The Baguette Murders is the third Brittany cozy murder mystery by Anne Penketh. Released 28th Jan 2025 by Joffe Books, it's 234 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The first books in the series are also currently available on KU.
This is a nice village cozy, set in Brittany and featuring an ensemble cast of expat Brits and locals from the area. The author does a nice job of showing the daily issues and occasional frictions of locals vs. incomers, without being at all preachy or strident. It's a pleasant read and the mystery (if a bit over the top in the details) is well constructed and a good puzzle to work out during.
It works perfectly well as a standalone with the codicil that the returning characters have a history with one another from earlier books and there will be minor spoilers if read out of order. It is perhaps a tiny bit more graphic than the run of the mill village cozy (head injuries with blood described on page), and there is some moderately strong cursing occasionally, but overall it's not egregious.
Four stars. Eminently readable and entertaining. It would be a good choice for public library acquisition, home readers, and a good series binge/buddy read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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