The Prisoner of Castillac

Molly Sutton Mysteries #3

by Nell Goddin

What if Valerie is still alive?Virtually no one in the village of Castillac holds out any hope. It has been seven years, after all. Seven years since the popular, mischievous Valerie Boutillier disappeared without a trace. The exertions of the gendarmes, led by Chief Dufort, yielded almost no clues, and his failure to solve the case had been one of the main reasons he quit the force.But then a shred of evidence appears. It might be nothing. But Molly Sutton isn’t afraid to grab hold of it and take it as far as she can. Will a shred be enough? And if Valerie is still alive, how will Molly and Ben ever find her in time?

Genres: Mystery, France, Audiobook, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Crime, Detective

305 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 24, 2015

About the author

She has worked as a radio reporter, SAT tutor, short-order omelet chef, and baker. She tried waitressing but was fired twice.

Nell grew up in Richmond, Virginia and has lived in New England, New York City, and France. Currently she's back in Virginia with teenagers and far too many pets. She has degrees from Dartmouth College and Columbia University.

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A safe and idyllic life? Perhaps this is what Molly Sutton, American proprietor of a bread and breakfast in the charming French village of Castillac, expects. Fortunately for her - and for the readers - this is not what she gets.

Molly is already known for her inadvertent sleuthing (snooping?) when a mysterious note appears on the door to the police station implying that a woman missing for seven years may still be alive. Throw in a seemingly senseless murder and another abduction, and you’ve got the village in an uproar. I enjoy the pastries, meals and the farmers market - and the handsome Dufort, too. This story is suspenseful and satisfying to the last.

I received the book free of charge in exchange for an honest review, and it was my pleasure to both read and review The Prisoner of Castillac.

[Mystereity Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven years ago, a beautiful young woman vanished without a trace from Castillac, haunting the villagers and the Gendarme. But when a clue, in the form of a note left on the door to the police station, saying Valerie has been spotted alive, but no further details. Former head of the local Gendarme, Ben Dufort, hears about the note and enlists Molly's help in an informal investigation. With no evidence, no other clues and nothing to go on, can Molly and Ben find Valerie? And who left the mysterious note?

3.5/5 stars. This one was enjoyable but got a bit tedious after about half. I liked the resolution of the mystery behind Valerie's disappearance but I think it would've done better as a side plot, or if there had been some kind of side plot. Most of the book was really just a series of missed opportunities and while that makes for some tension and suspense, it wasn't meaty enough to be the sole focus of the book. But what really bothers me is what's not in the book:, some details get skipped over and at the end of the book, it's all resolved. This is something I've noted in the other 2 books; in the first book, it was the ending. One minute you're in the middle of the exciting ending and the action cuts off to Molly telling her story at the pub. In this book, it was all the action outside of the main plot (which, as I said, wasn't really enough to span a whole book.) Ben Dufort, who has now resigned from the Gendarmes, is barely in the book, there are very few scenes with him and Molly and at the end they're kissing and holding hands. Wha? I realize that the series has been leading up to this, but it just seemed out of place and not fleshed out. I would've liked to have seen it come about more naturally.

So, this was good, thanks to the excellent characters, but the plot (or lack thereof) held it back from being a 5 star read.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chief Dufort quit the force but is learning that "you can take the man out of The Job but you can't take The Job out of the man". He is still rather obsessed by the cold case of a young woman who disappeared seven years ago in their small village. Molly Sutton isn't convinced that the young woman is dead but has little time to investigate because of her duties as hotelier. Then a small boy happens to see the victim and tries to leave notes for the gendarmerie. But...
Excellent read with points of view by several of the principals.
Background: Molly took her money from the divorce and went from Massachusetts to a place she thought of as ideal. A village in France where she bought a cottage with a smaller one on the property that she could let out to keep costs in order.
I enjoyed the narration by voice artist Becket Royce!
#audiobook #MollySuttonMysteries3 #AuthorSales

[Cassandra Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the Molly Sutton series. They are nice cozy mysteries with good story lines, excellent characters and good narration. I will definitely be reading more of this series

