I had hoped to enjoy this one more than I did. It was slow and meandering and I just could not relate to the characters.

This fictionalization of Julia Child's stay in Paris is a light, beach read mystery. I always enjoy a good mystery set in Paris, and the setting in early 1950's Paris really clicked for me.

I wasn't so taken with the author's depiction of Child. It seemed like the author took all of her reported quirks and over-acted them.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Julia Child themed historical cozy murder mystery that I could not quite get into or invested in. May try again in the future, but for now, not for me!

Thank you @NetGalley for an advanced copy of Mastering the Art of French Murder! Here is my honest review in return. 4 stars! It is a fun and quirky who done it! The main character is a young girl who moved from the states to France and is staying with her uncle and grandfather, just across the street from Julia Child’s flat. Julia befriends the girl and teaches her tricks from the cooking school LeCordon Bleu. When one night, Julie’s sister Dorothy brings her theater troop home after a rehearsal for a party, but not everyone makes it home. Thus indicting everyone from the party as murder suspects. I have read some other reviews saying they didn’t understand the need to bringing Julia Child, her husband Paul, and her sister Dorothy into the storyline, that there was still a good story without the “gimmick”. I happened to love them in the story. It made for an exciting neighborhood full of politics and theater geeks. The author intriguingly weaved in Paul Child’s political career and how it could affect the political world with having the Child’s in the long list of suspects. Besides without Julia we wouldn’t have this delightful cover!

I have read two books ( and have the third on my shelf) from the author's other series. That series fictionalizes Agatha Christie's home while this book has Julia Child in it.
I am glad I decided to pick this up because I liked the setup and writing of this even more than the other series. Liking the lead protagonist may have something to do with that.
It is Paris post WWII, and Tabitha is living in France and eking out a living by giving French coaching to English-speaking clientele. She ends up in the murder investigation when a knife from Julia's kitchen is used to kill someone after a party thrown by Julia's sister. Tabitha was present at this party, and soon after the death ends up helping people by doing odd jobs at the theatre.
Tabitha is an enterprising woman who likes the people she associates with. She enjoys the freedom cycling provides her and takes some heedless risk in hunting down the perpetrator.
The final reveal is a lot more complex than an average narrative, but it matches up to wartime seriousness. There is some hint of a romance, some of it may continue into the next book.
I am not sure how authentically French the lifestyle was, but it felt believable, and I can imagine European living and priorities of that time to be the way the author portrayed it.
I would recommend this as a solid start to a historical/cozy mystery series.
I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

If you like cozy mysteries, food, and Julia Child, you should read this. I had so much fun and I would definately continue the series. I could also see this as a Hallmark Murder Mystery Movie and it would be so much fun.

Thank you for Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book for my honest review.

I was definitely drawn to this book by the cover and the play on Julia Childs' cookbook with a similar title. Such a clever idea since Julia is a character in the story. She does have a big personality as she did in real life, but she does not take over the story from Tabitha, Julia's friend and neighbor. Julia does convince Tabitha to investigate the murder, but she does most of the investigating on her own. Tabitha is a wonderful character that is also American like Julia, but fluent in French and is finding her way now that the war is over and her job as a "Rosie the Riveter" has ended. I loved her grandfather and uncle, and I look forward to learning more about their mysterious pasts. The post-war Paris setting, the food descriptions and the mystery were intertwined in a delightful way. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of "Mastering the Art of French Murder" and to interview its author, Colleen Cambridge, for the Storytime in Paris podcast. I really enjoyed the book,which made me wish that I too were best friends with Julia Child.

Here is what I said:

"What would you do if you were living in Paris in 1949 and Julia Child just happened to be your best friend and neighbor? What then if the two of you stumbled upon a murder?

My guest is week is Colleen Cambridge, who also writes under the name Colleen Gleason. Colleen is an award-winning USA Today and New York Times bestselling author whose books have been translated into 8 languages. Colleen is a prolific writer, and her latest book "Mastering the Art of French Murder,” is the first in her new An American in Paris Mystery Series featuring Tabitha Knight and the aforementioned bestie Julia Child.."

You can listen to the full episode on the Paris Underground Radio website, on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, YouTube, Spotify and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

I really enjoyed this historical mystery starting Julia Child’s (fictional) best friend. I'm sad it took me so long to get around to reading my ARC.

In typical cozy mystery fashion, she rather stupidly gets trapped in a building with the murderer — but all in all Tabitha Knight is a bit more clever than the average amateur sleigh. And 1949 Paris is a wonderful setting!

