Tainted Tokay

Excellent! Great to see Cooker and Virgil back !

I liked this book because although Benjamin is the key character the authors decided to make Elisabeth the key to solve the mystery. She is always in the background hidden away but she makes the puzzle come into play as she was made the dupe in the story. I'm glade the authors are finally getting their act together and extending the people that they already have. I really like these stories because they are believable.

Reading these books by Jean-Pierre and Noel are like visiting with old friends - always a pleasure and leaving with anticipation of my next visit. The weave a story, not only of wine and a mystery but a journey into the lives of the character and the places. I love reading them.
Again perfect translation from French to English, a joy to read.

There are a lot of things going on in this book, but at the end of the very tasty and wine flavoured story, everything is admirably solved. The rich culinary and oenologic histories are also noteworthy!

This is the best so far of the Winemaker Detective series. Cooker and his wife travel outside of France to Vienna, Budapest and the Tokay wine region. This episode was special because all of the characters take part, and much is revealed about their past lives.. As always, the descriptions are worthy of a travelogue, wine-making and the wines are described in loving detail, and another crime is solved by Cooker's detective work. Action occurs back in France when sparks fly between Virgule and Alexandrine who runs the chem lab for Cooker. This episode is extremely entertaining, educational and amusing.

Benjamin Cooker and his wife Elizabeth have been invited by his publisher on a trip to Hungary to see the sights of Budapest and taste the wines of the Tokaj region. But back in Bordeaux, Alexandrine, Benjamin's lab manager, has been attacked by an unknown assailant. It falls to Benjamin's other employee Virgile to look after Alexandrine as well as complete all the lab projects while Benjamin is away.

Benjamin also wants Virgile to solve the mystery of Alexandrine's attack while he is in Hungary. He doesn't know it yet, but he will have his own mysteries to solve while in Hungary as he and his group are caught up in a local tourist theft ring. This makes their trip more than just a foray into the world of Hungarian wine.

It is another good story from the wine detective series, which has some twists and turns that I hadn't expected. It can't think of a better way to spend a lazy afternoon than traveling across France and Eastern Europe with Virgile and Benjamin as they try to solve their mysteries.

Book Review Tainted Tokay by Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen Review by Dawn Thomas

181 Pages Publisher: Le French Books

Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, French Detective, Wines, Vineyards

This is the eleventh book in the Wine Detective series. In this installment, Benjamin Cooker has promised his wife, Elisabeth, a vacation. His editor, Claude, has offered to pay for a trip to Hungary as his guests. Alexandrine, Cooker’s lab assistant is brutally attacked. She calls Virgile, Benjamin’s assistant and asks for his help. Virgile tells Cooker to go on the trip and he will take care of the business and the lab.

Claude has a young companion, Consuela Chavez. She is exotic and Benjamin is intrigued by her. Elisabeth is not happy about the attention Benjamin is showing Consuela. Her past is murky and no one can pin point her nationality.

A man, Zoltán, approaches them and offers his services as a tour guide. Elisabeth believes he looks trust worthy and agrees to hire him. On an excursion, someone steals Claude’s wallet and passport. They must go to the French Embassy to get new travel documents.

Alexandrine continues to heal but is extremely cautious. The police do not believe her attack was the result of a simple burglary. They believe she knows more about the attack than she is saying. Virgile invites her to stay at his apartment so she does not have to be alone. She confides in VIrgile and tells him about her childhood, which has ties to the attack. Virgile pleads with her to go to the police with the information.

On an excursion to a cave, Elisabeth is overcome and must leave for fresh air. Zoltán’s cousin, Pavel, escorts her out. Later, she realizes her wallet and passport are gone. They confront Zoltán and ask him about Pavel. When he cannot or will not answer them, they take the car keys and drive back to the inn where they are staying. When they arrive they find Consuela being attended to by paramedics and police officers. When Claude tries to explain that Consuela is with him, they ask him for his travel documents. The police officers look at Claude’s travel papers, declare them as forged and take him to the police station.

