It’s always so exciting being in at the start of a new book and with today’s guest, Ian Moore, I’m delighted to welcome him to Linda’s Book Bag on publication day for his latest thriller. My enormous thanks to Laura Sherlock for putting us in touch with one another. Let’s find out all about this new book:

Staying in with Ian Moore

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Ian and thank you for staying in with me.

Thanks for inviting me firstly, and thanks for accepting the reverse invite to come here to the Loire Valley in France, where I live. Bienvenue.

Merci Ian. C’est tres gentil. Tell me (in English please as it’s 40 odd years since I did any French during the first year of my degree), which of your books have you brought along and why?

I have brought my latest book The Man Who Didn’t Burn, as it’s out today and a big departure from the cosy crime I’m known for writing.

Happy Publication Day! What can we expect from an evening in with The Man Who Didn’t Burn?

What can you expect from the evening? Well hopefully, nothing too overplanned. What you’ll more than likely get is an evening that’s a lot like my main character Juge d’Instruction Matthieu Lombard, and that is a fascinating mix of French and English that doesn’t necessarily know where it’s going.

That sounds more like the story of my life Ian! Go on.

There’s a stereotype about the French that their meal times are legendary in length, and like all stereotypes, it’s based on truth. It’s why they don’t have a Boxing Day in France, it’s because they’re still at the table from Christmas Day.

I can fully appreciate that. I once had a seven hour meal when staying with a French family during my A’Levels. 

But in my experience of mixing French and English meals you’ll get all the usual French discourse, passionate discourse at that, often heated. Laughter, wine, sadness, philosophy, wine… and then that very English element which is slightly uncomfortable with the emotion displayed, and therefore wants to challenge it. That’s Lombard, he is of both worlds.

I love the dichotomy you’re suggesting there. What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I’m working on the assumption that everyone there is who I want to be there. People make lists of ‘Dead or Alive’ Dinner party guests, if that was Lombard he would invite his late wife, Madeleine.

I think we can all think of those sorts of guest lists.

Firstly, I’m bringing a notepad and pen. My experience of these Entente Cordiale-ish soirées are that there are gems of confrontation, pearls of wisdom and rampant dogma that can be used for a later date. I could also bring something that would literally provoke, like Charles Aznavour’s Greatest Hits – but he sings them in English.

Really? are you sure about the adjective ‘Greatest’ there?

A magnificent album, by the way. Or, and this is more likely, the boxset of Inspector Morse.

I wanted Lombard to have his roots in Morse, not only in a barren personal life, though that may change, but the fact that he shares top-billing with the town in which he lives. For Morse, it was Oxford. For Lombard, it’s Tours, the ancient capital of France. The fortunate thing about Morse is that I can watch them anew as I have, in many cases, forgotten whodunnit and why. Then, once I’ve watched an episode, I’ll go back to the table, pick up the baton of controversy or provocation that I passed on, and re-enter the fray. Just for the sport of it. Exactly like Lombard.

I am delighted I have a copy of The Man Who Didn’t Burn on my TBR pile Ian as I think I’m going to enjoy meeting him very much indeed. Thanks so much for staying in to chat about the book. It sounds a cracker.

The Man Who Didn’t Burn

A KILLER. A SAINT. A TOWN FULL OF WHISPERS

When an English expat is brutally murdered, his charred corpse left on a Loire Valley hillside, the police turn to juge d’instruction Matthieu Lombard to find the perpetrator.

Instead, Lombard discovers a wealth of secrets, grudges and feuds in the idyllic town of Saint-Genèse-sur-Loire. He begins to suspect that the remaining members of the Comité des Fêtes know more about the death than they are letting on.

But rather than towards an arrest, each clue he uncovers seems to point in one, unexpected direction: Joan of Arc. Is the answer to the murder hiding in the barroom gossip of the Lion d’Or? Or in another century altogether?

The thrilling new crime series from The Times-bestselling author of Death and Croissants.

Published by Duckworth today, 12th October 2023, The Man Who Didn’t Burn is available for purchase through the links here.

About Ian Moore

Author image courtesy of Steve Best

Ian Moore is a leading comedian and TV/radio performer. He is the author of the bestselling Follet Valley series, which includes Death and Croissants and Death and Fromage; as well as two memoirs on life in France, À la Mod and C’est Modnifique. 

Ian lives in rural France and commutes back to the UK every week.

For further information, visit Ian’s website, follow him on Twitter/X @ianmooreauthor and find Ian on Instagram and Facebook.