[Melody Winslow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this one the best in the series so far. I liked the multiple perspectives and it built good tension of missed opportunities.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third I've read in the series and I thought it was the best of the three.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this cozy mystery series because of the setting and the characters, but I didn't find this plot line to be the best. It had potential but I just felt the execution of the storyline felt a bit rushed and could have been developed a bit more. There were also elements that just seemed a bit odd. For instance, the whole "detective" aspect of it was a little hard to believe (really Molly, still a relative newcomer to the area, was going to go door to door and try to snoop around in people's homes?) But I haven't given up on the series and I will read the next installment.

[Ann Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third in a series

The author develops the characters so well that you feel you could recognize them if you met them on the street. The story is suspenseful, but not gruesome. Very enjoyable read.

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had thought this series was going to be so great, and then this one with the lighthearted treatment of the abduction and long term imprisonment of a young woman changed my mind- not the right kind of crime for a cozy mystery series.

[Anne Mckusick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stopped 1/2 way through. Didn’t find characters interesting and mystery was predictable and dull. Very slow.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this third book in the series Molly Sutton begins to investigate one of the three girls missing in the first book. When Molly first got to the village of Castillac, she heard about three missing women. One, a young woman called Valerie, had been the case of Molly's new friend, DI Ben Dufort. He was still worried about the case although it had been over seven years. Due to his feelings of failure about that case, he decided to give up being a gendarme. At about the same time, a little boy, Gilbert, saw something strange at his neighbor's farm. He made a note about it and taped it to the door of the police office. "I saw VB" didn't mean much to the gendarmes, but Molly and Ben felt it might have something to do with the missing "Valerie."
They begin their search in earnest, hoping not to find another dead body.

[Robert Muller · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is really a psychological thriller, not a cozy, and that's the problem: it's got all the cozy elements stuffed into a thriller, which just kills the suspense dead every other chapter. New characters come and go without any impact on the plot (gîte guests, babies, very old ladies, market sellers, builders), and even the killer isn't really ready to do what needs to be done (as the killer keeps saying, over and over, then failing). Plot elements approach solutions, then something "happens" to prevent Molly or some other character from seeing the definitive clue or getting the information (I'm not even going to talk about the main clue of a letter pinned to the gendarmerie and what it entails, which is just silly). The first two books in the series were reasonably competent cozies, but this one fails on all counts.

[Jo Budden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Molly Sutton, American transplant & gite hostess and Ben Dufort, ex-gendarmerie chief of Castillac team up to solve the cold case disappearance of Valerie Boutillier.

As they struggle to find clues in the case that haunted Ben's career, the village is rocked by the death of the town drunk & yet another missing person.

And while the case is cold & clues are few and far between things are hotting up between the busybody and the policeman.

Miss Goddin's cosy mystery series has definitely improved from book one with there actually being clues so the reader may work out whodunnit, but I struggle with the MC solving crimes that baffled police especially with her limited language skills and the short time of her residency.

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good entry in this series.

Molly Sutton has heard from everyone in the small French village of Castillac about s young woman who disappeared 7 years before. She was extremely well-known and liked, and ready to travel to Paris for school.

Gilbert Renard is a young boy who knows the story, since his mother - who is a dramatic worrier - has a photo of the young woman on their fridge, and constantly warns him of danger. When Gilbert is outside one day in the woods, he sees Valerie. But the problem is that he knows no adult will believe him, since he has an active imagination and is thought to be a "dreamy."