The antics in this story are funnier than in some of the previous books. There is one mishap after another. I did not know how much more they could take. This book is a short read and I finished it in less than a day. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and this book has not let me down.

Surprising, because different... It's the first Winemaker mystery happening abroad, not in France. It's also the first one where the mystery part takes most of the book. Usually, the uses, customs and mores fill up the biggest part of the story and the mystery part is the cherry on the top of the cake. Here, from the beginning until the end, the authors tease us with three different questions involving illegal activities -or two if you count everything linked to Hungary as one.
I enjoyed it, but of course, more detective thinking implies less time for describing the local way of life. You get great description of the Tokay, the Hungarian wine which is now legally the only one to use this name. As usual, the food plays a big part in Cooker's life and he certainly likes some of the Hungarian one.
While Cooper and his wife deal with dangerous crooks in Hungary, Virgile has to cope with Alexandrine's health, as she has been wounded badly by an attacker in her apartment. And the Hungarian problem has at least two levels. Maybe the authors could have separated the enigmas in two different books without losing the reader's interest. As it is, it feels a bit crowded with bad people. I really liked reading about the Hungarian network, but Alexandrine's story gets a shadowed second place, while it would be enough for a separate book.
A good book, I was just surprised, and it does not mean disappointed! It still feels a bit weird, but I have not read all of the French books and it looks like some are more thriller-like than the others (lesangdelavigne.com).

What a sticky wicket Benjamin and Virgile find themselves in! Benjamin on his calamitous tour through Hungary with wife Elizabeth, Publisher and his voluptuous girlfriend. Virgile at home base, work piling up and Alexandrine being brutally attacked at her home.

I love that Elizabeth has a far greater roll in this book! Love her spunk, level head and that she has her faults too. She pairs well with Benjamin. I enjoyed that the flame of romance is still there for them after many years of marriage.

There are two different stories taking place with Benjamin and Virgile trying their level best to solve the problems. What with mildew and physical attacks both of vines and body, stolen I.D's, a promiscuous girlfriend, a long held secret, a rather dubious tour guide, and the green eyed monster - jealousy, they are kept quite busy.

A note of warning, for those sensitive to the subject matter of physical/sexual abuse they might want to pass on this book. However, there are no graphic descriptions or details.

For the epicurean mom who loves a good mystery, “Tainted Tokay” by Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen is a fast and easy read. Book 11 of the “Winemaker Detective” series, “Tainted Tokay” follows Benjamin Cooker France’s top wine expert and his wife Elizabeth as they travelled to Vienna, Budapest and Hungary’s wine region.

Both a gourmand and wine tasting trip, the narrative as always is entertaining while also very enlightening. The story might be fiction but the information is true. Messieurs Alaux and Balen know wine and dining.

For the first time, Virgile, Cooker’s assistant did not go with his boss, remaining in Bordeaux to man the fort, so to speak. But, while Benjamin and Elizabeth were in the middle of thievery and murder, Virgile has to deal with some unpleasantness on his own.

This book is a good read for the mystery-loving epicurean mom! And if she likes the book, remember there are 10 more out there!

But even though I was behind, I gobbled this book up in 2 sittings. And gobbled is the word, as the descriptions of food got me so hungry, I had to go make a late night snack! That is always a peril when reading this series-if the wine and locales don't get you, Benjamin's love affair with wonderful food will! This was an interesting read as Benjamin gets to go on a trip with his wife (who the authors allow to have a primary character role this time out) outside of France. Where of course, things must go wrong, or there is no mystery! BUT there is trouble at home and Benjamin has to trust Virgil to not only keep their many customers happy, but to solve the problem there by himself. Though of course Benjamin has to help 'tinker' from afar.

This latest entry is full of twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing almost until the end! It is a bit of a quicker read than normal, but I think that is because there is more action! I love having Benjamin's wife come out for most of the story, and I hope the authors keep her there! If you've been reading this series, you'll love this new book, and if you're new to it, it will be a pleasant read!

