What a great read!

Every so often you come across a book which., as you read it, rings so many bells… people you know, people you knew in the past, situations you have been in place, places you’ve visited… things you can imagine happening to you… Such a book is ‘The English lady Murders’ Society’ by Jim Williams.

It is set in south-west France, and the village of Puybrun where the action takes place is so vividly described that if you have been to similar places you will be nodding and smiling as you recognize it, and if you haven’t been to France or to a small French town or village, you will feel as if you have been when you’ve finished the book. The characters are a group of ex-pat English women, who decide to share their different skills in a series of activities; so for example they learn tatting from one of the group, they go walking with another, they try to learn to dance the tango and there pursue other activities. Through this device, the stories and histories of each woman as revealed; the story is told through the eyes of Janet, the newest arrival in Puybrun and she may, or may not have murdered her husband.

I was amazed that this book was written by a man because it so perfectly captures the characters and personalities and foibles of a variety of women in middle age, the old hippy, the retired bank manager, the woman who has lived a rackety life with various blokes called Dave… and the others. I’ve met women like this, I know women like this! It is written with humour ( lot of humour) and compassion and understanding; it is an amusing read, but there are dark and sad undercurrents, and there is a particular incident towards the end of the book which is quite unsettling. The plot, although gentle is intriguing and engaging… I really wanted to find out the truth about Janet, and to know which of the fishy tales were red herrings! There is romance – will she? won’t she? there are missing husbands,, and there is the intriguing title – are these women murderers? Read it and find out! I didn’t guess the solution, but it made perfect sense when all was revealed.

This is a book which I will recommend to friends, but I’m hanging on to it because I know I will enjoy rereading it!

Find out more about the book here, on Jim’s website:

http://www.jimwilliamsbooks.com/TheEnglishLadyMurderersSociety.htm

I wrote about this book before, when I was half-way through:

http://loiselden.com/2013/04/11/a-cracking-good-read/