At loose ends after the death of her French grandmother and end of a very long engagement, Tabitha Knight jumps at the chance to go live with her Parisian grandfather and honorary Oncle Rafe as she sorts out the next phase of her life. After working in a factory during the war, Tabitha is happy to tutor Americans in French, with her new friend Julia's husband Paul's connections with the embassy. In addition, Julia is willing to teach Tabitha how to cook, much to the delight of her grandfather and oncle. The author does a great job of describing Julia's big personality without overwhelming Tabitha. Julia's sister Dort provides Tabitha with some young, single companions and at one very late soiree, Tabitha is the last to see Therese. She is found dead the next morning. The inspector is maddingly secretive, but Tabitha feels her input will help clear Julia's chef knife and those that had access to it from murder. The descriptions of the city, coming back to life after the war were wonderful and I especially liked the market visits and all the gossip the small area of the big city revealed.

This is a promising start to a new historical mystery series set in post-WWII Paris.

The main character of this story is Julia Child’s fictional best friend, Tabitha. Tabitha is busy studying cooking at Le Cordon Bleu, taking care of her grandfather and uncle, tutoring Americans in French, among other activities. When a man is murdered with a knife from Julia’s kitchen, Tabitha attempts to help solve the murder.

I liked that this story was more about Tabitha investigating the mystery. Julia plays more of a background role when solving the murder but we still get plenty of cooking content from Julia. The mystery was interesting and it kept me guessing until the end.

I liked this book so much, I hope it continues as a series.

4.5 rounded up

This was a delightful mystery and I love that Tabitha and Julia are characters in the story. it was very intriguing and i look forward to the next installment.
Many thanks to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a really fun book! Historical fiction + cozy mystery + Julia Child…..all the makings of my favorite things! This book was so entertaining and I loved how it mixes real people and events in to a cozy mystery.

As a lover of all things Julia Child, this is a fun look into the fictional world of her Paris. Great for lovers of food, cozy murder, and vintage Paris.

This charming cozy mystery, set in Paris during the postwar years, had me at hello. Tabitha is an American expat, and her best friend, Julia Child, is teaching her how to cook. But one evening, during one of the Childs’s many soirees, a woman is murdered…and the knife in question came from Julia’s kitchen! To make matters even worse, the victim was carrying a card with Tabitha’s name and address on it when she was found. For some young women, this would be a wakeup call, and the morning would see them on the next available plane to Detroit; but Tabitha is made of sterner and more curious stuff, and so she begins snooping.

My thanks go to Net Galley and Kensington Books for the review copy; this book is for sale now.

To cope with the horror of the previous night’s events, Julia is roasting a ham. “I just had to take my mind off everything. Can you even believe it, Tabs? Someone murdered a woman in this building—with my knife! That means they had to have been in my kitchen! This kitchen!”

Like many an amateur sleuth in other mysteries, Tabitha begins poking around. Sometimes she has smart ideas, and at other times she is breathtakingly dense, but there is never a time that I am thinking about the author rather than the protagonist, and that means that I believe the character. There are some familiar tropes and the occasional cliche: “She knew too much!” But it never becomes a problem, possibly because this is a novel that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Now and then the author breaks down the fifth wall, or nearly so. For example, Tabitha tells us that she knows what to do because she has read plenty of Nancy Drew mysteries.
The solution to this whodunit is fairly transparent, and I am able to predict the solution, along with the conclusion of the additional thread of incipient romance early in the book, but the whole thing is so adorable that I never become annoyed. “Just like an Agatha Christie novel—all the questions answered at the end, and the villain is caught, and everyone else is happy.”

Because I had fallen behind, I supplemented my review copy with the audio version, obtained from Seattle Bibliocommons, and narrator Polly Lee does a brilliant imitation of Julia Child! In fact, all of the passages involving Julia are brilliant, and that is my favorite aspect of this story.

Sometimes an author manages to step on multiple pet peeves of mine, and yet I emerge pleasantly entertained anyway, and that’s what has happened here. This is light reading, but it isn’t insipid. I look forward to reading the next in this lovely new series. Recommended to cozy readers.

Mastering the Art of French Murder is the first book in a new series by Colleen Cambridge. The author blends the traditional cozy murder-mystery plot with historical fiction and fun characters extremely well. The setting of Paris is fantastic, the characters are engaging, and I was in food heaven. I was utterly entertained. Highly recommended.

I was hooked from the title and it never disappointed me. This murder mystery in post-war Paris was exactly what I wanted and more. I'm a sucker for books about Paris and food and anything war related so this was right up my alley. I'm also a HUGE fan of Julia Child and I read this just like her and made for the perfect read!

A delicious murder mystery in post-war Paris that ncludes subtle social history information. Transform your reading experience: put the voice of Julia Child into your head — fantastic!!

I love a good culinary cozy mystery, and this one has set itself apart from the rest. This was enjoyable, quick, and captivating to read. I loved that it was a cozy mystery in all the usual aspects, but also set in France post-WWII and incorporated Russian spies (yeah, I was baffled too). Oh, did I mention that it’s also based around Julia Child, the iconic chef? Truly, this was one of the wackiest books in such a good way!

Mixing food, Paris, and murder? Sign me up! This book was really enjoyable and I was so excited to receive a copy. I loved the twists and getting immersed in the Parisian life.