A Good Year

Rating:
Summary: Great Summer Reading
Review: This is another great Peter Mayle book. While the characters are familiar, pretty girls with great legs, loveable locals, a snoppy housekeeper, cautious neighbors etc., the plot has many unpredictable turns. All in all you are left with a wonderful tale for great arm chair adventurering. It will bring many smiles to your face.

Rating:
Summary: sour grapes
Review: While still a lighthearted, fun read, this book disappoints on many levels. Too much focus on plot, not enough on the characters. Why hadn't Max seen his uncle in years? And was the California cousin really necessary? It would have been more interesting for Max to figure out the deception on his own. And the scant attention paid to the sting operation and the criminals' impluasibly quick exit left much to be desired. For a much better Mayle novel of this type, read Chasing Cezanne.