Murderous Travels by Daniela M. Hartinger : August 2024

Next stop: Côte d’Azur

Opulent yachts floating on azure waves, charming hilltop villages and the scent of lavender wafting in the air – bienvenue à la Côte d’Azur, also known as the French Riviera.

After the physical exertions of our last Murderous Travels tour, during which we (mentally) climbed numerous mountain peaks, crossed snowfields and tended to countless blisters on our feet, it is high time we indulge in a ew days of luxurious relaxation. Fortunately, we find ourselves at the end (or the beginning, depending on your erspective) of the Alps, where a seductive mix of glamour, breathtaking scenery and mouthwatering cuisine awaits – alluring not only to weary travellers. In places where money is abundant, there’s often something sinister lurking nearby.

The French Riviera, a Mediterranean coastline in southeastern France, has been a popular destination since the 1860s, particularly for British travellers and expats. In 1864, the inauguration of the first railway made Nice and the Riviera accessible to tourists from all over Europe – including numerous royals. Just a few days after the railway was opened, Tsar Alexander II of Russia visited – in his private train, of course – and many others soon
followed.

Speaking of trains, we simply must mention the most famous train connection between Paris and Nice: the Calais-Mediterranée Express, more commonly known as the Blue Train. This legendary train is famously featured in
Agatha Christie’s novel
The Mystery of the Blue Train, featuring Hercule Poirot.

Upon our corpse-free arrival at the Côte d’Azur, we rent a luxurious vintage convertible, tie up our headscarves à la Grace Kelly and strap the picnic basket to the back of the car. Yes, the French Riviera is the perfect place to indulge in nostalgia, and fans of post–Great War mysteries are especially spoiled by choices when selecting their holiday reading. Many serial sleuths from this genre end up investigating in grand hotels or casinos. 

Helena Dixon’s Miss Underhay investigates a Murder on the French Riviera,

Isabella Bassett’s Lady Caroline solves her very first case in Murder at the Grand Hotel in Nice.

Jack Murray sends Lord Aston and his new wife Mary to Monte Carlo to uncover The Bluebeard Club.

If you prefer a calmer environment with sandier beaches than those in Nice, follow Colette Clark’s Pen Banks to Antibes and solve A
 Murder on the Côte d’Azur.

Those who enjoy classic crime fiction might want to follow

John Bude’s Detective Iinspector Meredith to the French Riviera.
 Originally published in 1952,
Death on the Riviera
was reissued in 2016 as part of the
British Library’s Golden Age crime series.

No murder mystery tour in France would be complete without a Commissaire Maigret tale!
George Simenon, a Belgian author, spent his later years in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a charming town near Nice.

However, his mystery
Liberty Bar, set along the Riviera, was published much earlier, in 1932.

If you're pressed for time and can only manage a short mental trip to the Mediterranean, pick up your copy of The Mysterious Mr Quin, one of Agatha Christie’s lesser-known short story collections. 

Enjoy a journey to Monte Carlo with The Soul of the Croupier or to Cannes with ‘The Voice in the Dark’.

After a fabulous drive along the Mediterranean coastline, let’s meet for an Aperol spritz or a sundowner of your choice at the terrace of a fancy beach bar with some promising French name. Although your travel bags are likely
brimming with books, we haven’t yet discussed contemporary crime fiction, so I hope you can make room for a bit more.

Guillaume Musso, a bestselling contemporary French author, chose Antibes, his hometown, as the setting for his novel

La Jeune Fille et la Nuit, translated into English as The Reunion. Highly recommended for fans of intricate plots filled with twists!

Susan Kiernan-Lewis, whom I already mentioned in the previous article, has her sleuth Maggie Newberry investigating throughout France – including, of course, the Côte d’Azur:

Murder in Nice,
Cannes, Grasse, St-Tropez, Monaco, pick the location of your choice ‒ or simply read them all.

And so, my dear travel companions, as the sun sets … Ah! I see you're already engrossed in your new purchases. In that case, all that's left for me to say is:

Happy reading!

Daniela M. Hartinger grew up raiding the shelves of her local library for children’s detective novels and ended up devouring Agatha Christie and the like. She has combined her literary passion with her enthusiasm for foreign languages to work as a freelance book translator. She also dabbles with writing and can’t resist a bar of chocolate – which, nowadays, she must share with her ever-hungry toddler son. 

www.danielahartinger.com