The Vintage Caper - (Sam Levitt Capers) by Peter Mayle (Paperback)

About the Book

Set in Hollywood, Paris, Bordeaux, and Marseille, Mayle's newest and most delightful novel is filled with culinary delights, sumptuous wines, and colorful characters.

Book Synopsis

A globetrotting detective story, filled with the culinary delights and entertaining characters from the national bestselling author of A Year in Provence and our most treasured chronicler of French life.

"Wine and food aficionados will find much to savor.... Light, funny, and packed with a menu's worth of scrumptious descriptions of exceptional dinners and drinks." --USA Today

The Vintage Caper begins high above Los Angeles with a world-class heist at the impressive wine cellar of lawyer Danny Roth. Enter Sam Levitt, former lawyer and wine connoisseur, who follows leads to Bordeaux and Provence. The unraveling of the ingenious crime is threaded through with Mayle's seductive renderings of France's sensory delights--from a fine Lynch-Bages to the bouillabaisse of Marseille--guaranteed to charm and inform even the most sophisticated palates.

Review Quotes

Praise for Peter Mayle and The Vintage Caper

"Wine and food aficionados will find much to savor. . . . Light, funny, and packed with a menu's worth of scrumptious descriptions of exceptional dinners and drinks."
--USA Today

"A succession of excellent repasts and leisurely ambles, which Mayle depicts with painterly ease and signature savoir vivre. . . . Pure Provence."
--National Geographic Traveler

"A lighthearted romp . . . in which picking the right restaurant, choosing the best dish on the menu and, of course, finding the perfect wine (and female companion) to accompany the feast is every bit as important as catching the thief."
--Los Angeles Times

"A smooth ride you'll enjoy from beginning to end. . . . Peter Mayle's love of France is infectious. . . . The vintages are a fine complement to the action."
--The Washington Post

"Cinematic. . . . Meals are lovingly described, scenery comes to life, paragraphs take long floral detours. And everyone is blessed with hypersensitive taste buds. . . . By the time Levitt returns to America, readers will have learned much about the history of winemaking, the key wine regions, various auction houses, critics and books--and even how to lift fingerprints from bottles."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Provides a delightful behind-the-scenes tour of France and its wines, a satisfyingly satirical view of materialistic excesses in America, a mystery that keeps the reader guessing, and a pleasing, robust finish."
--The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Mayle [is] something of a wonder . . . chronicling the scene around him in irresistible prose . . . the joys of a bountiful climate, brilliant sun and a splendid cuisine."
--Time

"Sexy is the name of the game in this book, from the sensually and lavishly appointed wines and gourmet foods to the well sculpted women. . . . This is a book that celebrates wine, food and excess of all kinds."
--Chattanooga Times Free Press

"[Mayle is] a writer of grace and good humor."
--The New Yorker

"Abundant with luscious descriptions of the gastronomic delights of France . . . Mayle's international caper is the vehicle for his exposition of all things French: countryside vineyards, brilliant sunsets, chateau wine cellars, exquisitely prepared dishes, and, of course, wine."
--Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star

"Relentlessly entertaining. . . . Mayle has concocted a shameless guilty-pleasure bonbon in The Vintage Caper."
--Raleigh News-Observer

"Whether you're going to France or just to eat, Mayle is worth reading."
--San Jose Mercury News

"[Mayle] knows his wines and cuisines, evident in this mystery featuring gourmand-investigator Sam Levitt. Readers can vicariously enjoy world travel, great meals and memorable bottles of vino."
--Sacramento Bee

"Mayle's prose bubbles with the pertness of champagne and teems with sumptuous delights. . . . His story has as many unexpected twists as the wending streets of France that are featured throughout the novel, making this one countryside romp that will both thrill and transport oenophiles and armchair travelers alike."
--Bookpage

"This light and funny mystery novel about food and wine is satisfying. . . . Aficionados will find much to savor in The Vintage Caper."
--Visalia Times-Delta (California)

About the Author

PETER MAYLE is the author of fifteen books, nine of them novels, including the beloved bestseller A Year in Provence. A recipient of the Légion d'Honneur from the French government for his cultural contributions, he lived in Provence with his wife, Jennie, for more than twenty-five years. Mayle died in 2018.