Body on the Rocks: Crime in the south of France

Madame Renard Investigates #1

by Rachel Green

Mourning the death of her police inspector husband, Margot Renard moves to a small seaside town in the south of France. But when the body of a small boy washes up on a beach, Margot is drawn into a dangerous world of drug smugglers and people trafficking, and forced to cross paths with two feuding gangsters.

Genres: Mystery, Crime

298 pages, Paperback

Published August 5, 2021

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Body On The Rocks by Rachel Green is a solid, well-paced mystery that had me invested early on. The world of drug smuggling and human trafficking is quite intense, and so this book definitely kept me on my toes.

I think Margot is the best developed character in the book. She has a deep backstop and a personality that you can root for. The rest of the characters were also well developed, but I think Margot stole the show.

Overall, Body On The Rocks kept me intrigued and surprised me often. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to crime mystery fans!

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources For allowing me to join this blog tour. I recieved a free copy of this book to review honestly. All opinions are my own and unbiased.

[Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this might be the start of a new enjoyable series.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having made the decision to move from Paris and begin her life again on the Mediterranean coast, recently widowed Margot is struggling to find her feet. She has a routine of swimming in the sea every morning, something that gives her purpose and a structured start to her day, but for the rest of the day, she is lost. The morning she witnesses the finding of a child’s body, an unknown migrant boy, something within her fires into life.

From the beginning of the book, I found Margot an easy character to engage with. I could sense her pain and grief from the trauma of losing her husband Hugo, but there was a spark of something that gave me hope she would find the strength to push through. With her determination to see justice done and her stubbornness to not let obstacles get in her way, nor take no for an answer, Margot finds herself in some precarious situations, where the risk of danger to herself and others is quite high.

In places this is an emotional read with some touching, sad moments, but overall, I felt a sense of optimism where good can triumph over evil. Margot’s need to fight gave her a reason not to focus on her grief and opened up some new possibilities for her future too.

This book was quite different from my usual reads, and as I can be a bit of a wimp, I surprised myself at how much I enjoyed the danger, especially as Margot walks into situations I would do my best to avoid at all costs.

If you are looking for something a bit gritty with plenty of action to get stuck into, add this book to your summer reading list.

[Frank Curtiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable

This was the first book I have read by Rachel Green and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story was excellent and I especially enjoyed the character development. I look forward to reading more books in this series.

[Juliane Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining book.

I enjoyed reading this book. The characters were relatable and the story moved at a good pace, all in a beautiful setting. A good read for anyone who enjoys a bit of mystery.

[loopyloulaura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Newly widowed Margot Renard has moved to live by the sea in southern France. Her quiet life is disturbed by the discovery of two bodies of immigrants. Margot is determined to find justice but finds herself battling with the local police and in danger from traffickers...
Body on the Rocks is an amateur sleuth murder mystery with a gritty gang dimension. The victims take second place to the development of Margot as the main character and the gang as more than merely violent thugs.
Margot is a strong willed woman and aims to fight injustice following the unprovoked and senseless murder of her husband. Her acerbic tongue is witty rather than cruel and she quickly develops a friendship with widower Raul after he almost injures her in his boat. Together they seek answers for the deaths of the immigrant pair.
Margot finds herself in conflict with the local police: the captain is a jobsworth who rejects her concerns and dismisses the call to action. Infuriated, she takes matters into her own hands. In the second half of the book, Margot is in danger and is forced to take action to find answers as well as protect her friend.
The plot is reasonably fast paced as Margot embarks on her investigation. There is very little French in the book despite the setting and characters. Margot is half English which explains the use of English phrases.
Body on the Rocks is an enjoyable murder mystery with a likeable lead character and I look forward to reading more of Margot's future adventures.

[Tasha Mahoney · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars I enjoyed reading Body On The Rocks though firstly lets talk cover appeal. Personal taste is everything, I understand that, but I would have passed straight over a good read if I had judged this book by it’s cover.
Margot Renard is on her way home when a crowd draws her to the sight of a small body that has been washed up, as the story progresses, we are drawn in to the heart breaking world of people trafficking.
The plot has a great pace and held my interest throughout. I was gripped and wanted to know where the story would take me next. Within the world of drug smuggling and rival gangs this story is definitely one to keep you on your toes.
There are some interesting characters, and while it felt as though the author knew Margot the best, the other characters all felt developed.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Margot is a well developed and appealing main character for this female investigator of crime up against the police and how they like things to proceed. It is not as if she chose to be in this role, but timing and circumstances put her in the place of something of a crusader. She is one heck of a talented swimmer and observer, leading her into trouble. Plenty of action and challenges as she is also a recently widowed lady left with little but memories when disaster strikes. No spoilers.
I plan to continue reading series.

Kindle Unlimited

[Stacey Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

Body on the Rocks by Rachel Green has an incredibly topical hook, with the body of a supposed immigrant found on a beach in the South of France, and what follows is an excellent mystery novel which puts Margot Renard at the heart of a criminal conspiracy.

I very much enjoyed this book, which puts a slightly older woman who had been hoping to retire with her husband to the South of France in the unenviable position of having her future shattered when her police inspector husband is killed in the line of duty.

Mouldering away and with no idea of what she should be doing, the body on the rocks grabs Margot’s attention and, with the help of a Spanish yachtsman, she investigates. But what will happen to Margot once she pokes her nose in a bit too far?

The mystery and criminal conspiracy were well-written, with a suitably vicious villain, but plenty of grey areas too. It was great to see Margot begin the novel in a slump, but slowly come back to life as she attacked the mystery with righteous fury, and I think (hope) that this book is the start of a solid and compelling series.

[Ninon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this and get into another detective/mystery series, but my goodness. We know who the perp is from early on so the entire book is just Margot jumping in the ocean (once in the middle of the night) to trap him. The other thing that was a huge factor for me was the horrific editing. Words were left out of so many sentences that it makes me wonder if it isn't a translation?

[Elizabeth Dickerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick murder mystery on the coast of France as the start of a series. Rachel Green does well describing the small town for those who haven’t been to France. Some thrilling parts, some almost romance, and all in all it sets the stage for future books in the series introducing a few characters that I expect will continue to be part of the series along with Margot Renard.

[Pamela A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝑰𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒕!!

𝒊 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒆𝒏𝒛𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒚. 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒚𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒖𝒍 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒏. 𝑰𝒎 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒕𝒘𝒐. 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒐𝒏𝒆!! 𝑨𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈!! 🥰🥰🥰

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read...beach read

[Bookgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice fast read with a colourful main character

[deana evans]

Enjoyable read

I really enjoyed reading this book
The story line was interesting well thought out and paced
The characters were believable and I am already reading the 2nd book

[J G Doggart · Rating 2 out of 5]

It always helps if you like the main character. Okay she was widowed, but even allowing for that. . .

[Princesspint · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't a bad start to a series. It was a little slow for my liking, but it kept my attention. I'll be continuing the series to see where it takes me. I believe this is also a new too me author.

[Warren Ingham-Barrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read !

Wonderful Plot, great characters, vivid portrayal of locations. Loved it, and would thoroughly recommend, thank you, and now onto book 2.