Lise McClendon
on Tour September 8-21 with
The Frenchman
(mystery) Release date: September 8, 2017 at Thalia Press 278 pages
SYNOPSIS
In this 5th installment of the Bennett Sisters Mysteries (beginning with Blackbird Fly), attorney Merle Bennett goes to France for an extended stay to drink in the essence of ‘la France Profonde’ and write her own novel.
But the countryside is not as tranquil as she hoped. A missing Frenchman, a sinister one, an elderly one, a thieving one, and a vandalizing one: all conspire to turn Merle’s sojourn of reflection into a nightmare of worry. Where is Pascal, her French boyfriend? Who is the man with the terrible scar? Why is someone spray-painting her little stone house in the Dordogne? And will her novel about the French Revolution – snippets of which are included – give her a soupçon of delight or a frisson of danger?
Works fine as a stand-alone
EXCERPT
The Frenchman
a Bennett Sisters Mystery
by
Lise McClendon
CHAPTER 1
New York
The headlines were ridiculously easy to spot by now, on the newsstands around Manhattan. The Power of Sisterhood, the magazine blared. Merle Bennett paid for five copies of the inane rag and rolled them under her arm. She was getting good at this. Over the last two weeks she’d disposed of at least seventy-five copies of Society NYC. Her sisters wouldn’t be happy. But that article about the five Bennett sisters had to go.
She dropped the magazines into the trash bin on the corner, near the Greenwich Village offices where she worked for Legal Aid for at least one more day. Inside she got to work, cleaning out her desk. She dropped the chipped white vase into the box on the floor. Two years ago she’d brought it home from France. Should she take it back, set it on the mantle, add a pink rose from the garden? That seemed cheesy. Merle was not the sentimental type and yet here she was, planning her getaway with roses and nostalgia, while cleaning her desk for her replacement.
Six months wasn’t long. She’d be back here kissing up to high-powered lawyers for pro bono money in the new year.
If everything goes as planned.
The words popped into her head. She frowned. As if her planning was soft, unformed, and unreliable. It was not. It was firm, credible, and solid. That was who she was.
Two months earlier Merle told her boss she was taking half a year off. While unhappy, Lillian Warshowski took less than a week to find a young attorney willing and able to hold her job in the interim. Lawyers were always looking for something to break the tedium of desk work, brief-writing, research, and stale coffee. Her job, wining and dining white-shoe firms for services for indigent clients, might look glamorous from the outside, like one big party, but Merle had had enough rich food and drunken lechery for a lifetime. She needed a break. France in all its simplicity, in its golden light and slow days, was calling.
Her bags were packed. But Tristan was dragging his feet. She texted her son quickly to begin, definitely, today. In three days they would fly to France and there were hundreds of details she had to attend to. The one thing he could do was pack his own suitcase.
Of course, Tristan would rather spend his last bit of summer partying with his friends before heading off to college than traipsing around a musty old French village with his mother. What 17-year-old wouldn’t? He was driven, very much his mother’s son, but lately — since his college acceptance — he’d disappeared into a social world she didn’t even know he had, full of cute young things and who knows what. It worried her, but so far, he’d kept himself out of trouble. Three more days, Tristan. Hold on.
This summer trip to France would probably be their last together. She hoped not but knew better. She would return in late August to get him moved into his dorm then back she’d go, footloose in France for months and months. The open time caused a knot in her stomach even though she had a very detailed plan of renovation, cavorting with Pascal, her French boyfriend, and — yes — writing.
She would write her novel. No big deal. Everybody was writing novels these days, and lawyers who wrote novels were a dime a dozen. It was a vanity project, no doubt about that, but it had grown into a slight obsession since her last, short visit to France. There it had come in a dream of sorts. No, it was a dream — call it what it was. A dream about a goat herder, a young woman during the time of the French Revolution.
The Frenchman
a Bennett Sisters Mystery
by
Lise McClendon
CHAPTER 1
New York
The headlines were ridiculously easy to spot by now, on the newsstands around Manhattan. The Power of Sisterhood, the magazine blared. Merle Bennett paid for five copies of the inane rag and rolled them under her arm. She was getting good at this. Over the last two weeks she’d disposed of at least seventy-five copies of Society NYC. Her sisters wouldn’t be happy. But that article about the five Bennett sisters had to go.
