One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review

Monsieur Pamplemousse Omnibus Volume 3 by Michael Bond
          Monsieur Pamplemousse Stands Firm
          Monsieur Pamplemousse on Location
          Monsieur Pamplemousse Takes the Train

This omnibus edition contains three full novels in one volume.  I read all three novels before reviewing them altogether.  I could have read the novels one at a time, but I do not like to leave books unfinished, and reading the novels one at a time felt too much like leaving an unfinished book.

First though, yes, this Michael Bond is exactly the same as the Michael Bond who is the author of the Paddington Bear series.  And in all honesty, I have only read one Paddington Bear book, but I have seen the animated shorts featuring Paddington.  I shall have to search out more of the books, because I understand he is a very good bear, even if he gets things all a bit jumbled before he works them out.

Monsieur Pamplemousse is a series of mysteries, well not even really mysteries, as the mysterious situations are really never "solved."  The books are much more a collection of humorous events in Monsieur Pamplemousse's life.  Many of the situations are not of his creating, exactly, but more often than not set into motion by the Director of Le Guide, the hotel and restaurant review publication for which Monsieur Pamplemousse works.  Most of the situations are ridiculous and made even more so when the back story of Monsieur Pamplemousse's early retirement from the Paris police force is mentioned.  I shall not spoil any of the books by telling this bit, though it is mentioned, if never adequately explained, in every novel.

As I said, this is not a series of serious novels, and was never intended to be.  You simply cannot expect a series of novels with the main characters named Mister Grapefruit and French Fries to be serious or heavy reading.  Ohh, yes, I forgot to mention my favorite character in the novels.  If the situations are more often than not set into motion by the Director, they are usually brought to a successful conclusion by the actions of Monsieur Pamplemousse's faithful bloodhound, Pommes Frites.  Pommes Frites is a former police dog, and while not the swiftest thinker of dogs, he is very deliberate and thorough.  He usually figures out the situation long before Monsieur Pamplemousse. Every novel needs a character like Pommes Frites.

Monsieur Pamplemousse Stands Firm is set in a town on the northern French Atlantic coast  and revolves around the recovery of works of art stolen and hidden by the Germans during their occupation of France.  Well, that's the back story anyway.  Like most of the other Monsieur Pamplemousse books, the back story is merely a plot device to set Monsieur Pamplemousse in motion and to engage him in as many comedic compromising situations as possible.  This one had a particularly fun scene involving a hat and a walk through town.  It was definitely a fun episode.

Monsieur Pamplemousse on Location has Monsieur Pamplemousse serving as the culinary consultant to a series of commercials based on the Bible for a newly introduced perfume.  The situations in this episode actually involve the Director and not Monsieur Pamplemousse, but he still has to extricate the Director from the dicey situation.  It's nice to see the Director in strife because of his plans.  It was a great adventure!  I do wish I could see the commercials though.  I would love to be able to see perfume commercials based on the Bible!

Monsieur Pamplemousse Takes the Train is set on Monsieur Pamplemousse's home-turf in Paris, and it's nice to see both him and Pommes Frites at home.  The premise of this episode is that Monsieur Pamplemousse must escort the Director's niece from Rome to Paris for her school holidays.  Hilarity ensues when Monsieur Pamplemousse and Pommes Frites lose the young lady and are then under threat from the Director's Uncle Caputo.  It's a great episode in the series and does not disappoint as an excellent escape from reality.

I would highly recommend the Monsieur Pamplemousse series, and this omnibus edition is perfect for packing three books one one trip.  It is a bit unwieldy without a table or other ledge on which to rest the large tome, but it's worth it for the three-in-one aspect.  My only real complaint is that the proofreader seems to have lost their place in a few sections of a couple of the novels.  It's a bit hard to forgive, but still it's definitely worth the time!

One Bear's Opinion:  Four cups of tea with yummy pain au chocolat, three times over

Happy Reading Everyone, 
Oliver