It's a story of missed chances and just-so-close opportunities missed. And Molly is determined to figure it all out.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE PRISONER OF CASTILLAC by Nell Goddin is Book 3 of the Molly Sutton Mysteries.
We are in the small village of Castillac in the Dordogne region of France. Molly Sutton has set up her home and B&B (or gite) business in the hopes of starting a new chapter in her life. New friends, village life and a curiosity for solving mysteries keeps our Molly very busy.
It is hard to write about this title as I don’t want to give away too much of the plot.
The characters in this series are interesting and keep me entertained. The plots are OK with some highlights.
Winter in New England is very conducive to ‘cozy mystery’ reading.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting storyline. In our county in Wisconsin, not long ago, there was a young man that committed the same crime as Achilles. The young man had been watching this girl day after day until he finally nabbed her walking home after getting off of the school bus one day. He kept her for months (not years) hidden in his secluded home, never harming her. She eventually escaped through the woods around his house to a neighbor’s place.
This is Book 3 in the series. I have grown comfortable with the characters in this small, French village. Having lived in France as a young person, it holds my interest as I relive and remember all that is a familiar experience for an American in France.

[Marcella · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book in the series and I have enjoyed all of them but must say this was probably my favorite. . . I read it in three days. In fact, I would honestly say this is the most exciting -- could not lay down -- cozy mystery I have read in a very long time. The good citizens of Castillac have become my neighbors. The food sounds so delicious I wish they would provide recipes and, most importantly, I am anxiously awaiting the start of the fourth book in the series. Definitely recommend.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this third book of the series, Molly's B&B is doing well with lots of guests coming and going. Ben has stepped down from the police force and their romance is almost starting. Then a vague note is left on the police door saying someone has seen the girl who has been missing from town for seven years. Molly and Ben start to work the mystery because there's just too little for the police to reopen the case. I found this one a little slow, but the story was well developed and I really enjoy the characters and the village.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

As Molly starts a new season of greeting guests there is a new mystery revealing itself, actually an old one. Is it possible that Valerie Boutillier is alive and being held somewhere nearby? A note taped to the door of the police station possible implies that. There is a sense of urgency that speeds up as the story unfolds that will carry the reader along to the conclusion.

[ANDREA · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the book this was the third in this series I love the little village where everybody knows each other . I just wish there was more of the girl that was a prisoner for 7 years in a dark cellar and found , Was she ok ? How has this affected her in life ? It was all over in in a matter of two pages right at the end .
Can’t wait to read the fourth one .

[Marilyn Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

really enjoying this series.

The characters a fun and interesting. The descriptions of the French countryside, Molly’s charminb inn and her French cooking and love for French pastries makes we want to visit the Dordogne! Mysteries are intriguing. This village is as dangerous as Midsommer!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review is mostly my sadness at discovering that murder mysteries typically include deeply disturbed people. True of this book too. The setting and most of the characters are charming. Murderer was not. I need to take a break from murder mysteries. They disturb me. Sadly can’t start the next book.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the writing is getting better it is still a weird read and still in need of a good editor. I very much disliked the subject of this book and she has this way of building up to the critical scene and then just dropping it. Even with all that, they are still enjoyable and easy reads. Perfect for when your brain is fried from life.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Prisoner of Castiliac

I am liking this series better and better. I do think you need to begin with the first book in the series so you have a clear picture of the characters,who all become friends of Molly’s. This book was about an abduction of a young woman, a murder and a child. Hope you have time to read it

[Denise Lebon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mystery with hardly any clues to go on!

I love this Author! Fantastic story line with a few twists...just to keep you guessing,. You are on the edge til the very end. So great. Highly recommend.

[Susan Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

where is the next Molly Sutton book?

Addictive, entertaining--incrementally building sympathetic characters into a community. Even the slight misfits fit together. But abduction is creepier than murder.

[Chris Lindert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third in these Molly Sutton mysteries was a little darker than the first two. Abduction, murder and madness dominates this narrative. Fortunately there is still a healthy thread of French village life, food and relationships to lighten the tone.

[Janet Turner]

Nail biter. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough

I love that it brought I elements from there the first two books. So suspenseful. A great ending. I can't wait ton read the next book.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little darker than the normal Molly Sutton mystery; but just as enjoyable. The villain is quite odd in this one and a Molly is up to all her nosy, quickly tricks. A fun read if you like a warm cosy set in a French village with a cast of eccentric characters.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the plot and the people...the writing is good but not great! The author is good at keeping you at the edge of your seat as to what will happen next though....looking forward to reading the next in the series.