with Anne Trager
We are delighted to welcome publisher Anne Trager to Omnimystery News.
Anne is the founder and president of the mystery and thriller publishing house Le French Book … but is also a translator. She launched the Winemaker Detective series by Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen with two of her own translations — Treachery in Bordeaux and most recently Grand Cru Heist. She writes about the experience here for us today, titling her guest post "Inspiration in Translation".
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Photo provided courtesy of
Anne Trager
Imagine picking up a short mystery and being whisked away to one of your favorite places (French wine country in my case), discovering a world of good food and drink, and very French enjoyment of life's simple and not-so-simple pleasures, with some sleuthing on the side. Then you finish the book in one sitting and, perhaps like me, wish for a glass of fine wine. That's exactly what happened when I first discovered the Winemaker Detective series.
A friend and restaurant owner in Toulouse, France, knew my interest in food and wine and mysteries and lent me one of the series, which in French is called Le Sang de la Vigne, or Blood of the Vine, as is the TV series. I knew right away I had to start translating it into English. When I first moved to France over a quarter of a century ago, it was to train as a chef, and when I stayed on, I learned the basics of wine and wine tasting, before I started my translation and publishing career.
So this particular series spoke not only to the mystery lover in me, but also to my inner Epicurean. I love that the authors have a real passion for wine and winemaker. They themselves describe each book as being as much a wine novel as a mystery. And in each one, you learn something about the world of grand and not-so-grand crus.
The books also transport you to France. The authors are particularly adept at description, and they write about real wine estates, real restaurants, and real sites. They only change the names when some crime or evil-doing is involved. So, in addition to some armchair travel, you can actually use them as travel guides.
In fact, on a recent holiday, I went with my family to stay in the hotel in the Loire Valley where Benjamin Cooker took refuge to recover from a carjacking in Paris (Grand Cru Heist). We then set out to taste wines he mentioned, discovering some fine estates. Talk about inspiration.
Ultimately, my experience as a translator of two of these books probably parallels a reader's experience: I learned a lot about wine and winemaking, I vicariously enjoyed a lot of food and wine through the book's heroes, with all the fun of solving a mystery along the way.
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Grand Cru Heist
Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen
A Benjamin Cooker, Winemaker Detective Mystery
Translated by Anne Trager
One winter day in Paris, renowned wine critic Benjamin Cooker's world gets turned upside down when his car gets highjacked. He loses his treasured tasting notebook and his feeling of safety. To recover, he retreats to the region around Tours, sure that the wine and off-season calm will restore is sense of self.
There a flamboyant British dandy, a spectacular blue-eyed blond, a zealous concierge and touchy local police disturb his well-deserved rest. 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?
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