Crime mystery and gastro love letter to Lyon

21st February 2018

Minced, Marinated and Murdered, by Noel Balen and Vanessa Barrot, translated by Anne Trager is the first in a proposed series of novels set in Lyon. A crime mystery and gastro love letter to Lyon, with a little bit of sleuthing to be done on the side.

Laure Grenadier and her photographer companion Paco Alvarez have headed to Lyon to check out Lyon’s Bouchons for the January issue of their magazine. (A Bouchon is a type of restaurant renowned in the town for its fatty fare, with a heavy meat orientation).

They are searching for tradition, innovation and atmosphere, Les P’tits Pères is high on Laure’s list, where she actually samples the grillade des mariniers du Rhône (a slow-cooked beef named after the bargemen who once plied the river) followed by a gargouilleau aux poires. There is detail aplenty of dishes and chefs and the history of French cuisine to satisfy even the most hungry reader (and do bear in mind the adage: “When you feel hunger as much as grief, then you know you’re still alive” – pertinent in the story!). Way back, the Aga Khan feasted at La Mère Bourgeois and Paul Bocuse (who sadly recently passed away this January 2018) started out on his career at La Mère Brazier (which incidentally currently has 2 Michelin Stars). Anthony Bourdain gets a look-in and he is of particular interest to TripFiction because he extols the virtues of reading fiction set in the location to which he is travelling (via Esquire Magazine)

But they have hardly set foot in the city, when they discover that a chef has been murdered. Who is responsible for poor Jerome’s murder? Can his sister Cecile, Laure’s friend, cast any light on the whys and wherefores? Jerome’s murder is only the start….

This is a superb novel to get those gastric juices flowing, full of dishes that are beautifully detailed for the reader. It is however not only a gastro-tour that the authors relish, they also takes their readers along the Quais, past the Renaissance pediments and Second Empire façades, recorded by Paco through his lens. Up the funicular to the Basilica of Notre-Dame do Fourvière to Pick & Boche Musique, and the apartment above the shop. She describes the city in detail, the light and the feel of the city permeate the pages of this murder mystery, perfect for literary wanderlust!

I am off in my mind for a coffee at the Café des Jacobins by the marble fount with the stone mermaids.

In the words of top chef Anthony Bourdain, who is mentioned in the book: I like to read fiction set in the location I’m going to. Fiction is in many ways more useful than a guidebook, because it gives you those little details, a sense of the way a place smells, an emotional sense of the place. And this novel would be made for him!

Tina for the TripFiction Team

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