Be sure to check out this fun Q&A about translating this fun series!

I have enjoyed the entire series of the Wine Detective. There is always a nice mixture of information about the wines of the designated region and a mystery. Benjamin Cooker has a talent for getting involved in crimes.
This outing, the reader learns less about Tokay but it is a price the reader is willing to pay.
That is because the two mysteries- yes two of them, half a continent apart-are so compelling. Benjamin, his wife and publisher are in Eastern Europe on a cruise from Vienna and then several days in Hungary. There is a fourth member of the party who is the new girlfriend of the publisher. She is a piece of work but the three have no idea how much of one.
Back in Bordeaux, Virgile must help his business associate Alexandrine who was beaten brutally and ends up in hospital leaving Virgile trying to juggle the work load while helping his friend. Alexandrine does not wish to reveal what really happened and Virgile helps her deal with the repercussions of the beating.
There are many setbacks and upheavals for both groups of people but in the end, there is justice. It is heightened because the reader has become so invested in these characters that one is swept along by the events that impact them.
A toast of the wine glass to another winner in the series. I can recommend it highly.

Although # 11 in this series, this one does well as a stand-alone. I've read a few in this particular series so I was looking forward to a fast, entertaining read ... and I wasn't disappointed.

France's top wine expert Benjamin Cooker and his wife, Elizabeth have been invited to join his publisher, Claude and Claude's girlfriend on a trip to Hungary. But things start to go terrible wrong.

Benjamin's assistant is attacked and badly hurt. Throw in stolen wallets, passports that keep disappearing, and murder.

All this just so he can taste the Tokay wines.

I love the descriptions that abound .. it's like traveling without leaving home. The foods, the wines, the beauty of the country is intoxicating.

This is two steps above a cozy, but not near a hard boiled mystery. It's a fast, entertaining read.

My thanks to the authors / Le French Book / NetGalley who provided a digital copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

It is a great pleasure to revisit this series as it is always a excellent reading experience. Tainted Tokay is the 11th in the series and perhaps my favorite yet, having read the entire series. As a fan of the series I can attest this is a highly enjoyable read and well recommend the others in series. In this book the local scenery changes to Vienna, Hungry and Budapest. Much of this local is both magical and interesting. For the epicurean who loves a good mystery, series, what a delight to experience foods and culture in these areas.

“Tainted Tokay” follows Benjamin Cooker France’s top wine expert and his wife Elizabeth as they travelled to Vienna, Budapest and Hungary’s wine region. Soon a mystery presents itself and he is on the case. The writing as always is superb, the characters are top notch, and the witty repartee is a added bonus. These characters are some of my favorite in mysteries as they are brilliant and classic. I highly recommend Tainted Tokay for your reading enjoyment. Thank you for the advance reading copy to Le French Book Publishing. Well Done to the author.

Another excellent book in Le French wine series..

This is the 2nd mystery I have enjoyed in this series. In this one Benjamin Cooker and his wife are off on a trip to Hungry down the Danube. Benjamin's Publisher and his lady friend are also along for the trip. They are traveling to Hungry to taste the famous Tokay wine and enjoy a relaxing vacation. Of course they stumble across a mystery. Meanwhile back in France Virgile is in charge of the lab and solving his own mystery. The authors do a very good job with the European and wine background. This series does not need to be read in order. Enjoy this light quick arm chair travel mystery.

the eleventh entry in the Winemaker series, there’s plenty of violence and chicanery both in France and Hungary; kinda makes you wonder how they keep getting into these situations. Being a wine critic doesn’t seem all the dangerous in real life, with the possible exception of getting drunk all the time.
This story did better as a travelogue than any detecting; other than some nice descriptions of Vienna and Budapest, there’s nothing special here. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; if you liked the previous ones, and I did, then you’ll like this one, as I did.

