Paris in July: Antoine Laurain

Antoine Laurain is a French author who I was introduced to as part of previous Paris in July events. I read my first book last year, but then in the last 12 months I have read 3 more of his books, and I am now halfway through the fourth. I think I have also bought all of the books that I can get in English, except for one. I feel like I should have been more across this author well before now, but better late than ever I am sure! 

For today's post, I thought I would share a couple of mini reviews of the books that I have read, which I am sharing with my fellow participants of Paris in July, hosted at Words and Peace, and with Sunday Salon, hosted at Readerbuzz.

The first Laurain book that I read was The Red Notebook. When Laurent Letellier finds an expensive handbag when he is on his way to work, he is determined to return it to it's rightful owner. The only problem is there is nothing in there to help him find out who that it is. Instead, there are a number of random looking items which helps him track her down. Lauren is a bookseller, and one of the items in the bag is a copy of a book by Patrick Modigliani. There are therefore plenty of literary references, lots of Paris and a fun story. Obviously I enjoyed  it, otherwise I wouldn't have continued onto read so many more of his books.

The next book I read was Vintage 1954. An eclectic group of people find themselves sharing a bottle of  vintage 1954 Beaujolais. There is Hubert who owns the building, Magalie who is an antiques restorer, Julien who is a mixologist, and finally there is Bob, an American widower who is on his dream first trip to Paris. When the group wake up the next day, they find themselves back in 1954. Their mobile phones and credit cards don't work, Paris is very different to the Paris of 2017. The group needs to figure out a family mystery and then how to get back to 2017.

The Reader's Room is more of a mystery, but with a twist. Every one gets excited when a debut novel is found and published to great acclaim. It is a bit odd though. The editor, Violaine LePage, doesn't actually know who the author is, and when there are series of murders that echo those that appear in the book, the police come knocking.

I have enjoyed all of the books, but if you were forcing me to pick a favourite so far it would be An Astronomer in Love, which I reviewed earlier this month (review here). One of the reasons when I like the books so much is that everyone of them is different. There are some commonalities (for example, there seems to be something about smoking in his books, his characters often have interesting occupations, and Paris comes to life in the pages of his books. There are often unexpected connections between the characters which only come to life as you keep on reading the book. 

I am currently reading the latest book, French Windows, and then I have The President's Hat, French Rhapsody, The Portrait and Smoking Kills waiting for me on my Kindle. Yes, you can now call me an Antoine Laurain fan!

Have you read any books by Antoine Laurain?