Imagine Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France and Navarre, missioning her milliner and her hairdresser to solve investigations of the highest importance! The result is tasty. We tell you why we love this police trilogy signed Frédéric Lenormand, published by La Martinière.
If you don't know what to read these days, we have a little idea for you. In the secret service of Marie-Antoinette, a police comedy written by Frédéric Lenormand and published by La Martinière, comes in several volumes (three for now!) – to be discovered in order or out of order – and brings together all the most exquisite ingredients, from those who make the right books. Under the sign of the whodunnit that keeps going, The Barry investigation, No respite for the Queen and The bride was in Rose Bertin do not skimp with humor or history. We read, we validate, we explain to you.
Colorful characters
Already, placing Marie-Antoinette at the heart of a wacky comedy, it had to be done. When the Queen takes the reins of the kingdom of France to kill her boredom and she orders Rose and Léonard – her milliner and her hairdresser, characters who really existed! – to solve puzzles on your own account, you quickly understand where you set foot: in an irresistible novel, with funny situations and surprising twists and turns. The duo of amateur detectives get along like dog and cat. Rose and Léonard, whom we imagine to be alluring and with a strong character, never stop bickering but form an impossible to break and terribly endearing team. The whole is sprinkled with humor, of course: word games, verbal jousts galore and delectable second degree!
Extremely well-crafted investigations
Do not believe: it is not because we talk about hair, dresses and the Palace of Versailles with humor that the background is not there. Quite the contrary. The author has been able to weave deliciously convoluted intrigues. The first episode sends Rose and Leonard to search for the stolen jewels of the Countess du Barry. The second invites the charming duo to find a mysterious Inca treasure which will be used to feed the people threatened by famine. Finally, in the third, The bride was in Rose Bertin, published in spring 2020, the Queen is in search of the secret code which will make it possible to decrypt the correspondence of the previous King of France with his agents abroad. Marie-Antoinette, frivolous and light, is also a formidable woman of fist and condition under the pen of Frédéric Lenormand!
A bit of history along the way and a trip to Paris in the 1770s
The success of Marie-Antoinette's Au service secret series is not only due to the combination of humor and suspense. The historical aspect is very important. If you have not taken your history lessons at school, no problem: the author takes the time to teach us while having fun. And history buffs will also find their account, as the author's knowledge is rich and precise. Thus the restitution of Paris, the image of the driver who launches his horses to drive Rose and Leonard to Versailles, descriptions of the Madeleine district or Passy, a village among others, on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne and residences with gardens "Built for the bourgeoisie concerned with breathing fresh air". The ride is wonderful. Each page is a decoration in itself, which takes us through the years 1774 to 1777. A successful bet, therefore, with these three rhythmic volumes, funny and finely constructed, which you can read separately, in the order that you like … We envy you!
In bookstores on March 5, 2020, "In Marie-Antoinette's secret service", The Bride was in Rose Bertin, Frédéric Lenormand, ed. from La Martinière, 14 euros
Already available
"In the secret service of Marie-Antoinette", The Barry's investigation, Frédéric Lenormand, La Martinière editions, at the discovery price of 8.90 euros
"In the secret service of Marie-Antoinette", No respite for the Queen, second volume published, Frédéric Lenormand, La Martinière editions, 14 euros