Anne Trager's Blog, page 21

How a bottle of wine can lead to a TV series

That’s pretty much the story of Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen with the Winemaker Detective series. They came up with the idea over a bottle of wine. It lead to a 22-book series and a TV series now in its fourth season in France, and I just saw available subtitled here (as Blood of the Vine).

We’re picking up the pace on the Winemaker Detective series -Treachery in BordeauxandGrand Cru Heist are already out as ebooks. Nightmare in Burgundy will be e-released soon. The paper versions are all...

Weekend countdown deal

Tick-tock. Time is ticking for a special weekend countdown deal, just as it is for Paris homicide detectives in the chilling mystery up for grabs: The 7th Woman, by Frédérique Molay. In a race against the clock to catch a serial killer in the French capital, Chief of Police Nico Sirsky and his top homicide detectives are on tenterhooks as the killer gets closer and closer to their inner circle. The story has nail-biting tension and a fascinating behind-the-scenes view of French police and for...

What Experts are Saying about Real-life Spies and Spy Novels

Real-life spies and spy novels was the topic of a recent conference in France held at the Institut des hautes études de défense nationale (a national defense graduate school). Bernard Besson, author of the spy novelThe Greenland Breach (among other thrillers) and former top-level police and intelligence officer,participated with two other French thriller writers–Paul Fauray, who is a special ops commander too, and Pierre Boussel, also a reporter.

Spy novels are based on the daily experiences o...

Is Wine Sexy?

This question popped into my mind when one of our readers said she was in love with Virgile from the Winemaker Detective series. Virgile is a wine expert working for the renowned wine critic Benjamin Cooker, and the two of them gumshoe around France (and later elsewhere) solving mysteries, which all have something to do with wine or winemakers.

Well, I thought, what is it about Virgile? His love of wine? Or his youth, cheeky attitude to his elder mentor and somewhat wide-eyed French lover incl...

Grand Cru Heist… for real!

Fact: Bordeaux wine heist

Thought our latest release Grand Cru Heist was fiction? Think again! News of a major sting on a Bordeaux wine heist ring hit the French papers today. The French News Agency AFP revealed that a gang of thieves specialized in grand cru wines was arrested this Monday by the Gendarmerie. They are suspected of having stolen more that €1 million worth of world-famous Bordeaux wines, including Château Pétrus, Château Yquem and Château Cheval Blanc. Several hundred bottles we...

Winemaker Detective Sequel Now on Kindle

Yay! We just launched on Kindle the new Winemaker Detective novel–another wine-plus-crime Epicurean whodunit set in French wine country.

The First Sequel

I love the wine-plus-crime premise for a whodunit and we are thrilled to continue this series.

Grand Cru Heistis another gourmet journey through France. Renowned wine critic Benjamin Cooker’s world gets turned upside down one night in Paris. He retreats to the region around Tours to recover. There a flamboyant British dandy, a spectacular blue-...

1.5 Million Copies Sold: Le French Book Nabs New Bestselling Series

We just signed on a new bestselling series. The police detective series with an esoteric bent, by Eric Giacometti and Jacques Ravenne, has sold 1.5 million copies in France and is already translated into seventeen languages.

Eric Giacometti and Jacques Ravenne (©Melania Avanzato)

Two murders—one in Rome and one in Jerusalem—lead to a battle between modern-day secret societies for ancient knowledge. Detective Antoine Marcas unwillingly teams up with the strong-willed Jade Zewinski and they find...

Asterix Beats 50 Shades and Other Facts about Best Selling Books in France

Asterix beats 50 Shades of Grey. How’s that for a fun fact about best selling books in France? Then again, the next three in line are the whole 50 shades trilogy. Sorry Dan Brown, you’re fourth.

I just came across a press release from GFK listing the best selling books in France in 2013, and thought I’d pull out some of the information. I’ll let you all come up with your own conclusions about the French based on these tidbits.

Fact:14.2 million books sold in 2013 in France, up from 12 million i...

What’s in store for 2014? New books, new authors and more

New books, new series, new formats, new authors, new translators, new retailers … 2014 is going to be an exciting year for Le French Book. Here’s a quick overview of some of the things we have in store.

New books

If you enjoyedTreachery in Bordeaux, get ready for more winemaker detective novels. Two are nearly ready for e-release, and are in our print catalogue for this spring/summer. We’ve got more up our sleeve too. Keep your eye out for the official announcement.

There’s also more coming in t...

Orders Open for Our First 2014 Print Titles

Bookstores, libraries and readers can start placing orders for Le French Book’s first print titles, which will be released in 2014. Here is the schedule.

April

The Greenland Breach by Bernard Besson (Trade paperback: 978-1-939474-07-0). A fast-paced spy novel by a former top-level French intelligence officer and prizewinning thriller writer with a cracking ice cap, rival multinationals and cutthroat espionage. “Besson constructs a complex plot and confidently portrays the grandiosity as it unfo...