The Chateau (2023) by Jaclyn Goldis. This is a story where old friends get together and you begin to wonder almost immediately why they are still friends. The events occur over the short course of an all girls reunion at the French chateau owned by the grandmother of one of the four women. The four became friends 20 years before when they studied at a college near the chateau. The chateau is where they spent many weekends and school holidays together, running around the countryside and creating what should have been life long bonds.
Grandmama has called the four women back to her huge home because she is dying and there are things that have to be said as soon as possible. There is a vast sum of money and property beyond the chateau that grandmama wishes to distribute, plus some personal issues to be hashed out. And although it is very important, it all can wait till the morning.
But it seems it will have to wait as grannie is stabbed to death during her sleep. The only suspects are the four women, plus a new gardner and the housekeeper for the past 60 years who is the grandmother to one of the four women.
Secrets abound within this group, not the least of which is the name of the killer. Then someone starts using the internet to intimidate that others in the group with photos that could only have been taken by one of the four.
This is a nice setup and some of it was handled very skillfully, but I had a devil of a time trying to tell one of the four women from the others. I ended up with a cheat sheet containing names, family members, jobs, success rating, jealousies, outright hatreds, lies told, lies told about them and why I should care about any of this. And there is also the great amount of things that have the greatest importance and must be discussed, but can somehow wait until after the shopping trip or the visit to the wine cellar.
I was not impressed with how the story played out although there was a good story here to tell. Jade, Vixen, Darcy and Arablle might have been more likable if they had less cutesy-pie Hallmark movie types of names. The author strove to have them painted differently (spinning instructor who wants to be a fitness mogul, painter who does’t actually sell very many paintings at all, jet setting cook book author and owner of a tremendous bed and breakfast in the French countryside, and mother struggling to become an internet superstar) but I found they were interchangeable puppets and I had to constantly look at my notes to remember who was who.
The murder eventually gets solved but it doesn’t really feel like the focus of the book. There is another theme containing horrors and atrocities that happened decades ago, but that also doesn’t feel like the main point either. And when all is revealed you might be lift wondering why these women got together in the first place.
I found the book took too much effort on my part to be enjoyable, but I suspect men are not the group that this book was meant to please. ( )

Maybe 3.5 stars, a great setting, characters who act like adults for most of the book, rich history, and then wacko plot twists to finish it off. Not the fastest thriller, there's a lot of internal dialogue and fluff, but it's still an enjoyable read. ( )

Four friends are called to gather in Provence at the chateau of Séraphine, an elderly and very wealthy grandmother, to Darcy. Three of the friends, Darcy, Vix, and Jade, met 20 years earlier when they studied abroad, and the other, Arabelle, was a childhood friend, having lived at the chateau with her own grandmother, Sylvie. Darcy's husband, Oliver, and their children come, but stay elsewhere.
When Séraphine is found stabbed after telling the foursome she needs to tell them the truth, they are all suspects. What follows is an investigation, and a tale of revenge and hatred is revealed.
The final twist is chilling! ( )

If you can get through the first third, you'll find it to be a good mystery.

I requested and received an EARC from Atria Books, Atria/Emily Bestler Books via NetGalley. ( )

My first book of the year and I was thrilled that it was a good one. A captivating mystery with a beautiful voice and imagery to die for. An enjoyable ride through and through. ( )