Monsieur Pamplemousse Books In Order

Publication Order of Monsieur Pamplemousse Books

The Monsieur Pamplemousse book series is a popular series of culinary mystery, crime fiction, contemporary, humor, detective fiction, and cozy mystery stories. It is written by a highly renowned British novelist named Michael Bond. The series revolves around the life of a charming French food inspector and a part-time detective named Monsieur Pamplemousse. He is seen chasing criminals and trying to solve mysteries with the assistance of his crime-stopping and faithful partner, a bloodhound named Pomme Frites. There is a total of 21 books in this series released between 1983 and 2015. Every novel featured in the series is a delightful story with tongue-in-cheek plots and intriguing characters. The series is included among the best works of Michael Bond, after the Paddington Bear series and the Olga da Polga series.

The Monsieur Pamplemousse books are widely popular for their humorous setups, exciting characters, interesting mysteries, and their references to mouth-watering cuisines. Along with the numerous culinary adventures, the books offer a number of references to fine French wine, particularly Burgundy and Bordeaux. The references reflect the personal wine preferences of Michael Bond. Michael has written this series in the form of a unique bond of mystery and comedy. He has depicted Monsieur Pamplemousse as a food inspector working for a popular restaurant rating directory in France called Le Guide. Monsieur Pamplemousse is seen traveling throughout the country for inspecting the finest wines and cuisines at the best French restaurants. While doing so, they often stumble upon hilarious mysteries, one after the other. This unique blend of comedy & mystery was loved by the readers very much, which can be evidently seen from the tremendous success of the series. Michael Bond had said that he modeled the character of Monsieur Pamplemousse based on an old film star from France named Raimu. Another factor that inspired Michael to write detective fiction was his mother. She was an enthusiastic reader of mystery books and was responsible for turning Michael into one like her.

Michael Bond was a reputed English novelist, who was famous for writing children’s books, humor, detective fiction, and crime fiction novels. He is particularly popular for creating the characters of Paddington Bear, Olga da Polga, and Monsieur Pamplemousse. Bond was born as Thomas Michael Bond on January 13, 1926, in Newbury, Berkshire, England. He died on June 27, 2017, in London. He was able to publish his first novel in 1958 and was active in the field of novel writing until his death. A number of his books have been used in film and TV adaptations over the years. Michael Bond was brought up in Reading. He used to visit the Reading railway station a lot and this started his interest in trains.

Bond earned his initial education from the Presentations College. As he didn’t have a happy time there, Bond decided to leave education at the age of 14. While the Second World War was near, he joined work in a solicitor’s office and then switched over to work for the BBC. At the age of 17, he volunteered to work of the Royal Air Force. Bond had started writing stories in 1945. He sold the first story written by him to London Opinion magazine. Until 1958, he had produced several short stories and plays. The same year his first Paddington Bear book came out and it proved a turning point for him. After that, Bond went on to write numerous books and sold millions of copies. Michael Bond received many accolades and awards throughout his career and is regarded as one of the greatest novelists England has ever produced.

The debut book of the Monsieur Pamplemousse series written by author Micahel Bond is entitled ‘Monsieur Pamplemousse’. It was released in 1986 by the Fawcett publishers, after its initial release in 1983. The book introduces the characters of Monsieur Pamplemousse and Pommes Frites, his friendly companion and helper. Monsieur takes on his duty as a food inspector and is delighted to know that his next assignment is to visit the famous La Langoustine restaurant, located in the hills near Provence. His previous experience at the restaurant was a very good one and Monsieur was desperately looking for another opportunity to dine at the famed restaurant. Monsieur Pamplemousse feels his routine life working as a top-rated culinary guide’s undercover researcher becomes lonely at times. But, he is grateful to have the companionship of Pommes Frites, a faithful bloodhound with a good nose.

The owners of La Langoustine hope to win the Red Stockpot, a top prize for restaurants, for the third time. Monsieur Pamplemousse thinks the restaurant has everything to make it a promising winner. As he waits in the dining area with Pommes Frites for the arrival of the chicken recipe stuffed with foie gras and truffles, he senses that the entire area is filled with delicious aromas of spices, herbs, and wine. Just when Monsieur begins to take the first bite, a part of the dish collapses, revealing an unexpected treat meant to kill him. It becomes clear to him that someone wants him dead mainly because of his genuine reviews. Instead of fearing that someone tried to make an attempt on his life, Monsieur seems delighted because he knows he will get to practice the recently learned sleuthing skills to find the culprit. Also, he is confident to achieve success, knowing that he has Pommes Frites by his side.

Another exciting novel that forms a part of this series is known as ‘Headlines’. It was published by Allison and Busby publishing company in 2006. This book continues to show Pommes Frites and Monsieur Pamplemousse in the lead roles. The novel opens by describing that Monsieur has had death attempts made on his life on several occasions when he worked for the Paris Surete as an inspector. A similar attempt to kill him is made when Monsieur goes to attend a TV cooking program. He watches the host trying an oyster and then feeling suffocated to death. Immediately, the cooking program is stopped and an investigation set into motion to find the killer. As the murder was witnessed by the entire nation on TV, the media swings into action. Monsieur Pamplemousse was among the witnesses who saw the murder and was seated in very close the setup. He and Pommes Frites start looking at various angles and see everyone present in the show as suspects. As they continue to investigate, they find themselves thrust into a web of lust, blackmail, murder, and deceit involving people with high contacts.