Deja Vu All Over Again When intrepid travel agency owner Emily Andrew-Miceli takes her band of tech-savvy seniors to France, they say "Bonjour" by cruising down the Seine River. Along for the ride are a colorful cast of cruise-goers, including four sales reps who are the creme de la creme of the cosmetic industry and a group of morticians looking for a little joie de vivre as they sort out business conflicts. But once a guest is found dead along Normandy's famed Alabaster coast, Emily bids adieu to the hopes of a fatality-free trip. Was it a mishap? Or was murder the entree du jour? Traveling from the medieval alleyways of Rouen to Monet's famous water lily garden, Emily must untangle a web of lies that began a half-century ago, on the very eve of the D-Day invasion."
I truly adore this series. Emily, Nana and the colorful cast of senior travelers are always entertaining. It is hard to believe that this is volume number nine in one of my absolute favorite murder mystery series. Ms. Hunter always finds the perfect balance of mystery, history, and humor. I adore the characters, the plots, the locations, and the laughter of each adventure. The eccentric cast of characters is a bonus, as were the ties between present day and World War II.
This installment introduces an interesting back story for one of the gang - adding an extra element to the story than just the regular humorous bickering and quirkiness. The touching reunion for Osmond was truly heartwarming. I appreciate that there is always an interesting mix of new characters on every tour supplementing the Iowa seniors. Fleur de Lies has multiple mysteries woven into the plot in addition to several red herrings and of course a dead body. There are also fascinating tidbits about World War II and France scattered throughout the book, so every reader will find something to enjoy. I guarantee this book will keep you guessing until the very end.
Fleur de Lies by Maddy Hunter is the 9th book in the Passport to Peril mystery series. Emily Andrews and her group of Iowan seniors are travelling through Normandy in France and are joined by the top sales people from Mona Michel cosmetic and a group of morticians when one of the group falls from a cliff and is killed. It is always fun joining Emily's tours and I love the descriptions of the scenery and attractions making me want to see them myself. I enjoyed catching up with the colourful cast of travellers with one of them rekindling a war time romance. A very entertaining book with plenty of laughs and humour.
I love Emily, Nana and the rest of the gang! This time they were doing a river cruise through France and there was a mixing of events that went on around D-Day and the current group of travelers (and let's face it this was a book because that group with those connections would all never have wound up randomly on the same cruise). Lots of fun and Emily even managed to stay dry in this one!
Funny! Glad to return to this fun loving series. It combines a few ingredients I love: bad puns, humor, travel and a mystery. This book was set in France and had some places I am dying to see someday--Claude Monet grounds. I have to say that the twist with the undertaker for me was unforeseen and yet fit perfectly. There was one hilarious line in here, from Nana of course! She was making fun of the Tour de France and performance enhancing drugs! Additionally, elders and smartphones--what a hilarious combo! Etienne was missing from this book but Nana took more of center stage. Love this series!
As Emily Miceli leads a group of eleven Iowa senior citizens on a cruise on the Rhone River in France, she soon learns that they are more interesting in electronic communication than in sightseeing. Luckily for the reader, she describes several of the locations made famous in pictures by artists such as Monet. The group is quite argumentative as are others on the cruise, particularly a trio of gorgeous blondes who have received the trip as a reward for their sales prowess for the cosmetic company for which they work. The elderly owner of the company and his wife are also aboard and also disagree on several issues. Another main character, Jackie, also being rewarded for her sales for the company, is a tall brunette who, before her sex change surgery, was married to Emily. One of the stops is at the home of a French family where the guests are able to inquire about life in France. The visit brings back memories for the French mother and one of the members of Emily’s group. Eventually, one of the passengers dies. The cause of her death becomes suspicious, especially when another one exhibits some of the same symptoms. Emily tries to discover the motive and the murderer. The book was a well-written, light, quick read. Several witty segments work their way into the prose. One that I particularly liked was, when they were discussing how the police knew who to interview, someone suggested that they had read the medical forms. One of the blondes is shocked and says, “They can’t do that, can they? I thought the only agencies authorized to spy on Americans were the NSA, CIA, FBI, ONI, INR, IRS, online advertisers, and Facebook.” I appreciated that Jackie was always referred to as “her.” Among the books short comings was the exaggeration of the characters. The seniors were too dotty and the blondes too dumb.
This is an easy, enjoyable mystery, the latest of the Passport to Peril Mystery series. Ms Hunter has a way with writing about the senior citizens, that does not denigrate them, but sometimes makes me laugh out loud...
What can I say, I love this series so much! This time round Emily, Nana and the rest of the Iowans go to Vive La France! And... Jackie is also present again! I love Jackie, formally known as Jack, Emily's ex husband. She is awesome and so funny. Jackie really fit into the group. The Iowans, all elderly people, are so welcoming, so friendly and helpful. And hooked onto their phones which is just so funny!
