Ooh-la-la, who doesn't love a Frenchman? Merle Bennett goes back to France -- and her Frenchman -- in this fifth installment of the Bennett Sisters mysteries. Sure that La Belle France will cure all her ills, and help her write a novel about the French Revolution, she sets out to prove her theory correct. Pascal, her Frenchman, scoffs at this. As a policeman he knows France is pretty to look at but not all that pretty under the surface. While Merle writes and renovates her stone cottage, Pascal encounters an old enemy, a man he put in prison years before. When Pascal disappears Merle isn't sure if their relationship is over, or something terrible has happened. 'The Frenchman' includes chapters of Merle's novel, a glimpse into life during the turmoil of the Revolution. With goats and a handsome stranger! Read the finished version of Merle's novel, 'Odette and the Great Fear.' A soupçon of danger, a brush with 'madame guillotine,' and the quirky characters of the French countryside, all collide in this new installment of the Bennett Sisters Mysteries, set in la belle France-- where, obviously, wine, sunshine, sunflowers, and Frenchmen cure all ills. Or do they? Rarely do I rate books because usually I find something, maybe small, but something could have been better. Not so for Lise McClendon's Bennett sisters collection. I began reading them in order, of course, and read slower and slower, as I didn't want them to end. Ms McClendon's characters are so believable, interesting, and fun. The plots never disappointed, were delightfully unpredictable. I read a lot of womens fiction but this series stood above the rest. Hope there are more. -- Amazon reader

Lise McClendon writes fiction from her home in Montana. She is the author of many novels, short stories, and articles. In 1997 she wrote and directed the short film, The Hoodoo Artist, featured at the Telluride Indiefest. She has served on the national boards of directors for Mystery Writers of America and International Association of Crime Writers/North America. She is on the faculty of the Jackson Hole Writers Conference and co-presents a novel workshop for writers. "After thirty years writing fiction has become as necessary as breathing. Finding the essential story in the novel, chipping away the rock until the solid core is revealed, is an adventure and a joy."