The Winemaker Detective Series, by Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen is Released

New York, New York

The Winemaker Detective Series, by Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen, offers an immersion in French countryside and gourmet attitude, with two wine-loving amateur detectives. This cozy mysteries series will "whet the appetite of lovers of both Iron Chef and Murder, She Wrote," according to Booklist, a top book review reference for librarians. "Alaux and Balen offer intrigue and plenty of good eating and drinking within just a few pages."

Already a popular television series in France, the Winemaker Detective series is being translated into English by mystery and thriller publisher Le French Book, which just signed the rights for five more titles.

With these new titles, the Winemaker Detective will travel to Montmartre, in Paris, Beaujolais, Alsace, Romanée-Conti (Burgundy) and all the way to Hungary's Tokay region.

For publisher Anne Trager, "These are entertaining cozy mysteries full of wine lore and food loving zeal. As the series goes on, the two main characters grow, and their adventures continue, while readers get to vicariously explore more wine country. They are great fun."

The authors
Jean-Pierre Alaux is a magazine, radio and television journalist when he is not writing novels in southwestern France. He is a genuine wine and food lover and the grandson of a winemaker. For him, there is no greater common denominator than wine. Coauthor of the Winemaker Detective series, Noe?l Balen lives in Paris, where he shares his time between writing, making records, and lecturing on music. He plays bass, is a music critic and has authored a number of books about musicians in addition to his novel and short-story writing.

Already available titles
The first in the series, Treachery in Bordeaux (9781939474025) introduces the characters. This journey to Bordeaux takes readers behind the scenes of a grand cru wine estate that has fallen victim to sabotage. World-renowned winemaker Benjamin Cooker sets out to find out what happened and why. Who would want to target this esteemed vintner?

Grand Cru Heist (9781939474049) navigates from the Loire Valley to Bordeaux. In between a glass of Vouvray and a bottle of Saint-Émilion, the Winemaker Detective and his assistant Virgile turn PI to solve two murders and very peculiar heist. Who stole those bottles of grand cru classé?

In Nightmare in Burgundy (9781939474056), the Winemaker Detective leaves his native Bordeaux for a dream wine-tasting trip in Burgundy, France's other key wine region. His stay turns into a troubling nightmare when he stumbles upon a mystery revolving around messages from another era. What dark secrets from the deep past are haunting the Clos de Vougeot?

In Deadly Tasting (9781939474216), a serial killer stalks Bordeaux, signing his crimes with a strange ritual. To understand the wine-related symbolism, the local police call on the famous wine critic Benjamin Cooker. The investigation leads them to the dark hours of France's history, as the mystery thickens among the once-peaceful vineyards of Pomerol.

About Le French Book
Le French Book (http://www.lefrenchbook.com) is a New York-based publisher specialized in great reads from France, with a growing catalog of top contemporary mysteries and thrillers with a French touch. An IPS publisher.