What I loved about this book was the main story. Not even the murder or the mystery, but the bigger story surrounding it. A wonderful love story which started in the war and brings one of Emily's Iowans back in contact with his love whom he saved during the war. Don't get me wrong, the murder and the mystery were also tied into this story and were very good, but I really enjoyed the backstory!
During this trip, they are joined by a group of cosmetic sales reps, to which Jackie also belongs. When one of the girls ends up dead, the police quickly rule it an accident. Emily is relieved, seeing as how all her trips have murders going on. But when the police comes back and tell them there was foul play.... The worrying starts!
As always this book also gives so many laughs and hilarious scenes. I laughed out loud a couple of times and snickered through many scenes. Like when Jackie gives the Iowans a pre-funeral make-up to show to her boss, Victor, to pitch it as a new idea. Yeah, I really, really love this series and I hate to know there's only three more books left in it. If you haven't read it yet, you absolutely must!
I have read every one of the Passport to Peril series. I just read 3 of the last 4 in the series while I was on vacation last week. The author is very close-minded about her politics and sees the opposing party as ignorant, gun-loving narcissists. I don't want to hear her political opinions and I sure as heck don't want to hear about her one-dimensional idea of characters who don't share her opinions. I don't want to read it. I don't want to know what her political opinion is. I just want to read and be entertained. This is supposed to be a funny, entertaining murder mystery series, not a political essay. Keep the politics out and stick with the characters. At this point, I don't think I'll read another of her books. I'm sorry to see the characters go, but I want entertainment, not political opinions.
Emily and her travel group of senior citizens are traveling again. This time, they traveled to France. The gang were on a river cruise on the Seine when all of the sudden one of their cruise mates fell to their death from a cliff. Was it murder or an accident?
There was also the mystery of a ring with a fleur de lis. Finally there was a mystery involving one of the senior citizens, Osmond, and a host family's grandma. They knew each other from a long time before and had lost contact.
I enjoyed reading/ listening to this book. It was an easy read/ listen. (I did both with the book.)
In this story, Emily Andrew-Miceli is taking her group from Iowa to France. They start on the beaches of Normandy and finish in Paris by cruising on the Seine River. Emily is not the official tour guide so has no duties and can enjoy the trip. While in Normandy, one of the men from Iowa meets an old friend who saved his life just after D-Day. There is a murder but somehow it seems secondary to the trip. The book was a quick easy read.
I have to say this one is better than the last. I loved that Jack is back always makes it better, I also liked how now their in France and we meet Jacks new endeavors as makeup seller for a company named Monet something. Their is a lot of history in this book especially about WW2 and some many passengers/travelers have this connection and I love that we get to know Osmond more.
I loved this series and will miss it. I am as pleased as punch to say that I entered Maddie’ book naming contest and Fleur de Lies (my entry) won. Probably my only claim to fame. Ms Hunter did give me a copy of the book and a credit🤗
Is it just me or did this one feel shorter than normal? It seemed that, overall, less things happened. I did enjoy it, but I just felt like it was an abbreviated entry to the series.
Emily Andrew-Miceli is back at it again. She is a tour guide par excellence, ferrying her band of senior citizens all over the world. This small and colorful group of people enjoy traveling, and even though Emily in her turn enjoys being with them, they are usually (okay, always) quite a handful to deal with.
This time out, the group is on a river cruise in France. Not only are they discovering the country, but a few of them – along with other travelers – are rediscovering the France they knew during World War II. At first all seems harmless enough, but when a “home visit” to a local family reunites one of Emily’s charges with an old love, suddenly things begin to get sticky. Not that that’s anything unusual for this group – anyone who has read the previous books in this series knows that the unusual is the usual for the seniors, but the chance meeting starts a chain of events that not only involves Emily’s charges, but other people on the tour as well.
And there are plenty – Emily’s ex-husband-turned-transsexual Jackie is aboard, as a star representative for Mona Michelle cosmetics, along with the other three women who have pushed sales through the roof – Krystal, Dawna and Bobbi; the company’s owner, Victor Martin and his wife Victoria; funeral home owner Woody Jolly, and his son/partner Cal, who are with a group of others in their profession.
So when one of the guests on the cruise is killed in what is at first thought to be accidental but eventually discovered to be murder (and we would expect no less, knowing that Emily could not be so lucky to have an accidental death on one of her tours), everyone on the ship is scrutinized, and while Emily is trying to control her group, she realizes that the murder is tied into something she discovered early on during their trip.