All is not well on a cruise along the Danube

VERDICT: Unique mystery in the series, with three plots and a delicious pairing between French and Hungarian wines. Nice way of discovering a country with a great history and great landscapes.
Tainted Tokay is unique in the series so far, as it contains three plots: two taking place in France and one in Hungary at the same time.
Some readers complain about this fact. I don’t see why: the series is still with the same main characters, Benjamin and his assistant Virgile; about wine (French and Hungarian), and good food. There are also spectacular descriptions of Austria and Hungary. This triple plot made actually the book even richer and more exciting for me.
And serve me Tokay anytime, I won’t complain!
Plot 1:
So the book opens with Benjamin coming for wine tasting to château Blanchard (in Gironde, not far from château Margaux), dating to the 1870s. He is the estate wine-making consultant. We meet Florence, her brother Jules, and the cellar master Didier. Didier has much in common with Virgile, but he sounds pushy and showoff, and Virgile can’t stand him.
We quickly discover there’s some shady business going on in that château.
Plot 2:
At the same time, when Virgile is supposed to meet with Alexandrine, their own lab director, he receives a phone call that she was attacked and is in the hospital. Who on earth could have attacked her? Could it be connected with plot 1? With Didier, who seemed to be lurking around weeks before the attack?
Plot 3:
Benjamin and his wife Elisabeth have been invited on a Danube cruise (Austria-Hungary) with his publisher Claude, to celebrate the successful business around Benjamin’s wine guides.
Encouraged to go despite Alexandrine’s bad shape and a major mildew crisis in French vineyards (during a heavy rain season), he decides to go.
Claude is accompanied by his intriguing girlfriend Consuela.
Our tourists soon hire a local guide to discover the local treasures, and soon trouble piles up… Just simple tourists trap, or more important network of international thieves?
Benjamin and Elisabeth realize that tourism can be full of happy and less happy discoveries…
Apart from the three plots, cleverly intertwined, there are great descriptions of fauna and flora, food, wine, palaces, hotels, cafes, even a luxury train. You also learn a lot about the history and architecture of Hungary (including baths).
The Hungarian people is extremely hospitable. I’ll never forget my experience of this huge meal organized by old grandmothers in a tiny very poor village to welcome a whole bus of young Christians from France. These people had nothing, and yet they managed to gather everything to cook the best of meals, and their tradition is to offer gifts to those who come to visit them!
The Cookers going there as tourists, they are not too much in touch with the locals, so this aspect alas does not really appear in the book.
But of course the passages on the famous Hungarian wines are just fabulous (there is more than just Tokay). I learned fascinating facts on the “noble rot” and the sweetness it gives to wines.
Personally, I enjoyed that as Benjamin was experiencing the ordeal of plot 3 and trying to solve the issue, Virgile was stuck at home in between plot 1 and 2. Virgile has matured a lot since the first book in the series, and now his boss trusts him enough to leave him in the middle of a few crisis and let him remedy problems by himself.
Also, I found the English title much better than the original French one.

a short, but great addition to a pleasure to read series!

One of my favorite s! There is wonderful international sights and wonderful food and wine. Oh yes there is always a murder but always in a gentle way. I cannot wait for the next one!

Another jaunt with our WineMaker Detective, the esteemed Benjamin Cooker, has him enjoying a romantic cruise on the Danube with his wife; this is courtesy of his editor, who has come along with a companion. Back at the offices of Cooker & Co., things are far more distressing. A heavy rain season has left all their clients with undesirable mold. Each client, like their vintages, requires just the right touch. If only the lab could keep up! Their indispensable manager, Alexandrine has been viciously attacked and is unable to work. Virgile is at her side at the hospital each day after handling the office. Meanwhile, the couples travelling the Danube run into some serious unpleasantness abroad. The mysteries in the plot are one draw, but fans of the series also enjoy the educated opinions of a master in the wine craft, extolling on the regions, the grapes, and in this book in particular, the sweet dessert wines and regional Tokaji.

