The Marseille Caper (Sam Levitt Capers)

I am a big Peter Mayle fan and thoroughly enjoyed his books about life in Provence, the finer things in life, and one of his early fictional works. The formula in his first novel worked, but after reading several of them, there are elements that become repetitive and tiresome. I get the sense of someone who is going back to the well one or two times too often. There are nice bits of humor here and there, there are flirtatious elements with lots left to the imagination, and other things to like, but this book just didn't make me laugh as much as others, and I didn't find the characters as engaging. I will resell it to my local bookstore and move on. I have several hundred books in my library. This one is not a keeper. Sorry, Peter.

I usually enjoy Peter Mayles books from the South of France, but I found this one a bit trite. It is just a bit too much at times. The word "delight" and "delightful" is used too often, the Southern European men are a bit too sugary, the ladies a bit too "French," the whole thing reads almost like a caricature of the real thing. Perhaps the problem is that Mayle himself has got too rich and famous, too far removed from how most people live in that part of the world. Parts of the story also seem a bit unbelievable. One example: Why does the Bad Guy's financial survival hinge on getting the go-ahead for a huge real estate project? Such projects are inherently very risky and require even more debt to complete - quite the opposite of what most banks would want when one of their borrowers is already overly leveraged. And why would the protagonist be picked to market a real estate project on the other side of the world?!? The only obvious answers to these questions is that these conditions are introduced purely for literary purposes. No. Mayle would be better off returning to his roots and writing about regular life in the South of France, about events that actually happen or at least likely could happen.

Peter Mayles's "Caper" series are always pleasant reads. I have read three of them so far, and I will probably buy the next one as well. You can count on a clear set of characters who react the way you would expect them to act. Mayle keeps the dialogue squeaky clean, and there are many readers who will appreciate that about his style. He is a very good writer and his use of language is excellent. Personally, I think he excelled in "A Year in Provence" and its sequel, and is coasting just a bit now. "The Marseille Caper" is a follow-on to "The Vintage Caper", and many of the same characters tag along for this ride. The story is set in the South of France, an area many readers have learned to love as Mayle obviously does. The story moves along, and fast readers are likely to gobble up this book in one bite. The plot is fairly linear, so if you're a reader that loves a good 'twist', this book may leave you wanting more. This is the main reason I only gave it 3-stars. Otherwise, a thoroughly enjoyable book.

If ever there was an author for whom the term "delightful" would apply, Peter Mayle is one. This latest romp through the South of France is filled with the quirky characters, beautiful scenery, mouth-watering food and beverages and a sprinkling of history we've come to expect from Mr. Mayle. I found it a vicarious luxury to follow the escapades of our hero Sam as he is treated to the indulgences of a fabulously wealthy client and the warm camaraderie of Sam's own friends. This book is good, gentle, genteel fun. Even the bad guys here are more naughty than monstrous.This is by no means serious literature, but Mayle's writing is always dependably excellent and I found The Marseille Caper to be a perfect "vacation" read after the intense immersion of Michael Chabon's "Telegraph Avenue". Enjoy!

Such an entertaining read by the late, great Peter Mayle. His prose and descriptions of Marseille and the food the characters ate was phenomenal. The story line was good. Overall a well developed, entertaining book. I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series. If you love a life of luxury and travel as well as a good detective story, you can't go wrong with this book.

This novel is the second in the case series of novels with the same main characters as in the first. There's a lot of good good and wine to pleasure your imaginative palate, and there's a good story as well.

What I enjoyed about this book: the descriptions of Provençal meals and scenery and the occasional interesting French word or custom thrown in. The plot, eh. It just wasn't very believable (and I'm all for suspending belief, but this just went flat) and the characters were all a little too smugly perfect. Sure, everyone is really good-looking and well-dressed and charming and knows how to handle a speedboat... just a little too much fantasy. But what really got me is how abruptly it ended. Reading on a Kindle, I didn't notice that I was coming to the end, and it just... stopped. Just when I thought the real meat of the caper was coming, it all wrapped up nice and neat and happy and the good guys were rich and had the right girl. Just like in real life.

Peter Mayle’s style of writing transports you straight into the area he is writing about where you can taste the food and drink and feel the warmth of the sun on your back , lovely bookPlease take a moment to push the helpful button and make my time typing up and reviewing worthwhile 🥰

I hadn't read any of Peter Mayle's books before so was interested to try this novel. I rather expected something possibly gritty, hopefully tense perhaps with maybe a few nail-biting episodes and a rousing finale. What I found was a nice tale of nice people who wore nice clothes (which were described in detail), went to nice restaurants run by nice people and ate nice food (described in exhaustive detail) and were very nice to each other. They travelled nicely to France and other nice places which were - yes - described in detail. There was a mild caper which was the rather wobbly peg on which the story hung. There were also villains, a semi-comic self-made cockney with big money, his two comic thugs (on the lines of Shakespeare's comic incompetents) and an oily Frenchman.By half way through I was wondering what was going on. All this niceness must surely lead to a counterbalancing vicious horridness but no. The baddies got their comeuppance quite nicely and everyone finished nicely happily.Following the above you might expect me to give this very few stars but, actually, it is well written and carries you on from page to page in a dreamy waft of niceness. So losing just one star because it is not a caper except in the sense of prancing around on some nice grass, in the sun, with a couple of friends and several glasses of fine wine (described in detail, of course). But no more Mayle for me.

Holiday reading par excellence in that you don't need to concentrate or exercise more than about 10% of your brain. All the women are beautiful, strong and powerful; all the restaurants are superb; all the men shoot the cuffs of their Italian silk suits at every opportunity; and everyone seems to spend every minute either dunking croissants into their cafe au lait or sipping on Crystal champagne! The story line is thin. The character barely reach two dimensions, let alone three. However, after reading The Marseille Caper I do have a strong desire to visit the city and sample some of its food and wine.

Having enjoyed the film of Mayle's 'A Good Year', I hoped I'd found a new author to enjoy. Sadly, this - my first foray - just didn't live up to the sheer fun of my expectations. A light read, but nothing more. Another reviewer commented on the 'interminable waffle about food and drink' - having ploughed through the first detailed recipe, I've decided it's just not worth plodding on. Even if the plot improves, I can see how off-putting the foodie side of things is going to be.

If you want a delightful but light novel, and if you like the south of France, this is for you. The scenery and food descriptions are given a lot of space, but the transition from non-fiction to fiction, rather surprisingly, is fine. The plots works, though it is not intricate. The characters are credible, with enough quirks to save them from being formulaic. The whole thing is relaxing and fun - but if you want to be scared by thrilling twists and turns, go elsewhere.