She dropped the magazines into the trash bin on the corner, near the Greenwich Village offices where she worked for Legal Aid for at least one more day. Inside she got to work, cleaning out her desk. She dropped the chipped white vase into the box on the floor. Two years ago she’d brought it home from France. Should she take it back, set it on the mantle, add a pink rose from the garden? That seemed cheesy. Merle was not the sentimental type and yet here she was, planning her getaway with roses and nostalgia, while cleaning her desk for her replacement.
Six months wasn’t long. She’d be back here kissing up to high-powered lawyers for pro bono money in the new year.
If everything goes as planned.
The words popped into her head. She frowned. As if her planning was soft, unformed, and unreliable. It was not. It was firm, credible, and solid. That was who she was.
Two months earlier Merle told her boss she was taking half a year off. While unhappy, Lillian Warshowski took less than a week to find a young attorney willing and able to hold her job in the interim. Lawyers were always looking for something to break the tedium of desk work, brief-writing, research, and stale coffee. Her job, wining and dining white-shoe firms for services for indigent clients, might look glamorous from the outside, like one big party, but Merle had had enough rich food and drunken lechery for a lifetime. She needed a break. France in all its simplicity, in its golden light and slow days, was calling.
Her bags were packed. But Tristan was dragging his feet. She texted her son quickly to begin, definitely, today. In three days they would fly to France and there were hundreds of details she had to attend to. The one thing he could do was pack his own suitcase.
Of course, Tristan would rather spend his last bit of summer partying with his friends before heading off to college than traipsing around a musty old French village with his mother. What 17-year-old wouldn’t? He was driven, very much his mother’s son, but lately — since his college acceptance — he’d disappeared into a social world she didn’t even know he had, full of cute young things and who knows what. It worried her, but so far, he’d kept himself out of trouble. Three more days, Tristan. Hold on.
This summer trip to France would probably be their last together. She hoped not but knew better. She would return in late August to get him moved into his dorm then back she’d go, footloose in France for months and months. The open time caused a knot in her stomach even though she had a very detailed plan of renovation, cavorting with Pascal, her French boyfriend, and — yes — writing.
She would write her novel. No big deal. Everybody was writing novels these days, and lawyers who wrote novels were a dime a dozen. It was a vanity project, no doubt about that, but it had grown into a slight obsession since her last, short visit to France. There it had come in a dream of sorts. No, it was a dream — call it what it was. A dream about a goat herder, a young woman during the time of the French Revolution.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lise McClendon
is the author of fifteen novels of mystery, suspense,
and general mayhem plus short stories.
Her bestselling Bennett Sisters mystery series
began with ‘Blackbird Fly.’
She also writes thrillers as Rory Tate,
the latest of which is ‘PLAN X.’
Her short story is included in this fall’s noir anthology, ‘The Obama Inheritance.’
She lives in Montana.
Visit her website
Subscribe to her mailing list
Buy the book: on Amazon
***
***
CLICK ON THE BANNER TO READ REVIEWS, EXCERPTS, AND GUEST-POST
MY REVIEW
The Frenchman is the fifth book from Lise McClendon’s series, Bennett Sisters Mysteries. I have not read the first four books in the series, but I did not feel like I was missing anything or felt lost. I do hope I will soon go back and read those to see what had happened prior to this book. I found The Frenchman to be a delightful, intriguing, and fun story. I enjoyed the main character, Merle Bennett, as she travels to France. She definitely finds herself to have more excitement than she was planning for, that is for sure! The mystery she gets involved in kept me interested throughout the book. I never knew what was going to happen next. It was quite interesting at how it all ended.
I give The Frenchman four stars. In my opinion, it is one other readers should add to their wish list. I look forward to more of this series and more books by Lise McClendon in the future.
I received this book from the author. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.
Follow me on Bloglovin, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, GFC or Email
Thanks for your nice review. So glad you have now a new series to catch up with! Emma at FBT
ReplyDeleteThanks for your review. It's on my TRL and I'm really looking forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteCarol L
Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com