gaillard, their nearest neighbor, tumbled down a flight of stairs to her death and why her daughter Christine didn't turn up at the funeral to help out dad, stricken with Parkinson's. Mara's sleuthing uncovers not only a family secret but the solution to a series of crimes known as the rhyming burglaries because of the taunting poems left behind. Meanwhile, Julian's investigation reveals a misidentified corpse and an alliance between drug kingpin Ton-and-a-Half and an unscrupulous rival also seeking the elusive Lady's Slipper.

Charming, with a few grisly bits. Anyone who has ever been intimidated into cleaning up before the cleaning help arrives will smile at the Mara-Julian housekeeping arrangements, and hobbyists will well understand Julian's continuing passion for orchids (The Orchid Shroud, 2006, etc.).

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 1, 2010
A woman falls to her death during a riot between the French police and young Muslims living in the Dordogne region. Julian Wood tries to aid the Turkish couple who run his favorite bakery when their son vanishes. Meanwhile, girlfriend Mara Dunni helps look after an old man who is seeing monsters and his late wife, the woman killed during the riot. VERDICT A passion for orchids and the beautiful Dordogne fuel Wan's third series entry (after "Deadly Slipper" and "The Orchid Shroud"). She skillfully blends current Islamic issues in France and the hunt for a killer with the problems faced by middle-aged lovers who aren't sure they want to marry. This may appeal to fans of Peter Mayle's Provenal crime capers or Cara Black's Parisian mysteries.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2010
Any mystery writer who can elicit outrage over the use of orchids to produce the Turkish answer to Viagra can persuade readers of just about anything. In this third installment of Wans acclaimed Death in the Dordogne series, she sets herself the difficult task of persuading contemporary, CSI-bred readers that a landscape gardener and orchid enthusiast (Julian Wood) and his girlfriend (Mara Dunn), who specializes in interior design, also possess a knack for solving crimes. As a duo, they are a throwback to Lord Peter Wimsey, but once disbelief is suspended, they prove entertaining and witty. They operate in a tiny village within a region that Wan brings vividly alivethe Dordogne in southwestern France. This landscape, the conversation between Wood and Dunn, and the meals they enjoy help readers forget the unlikelihood of their detective work. In the latest serving of orchid lore and murder, a body found in the ruins of the ancient Roman temple of Vesunna is linked to the illegal selling of salep, an aphrodisiac dependent on the harvesting of 30 million orchids a year. Great for atmosphere and orchid lore.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)