Murder In Avignon

Set amidst the gorgeous backdrop of Provence, Serena Kent’s second book in the deliciously entertaining Penelope Kite series finds the amateur sleuth romantically linked with the mayor of St. Merlot and dashing to solve the murder of an expat artist—perfect for fans of Peter Mayle and Agatha Christie. After an eventful first few months in Provence, it seems Penelope is finally settling into her delightful new life, complete with a gorgeous love interest in the mayor of St. Merlot. When Penelope and the mayor attend a glamorous gallery opening, Penelope’s biggest worry is embarrassing herself in front of her date. But the evening takes a horrifying turn when a controversial expat painter, Roland Doncaster, chokes to death. A tragic accident? Or a malicious plot? Reluctantly drawn into the murder investigation, Penelope discovers that any number of jealous lovers and scheming rivals could be involved. And with dashing art dealers to charm, patisseries to resist, and her own friends under suspicion, Penelope will need to draw upon all her sleuthing talents to uncover the truth. Set against the stunning vistas of Provence, Serena Kent returns with the second installment of her charming mystery series featuring the unflappable Penelope Kite.

"Every great play needs a drama queen. Preferably alive. When a popular actress is killed during Avignon's famous summer theater festival, all the evidence points to a fast resolution, regardless of the truth. When the back stabbing among the world of actors, directors and festival organizers turns literal, Maggie is forced to find the killer before she finds herself on center stage with the curtain poised to come crashing down on everything she holds dear."--Page [4] of cover.

Every great play needs a drama queen. Preferably alive. The French city of Avignon is known for many things: its Papal Palace, the annual summer theater festival, its Medieval bridge of nursery rhyme fame…and now murder. When a popular actress is killed during Avignon's famous summer theater festival, all the evidence points to the police needing a fast resolution--regardless of the truth. It will be up to Maggie to find the killer who wanted the city’s most popular actress dead—and before he turns his attention on her. As Maggie desperately scours this beautiful medieval city for clues to uncover the killer's identity, it soon becomes clear that failing will put her center stage with her most ruthless adversary yet--with the final curtain about to come crashing down on everything she holds dear.

In her seventeeth book adventure, bestselling author Jessica Fletcher travels to provence for some haute cuisine, and becomes embroiled in a culinary murder mystery.

"The second book in the Penelope Kite series. After an eventful first few months in Provence, it seems Penelope is finally settling into her delightful new life, complete with a gorgeous love interest in the mayor of St. Merlot. When Penelope and the mayor Laurent Millais attend a glamorous gallery opening, a scandal-free evening is not in the cards. The evening comes to a horrifying halt when a controversial painter, Poland Doncaster, chokes to death. A tragic accident? Or a malicious plot? Embroiled once more in a murder investigation, Penelope discovers that any number of jealous lovers and scheming rivals could be involved. And with dashing art dealers to charm, patisseries to resist, and her own friends under suspicion, Penelope will need all her sleuthing talents to uncover the truth"--

This book takes you further into the sleepy little village of St-Buvard where Maggie and Laurent discover not one but four murders to spice up their tenure in Provence. A year spent living in the south of France is not all it’s cracked up to be—especially when you have no job, a prickly first year of marriage, and your new best friend is murdered virtually before your eyes. Maggie Newberry is determined to help the investigations into the murders even if the incredibly sexy and too available French police detective on the case can only complicate her life in every possible way. Murder in Provence is set in the ancient city of Arles and, like all the books in the series, showcases the sights and mouthwatering cuisine of Provence—with a spicy dash of murder.

With the arrival of Clement V in 1309, seven popes ruled the Western Church from Avignon until 1378. Joëlle Rollo-Koster traces the compelling story of the transplanted papacy in Avignon, the city the popes transformed into their capital. Through an engaging blend of political and social history, she argues that we should think more positively about the Avignon papacy, with its effective governance, intellectual creativity, and dynamism. It is a remarkable tale of an institution growing and defending its prerogatives, of people both high and low who produced and served its needs, and of the city they built together. As the author reconsiders the Avignon papacy (1309–1378) and the Great Western Schism (1378–1417) within the social setting of late medieval Avignon, she also recovers the city’s urban texture, the stamp of its streets, the noise of its crowds and celebrations, and its people’s joys and pains. Each chapter focuses on the popes, their rules, the crises they faced, and their administration but also on the history of the city, considering the recent historiography to link the life of the administration with that of the city and its people. The story of Avignon and its inhabitants is crucial for our understanding of the institutional history of the papacy in the later Middle Ages. The author argues that the Avignon papacy and the Schism encouraged fundamental institutional changes in the governance of early modern Europe—effective centralization linked to fiscal policy, efficient bureaucratic governance, court society (société de cour), and conciliarism. This fascinating history of a misunderstood era will bring to life what it was like to live in the fourteenth-century capital of Christianity.

The first entry in a clever, lighthearted mystery series set in modern Provence—a delightful blend of Agatha Christie and Peter Mayle—featuring the irrepressible Penelope Kite, a young-at-heart divorcee with a knack for stumbling across dead bodies. It’s love at first sight when Penelope Kite sees Le Chant d’Eau—The Song of Water—the stone farmhouse tucked high in the hills above the Luberon valley, complete with a garden, swimming pool, and sweeping mountain vistas. For years, Penelope put her unfaithful ex-husband and her ungrateful stepchildren first. Since taking early retirement from her job in forensics at the Home Office in England, she’s been an unpaid babysitter and chauffeur for her grandchildren. Now, she’s going to start living for herself. Though her dream house needs major renovations, Penelope impulsively buys the property and moves to St. Merlot. But Penelope’s daydreams of an adventurous life in Provence didn’t include finding a corpse floating face down in her swimming pool. The discovery of the dead man plunges her headlong into a Provençal stew of intrigue and lingering resentments simmering beneath the deceptively sunny village. Having worked in the forensics office, Penelope knows a thing or two about murder investigations. To find answers, she must carefully navigate between her seemingly ubiquitous, supercilious (and enviably chic) estate agent, the disdainful chief of police, and the devilishly handsome mayor—even as she finds herself tempted by all the delicacies the region has to offer. Thank goodness her old friend Frankie is just a flight away . . . and that Penelope is not quite as naïve as her new neighbors in St. Merlot believe. Set against the exquisite backdrop of Provence, steeped in history, atmosphere, and secrets, Death in Provence introduces an irresistible heroine and a delightful new mystery series.