The Vintage Caper
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- ISBN13: 9780307269010
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Set in Hollywood, Paris, Bordeaux, and Marseille, Peter Mayle’s newest and most delightful novel is filled with culinary delights, sumptuous wines, and colorful characters. It’s also a lot of fun.
The tale starts high above Los Angeles, at the extravagant home and equally impressive wine cellar of entertainment lawyer Danny Roth. Sorry to say, after inviting the Los Angeles Times to write an wide profile extolling the liquid treasures of his collection, Roth finds himself the victim of a world-class wine heist.
Enter Sam Levitt, ex- corporate lawyer, cultivated crime practiced, and wine connoisseur. Called in by Roth’s insurance company, which is now saddled with a multimillion-dollar aver, Sam follows his leads—to Bordeaux and its magnificent vineyards, and to Provence to meet an eccentric billionaire collector who might possibly have an interest in the stolen wines. Along the way, bien sûr, he is joined by a gorgeous and erudite French colleague, and together they navigate many a château, pausing frequently to delight in the countryside’s abundant pleasures.
The unraveling of the ingenious crime is threaded through with Mayle’s seductive rendering of France’s sensory delights—from a fine Lynch-Bages and Léoville Barton to the broth of Marseille and the young lamb of Bordeaux. Even the most sophisticated of oenophiles will learn a thing or two from this vintage work by a beloved leader.Amazon.com Review
A Q&A with Peter Mayle
Question: The Vintage Caper starts and ends in Los Angeles, which you’ve not explored before in your writing. What led you to set parts of the book there? Are you a fan of the city?
Peter Mayle: The inspiration for the tale came from California, and so L.A. seemed a logical place to start. Also, I had long cherished an urge to stay at the Chateau Marmont, which I was able to do in the worthy name of research. Very nice it was too. As for the city, I was unable to find the centre, but persons parts I did see I loved.
Question: Where did the character of Danny Roth come from?
Peter Mayle: Danny Roth is a mixture of several movie people and agents I’ve met over the years—quick-witted, talkative and relentlessly self-absorbed.
Question: This book is a bit of a like letter to the city of Marseille, which isn’t a place that usually inspires such rapturous praise. Do you reflect it’s underrated?
Peter Mayle: Marseille is certainly underrated, and I reflect it still suffers from the reputation gained in The French Tie.Marseille’s problem is that it is not a city that makes an effort to place itself out for strangers. It is what it is, take it or place it—patches of dirt next to buildings and neighborhoods of fantastic beauty; a tremendously mixed population, with origins in France, North Africa, and Italy; the nearly religious support of Olympique de Marseille, the local soccer team; the pride in all things Marseillais, from its broth to its soap; the highly vocal distrust of the government in Paris—all this I find fascinating. And then there are the people ofMarseille, known throughout France as masters of exaggeration. Nowhere else in the world will you find the humble sardine described as a shark. In additional words, Marseille is a fantastic stew of a city, filled with terrific things for writers to get their teeth into.
Question: What led you to write about a wine theft? What kind of research did you do for the book?
Peter Mayle: I read an article in The Indication Tribune about a robbery carried out in California, one in which the thieves concentrated on the very sell-stocked wine cellar, ignoring everything else. I don’t knowif theywere ever establish, but the unusual precision of the robbery intrigued me. Why did they just steal wine? Presumably they were going to sell it, but to whom?And how did they get into the house and clean away? The more questions I thought about, the more it seemed as though the answers would make a fantastic tale. And the research, all ears as it was on wine, was tasty.
Question: Have you had the pleasure of trying any of the wines that were stolen from Danny Roth?
Peter Mayle: Yes, but not regularly enough. In fact, I’ll never make a serious wine connoisseur. Taking tiny and reverent sips is not for me; I like to drink a wine rather than worship it. Give me a well-filled glass and a second bottle waiting in the wings and I’m pleased.
Question: This is your first novel since A GOOD YEAR in 2004, though you’ve published two works of nonfiction, CONFESSIONS OF A FRENCH BAKER and PROVENCE A-Z, in the interim. What prompted you to return to fiction—or turn back to nonfiction in the first place?
Peter Mayle: I delight in writing fiction because there are no restrictions; you’re inventing. And I delight in nonfiction because you don’t have to make it up; you’re describing. Choosing between the two depends entirely on the theme and the thought, and THE VINTAGE CAPER came about because of an thought prompted by that newspaper tale.
(Photo © Jean-Claude Simoen)
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Excellent tale,excellent settings, excellent characters, excellent plot, excellent dialoque; what more could I question for?
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
Peter Mayls’e “Vintage Caper” is first and foremost vintage Mayle. The novel is mostly set in the south of France, the characters are chatty, the wine flows. While it’s not the most intricate or intriguing caper one could read, that’s not the point. The point is it’s Peter Mayle writing lighthearted, accessible fiction again, and his hand is as cunning as ever.
To measure this book by comparing to traditional best-seller capers is to do the book a grave injustice. Once you accept that the caper is merely a vessel holding Mayle’s literary mousse, you’re in for a jolly ride.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
This was one of persons rare reads (or listens, in this case with the audio book)that I had to stop the book to catch my breath. I read alot of mysteries, a couple a week, and this was the best in along time. I will be waiting for more mysteries from Mr. Mayle.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
Ever since A Year in Provence (A Classic, by now), I have been a fan of Peter Mayle’s books of Provence. Hotel Pastis was wonderful and the Bulldoggish Anything Considered was a fantastic read. Mr. Mayle puts together a caper novel with light hearted skill, and characters, usually not wafer thin (as in this book) have enough chemistry to emit a sparkles. All this wrapped up in fantastic food/drink atmosphere, in France, not anywhere else. It would not work in that case, anyway.
With the present book which I brought with trepidation for the last one, A Excellent Year (made into a terrible movie by the usually safe director: Ridley Scott)was not really in the same class; it was tired and lacking much appeal.
This book starts off slow and then in the middle and by the end picks up.
Mr. Mayle, as they say, can write standing on his head. Question is: is it worth reading. This one is. But one sighs at the wasted opportunies. No chemistry between Sophie and Sam. (Don’t they teach in the writing courses, not to have confusingly similar names, especially when they are interacting throughout the book?). Elena, oh, Elena, a distraction and a pain. Phillipe, cousin of Sophie, Vial the factotum of Francis Reboul are the two characters with enough intrigue but they are not developed enough. Ah, what missed opportunities. More fun with Sophie, a triangle with Vial and perhaps if Elena had come to France.
The ending is begging for a follow up. Hopefully, Mr. Mayle, in between HIS gourmet food and drinks, has enough regards for his loyal followers to make a novel that reflects his ancient talents.
If There Wasn’t Death
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
Peter Mayle’s //The Vintage Caper// finds Sam Levitt, ex- corporate attorney, traversing the globe to track down the culprits of a multi-million dollar wine heist.
The “usual culprits” in this case are most unusual, spanning a handful of the world’s richest men, a private bank or two, residents of palaces and castles, and a couple of world legendary restaurateurs. Ably helped by insurance agent Sophie Costes, Sam wines and dines his way through the French countryside in pursuit of the fabled vintages.
This book is a lighthearted, tasty romp that makes the reader want to see more Sam Levitt adventures.
Reviewed by Claudette Smith
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5