This book is funny when the seniors are running around; and you discover that Emily really doesn’t have any control over them at all (although she likes to pretend that she does anyway). You have Woody spouting funeral arrangements to anyone who will listen and his son Cal trying to get him to knock it off, while the female sales reps are as catty as you would expect them to be (except poor naive Jackie, who hasn’t been a female long enough to really get it). There are interesting tidbits about World War II scattered throughout the book, so any history buff should enjoy that; and the plot is woven in a tangle of knots and red herrings that even I was surprised when I found out the killer (and I’m usually pretty good at it, but this time she surprised even me). I would recommend this and the rest of Ms. Hunter’s books to anyone who enjoys a humorous read along with historical facts and ‘armchair traveling’. Purely delightful.
. Emily Andrew-Miceli and her husband Etienne own and operate Destination Travel Company located in Windsor City, Ohio which runs tours around the word geared toward the older generation which includes her own grandmother. This time out she is taking a group seniors on a tour to France to enjoy cruising down the Seine River. When one of the guest turns up dead on the famous beaches of Normandy. As Emily tries determine if it were a tragic accident or perhaps something more sinister she uncovers a link to a betrayal that took place the day before D-Day in June of 1944.
Take a cruise through history as we follow Emily and her guest as many walk the streets they walked decades before. Soak in the beautiful scenery. Reacquaint yourself with some old friends and meet some new ones. As the clues are revealed and you begin to solve the mystery don't be surprised when you're mistaken. An excellent cozy to curl up in your comfy chair and while a few hours away with. If you have not read any of the Passport to Peril Mysteries before don't worry, they can be read easily as stand alones. My rating is 5 out of 5 stars.
This novel is volume number nine in one of my simply favorite murder mystery series. I adore the characters, the plots, the locations, and the humor of each adventure.
Emily Miceli, who is co-owner of a tour agency catering mainly to seniors, has gathered her usual crowd of tourists from Windsor City, Iowa to take a river cruise in France. First we are introduced not only to her group, but, quickly to fellow co-cruisers from another group which will make up the total bunch. What characters! They are in their 70's-90's, excepting the handful of 20 & 30 somethings. Mystery abounds. Even Emily's ex-husband, Jack now Jackie (you really should read this entire series from book one,) is aboard having won a trip from the cosmetic company she works for.
There is competition among the group (yes, even the 90's) and pretenders. The locations are thrilling ranging from WWII sites to locations favored by Claude Monet. However, watch out for the Alabaster beaches, and the beauty of Rouen.
One of the beautiful ladies dies from a fall? Or was it a brain hemorrhage, or murder? And, off we go to help Emily figure out what is going on? A French beauty is met and the plot thickens. It ends with a cigar, and yes, I cheered!
I must admit that I bothered my husband all throughout this reading. He is (was? Naturalized USA) French and I had him pronouncing words, interpreting names and locations, looking up locations on the map, and generally reading passages out of the book to share the humor. Especially the 'Still Life' by Bernice!
This book is a cozy that will make all readers smile. If you are interested in the Second World War, you will find interesting tidbits, such as the 'crickets.' Every book in this series has been a winner in my opinion.
I found this series about a month and a half ago and devoured the first 8 and was very happy to get Fleur de Lies from Netgalley.
Emily and her Iowan seniors are on yet another foreign tour and bodies start cropping up as usual. A plus: there seemed to be a little more travel/background information given at the beginning of this book which visits Normandy which, understandably, would mean a lot to a group of seniors. Some of the slightly negative elements for me in a couple of the earlier books like Emily's obsession with shoes and clothes is mercifully limited in this book as is the really outlandish and stupid things she does (like jumping into a freezing river for a toupee). I would probably say Fleur de Lis was my favorite entry in the series so far.
One thing I have yet to understand: why does Emily's husband play such a small, really non-existent role in the series? I know this isn't a romance, but it just seems strange that other that the first book he just pops up briefly or is mentioned. One would think with his wife and the group's penchant for finding bodies, he, as a former police detective, wouldn't let them travel without him.
In the 9th installment, Emily and the group are on the Seine enjoying a river cruise, with stops along the way. Lots of WWII history in this one - some of which intertwined with the plot. An interesting backstory was introduced for one of the gang - something a little different than just the regular humorous bickering and quirkiness. Jackie was also back (in her ever-hilarious attempts in trying to fit in), though Wally and Etienne (boo!) were missing. In a surprising twist, Emily wasn't the first to jump to "murderous" conclusions - she was trying to be the voice of reason!
I'm now all caught up with the series and looking forward to the new release in December! This is a great series to escape in - lots of silliness (some of the earlier stuff was a little more wince-worthy), lots of fun, lots of twists and plenty of red herrings! Usually with this many books in a series, an author can become somewhat predicable in what his/her characters do, but I'm glad to see that this series has escaped this fault. Definitely recommend as a light summer read!