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Splitting Holmes from Watson would have been a risky move for Doyle, but Balen and Alaux made the right call letting Virgile and Alexandrine have time away from Benjamin Cooker so that we can forge a stronger relationship with their characters. At the start of this most recent installment in the Winemaker Detective series, Alexandrine is horribly, viciously attacked, but Benjamin has a lovely and well-deserved vacation awaiting him and Elisabeth, and he chooses not to change his plans. I recognized my attachment to these characters from the irritation I felt toward Benjamin for leaving her like that in her time of need! At any rate, after the initial excitement of Alexandrine's attack subsides, the pace slows down for a spell as we follow Benjamin and co. through the streets of Budapest where the real adventure lies.
Of course, murder follows Benjamin like red beans follow rice, and the winemaker finds himself surrounded by chaos, one result of which is that we get to see a surprisingly fierce side of Elisabeth. Yet even that pales by comparison to what is going on back home with Virgile and Alexandrine. I always knew there was more to her than meets the eye, and the revelation of deeply held secrets paint her in a truly sympathetic light and make my heart go out to her, which added an unexpected emotional depth to the novel and wove me to her character.
Overall, I enjoyed the book thoroughly despite Florence and her dilemma having a "tell, don't show" feel. Nonetheless, while I see that as a minute flaw, it certainly didn't detract from my enjoyment of the novel, which is based largely on my overwhelming empathy for Alexandrine.
Character development is a strong point in Tainted Tokay, and I'm glad Virgile got the chance to show us his mettle. Thumbs up to the authors for their decision to let readers get to know both Virgile and Alexandrine out of the shadow of Benjamin Cooker. From this point forward, he's not the only heavy weight who keeps me looking forward to reading another installment in Winemaker Detective series.

(ARC, but views are my own honest opinions)

A fine entry into the Jean-Pierre Alaux collection of stories.

In this episode, Alexandrine is attacked by a mugger and injured badly. While Virgile stays behind to care for her, Benjamin and his wife journey to Budapest to taste the Tokaji wines.

Another great, fast reading little book.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book.

I think I'm getting hooked on this series! I've read two of the books and I'm already looking forward to my next encounter with Benjamin Cooker, his assistant Virgile, and all their friends and enemies.

Even so, I thought this one started out a little "iffy" -- the narrative was divided between Cooker and his missus on a vacation cruise on the Danube, and Virgile back in Paris keeping the wine business running smoothly and also dealing with the mysterious attack on fellow employee Alexandrine. I kept waiting for the two story lines to come together, which was a problem at first. But once I abandoned those expectations and just let myself enjoy the read, I had a great time.

The only real criticism I have is that from time to time, Benjamin (and to some extent, all the other characters as well) sounds like he's quoting from a Wikipedia article. He seems to have massive amounts of information on wine (and every other subject, really) stored in his amazing memory banks, and he's only too happy to quote huge chunks of it for us. Have to admit, I skimmed through a lot of that.

However, I did manage to pick up a lot of info about wine that was interesting and new to me. In fact, the wine and winemaking are almost like another character in the books -- well, actually the central character; the character that all the action revolves around. It's an intriguing idea and more enjoyable than I would have imagined. But I'd still welcome just a bit more action and suspense.

As always, beautifully descriptive - both of the scenic locations and the wines enjoyed by the characters. I enjoyed the mysteries, particularly how the two ran parallel -the attack on Alexandrine, the lab researcher, in France and the ongoing mysteries throughout the Danube cruise.
The series never fails to disappoint with oodles of intrigue and endless plot twists. However, this time, I felt as though some parts were rushed through (Claude's return to France was made out to be more mysterious than it actually was - or maybe it was just me. But the 'hat on the hook' and then later 'off the hook' with no other mention of him, made me think another unfortunate mishap had befallen him.)
On the plus side, I loved the increased character development of Virgile, seeing him stand on his own two feet.
A refreshing, fun and easy read - perfect light entertainment.