A light hearted look at ex pat life on the French Riviera where the retired British get mixed up with a whole host of British, French and Russian crooks, including some serious mafia dons. Some priceless Russian sapphires are obtained by deception from the French Mafia and then stolen by some English thieves. $26mUS are needed to pay an Arab prince for some drugs destined for the UK and Russia but they vanish from a secure Russian safe. All this involves a chase and battle of wits between the various mafias and secret services to get and then launder a great deal of money. The odd murder is par for the course. Who gets it all in the end - and remains alive? You will have fun finding out.

The author of the bestselling The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family brings her trademark brio and relish to the charming and fascinating world of the Château de l'Horizon on the French Riviera. The Riviera Set reveals the story of the group of people who lived, partied, bed-hopped and politicked at the Château de l'Horizon near Cannes, over the course of forty years from the time when Coco Chanel made southern French tans fashionable in the twenties to the death of the playboy Prince Aly Khan in 1960. At the heart of dynamic group was the amazing Maxine Elliott, the daughter of a fisherman from Connecticut, who built the beautiful art deco Château and brought together the likes of Noel Coward, the Aga Khan, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and two very saucy courtesans, Doris Castlerosse and Daisy Fellowes, who set out to be dangerous distractions to Winston Churchill as he worked on his journalism and biographies during his 'wilderness years' in the thirties. After the War the story continued as the Château changed hands and Prince Aly Khan used it to entertain the Hollywood set, as well as launch his seduction of and eventual marriage to Rita Hayworth Bringing a bygone era back to life, Mary Lovell cements her spot as one of our top social historians in this captivating and evocative new book.

American Lola Laforet was swept away in a whirlwind wedding and found herself the chef/owner of the Hotel Riviera. Her life seemed to be a dream come true. But then her husband disappeared one day with nothing more than a wave goodbye. Six months later, Jack Ferrar, an American ex-pat living on his boat, drops anchor in Lola's harbor and teaches her the true meaning of attraction. When various shady people-all claiming ownership of the Hotel Riviera-and the police appear, Lola and Jack have to track down the mysterious Patrick. And along the way, they fall in love. With great food, wonderful sensuality, and lush scenery, Elizabeth Adler holds you under her spell and transports you to one of the most romantic places on earth.

The brand-new escapist summer read from the internationally bestselling author of The Paris Secret! ONE UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER WILL UNLOCK A DECADES-OLD SECRET . . . 'A meticulously researched novel with a perfectly woven dual timeline . . . I think The Riviera House is her best book yet' KATHRYN HUGHES, bestselling author of The Letter FRENCH RIVIERA, PRESENT DAY When Remy discovers she's mysteriously inherited a house on the French Riviera, she drops everything to go there, desperately seeking answers. There, she's shocked to uncover a catalogue of the artwork known to have been stolen by the Nazis during WWII, but there's something oddly familiar about one of the paintings . . . PARIS, 1939 While working at the Louvre, bold and beautiful Eliane falls for talented painter Xavier. But when the Nazis occupy the city, Xavier leaves Eliane behind for the safety of England. Heartbroken, she throws herself into helping the resistance catalogue the priceless treasures the Nazis are stealing. But Eliane is playing a dangerous game, and soon realises she may have put her trust in the wrong person . . . As Remy questions everything she thought she knew about her family, in the past Eliane finds herself in real peril. Could it be that the Riviera house holds more secrets than either Remy or Eliane are ready to face? Set between war-torn Paris and the present day, The Riviera House is a breathtakingly beautiful story of love and sacrifice, from the internationally bestselling author of The Paris Secret. Perfect for fans of Rachel Hore, Lucinda Riley and Tracy Rees.

But I think that Life, and with that I also mean Love, comes firstits the only thing that one has in the final secondsthe knowledge that one has had time, and sense, to live, breath, love and enjoy the time one has been given I expect that all sounds a bit soppy me sitting on a hill in France and not being in a lovely lane near Cockshott! But I do KNOW, I have been there myselfand I have never been surer. For me, at any rate. DIRK BOGARDE In the south of France, when the Scott Fitzgeralds, the Murphys, Picasso, and Jean Cocteau lived and worked during the Jazz Age, the French Riviera became famous. Now, Nicole Bennett goes there to retrace their steps and try to discover who followed after them. Disenchanted with her award-winning acting career as well as her one-year marriage to Nigel, she seeks to make a significant change in her life. She leaves London and attempts to fulfill her dream of writing a book about the writers who lived and worked in the south of France. In Cannes, she meets new people and falls in love with the incredible scenery. While rediscovering the charm and magic of the Riviera, she is influenced by other writersGraham Green, Dirk Bogarde, Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway who once walked the same streets and enjoyed the same experiences. Its now up to Nicole to recreate the magic they all found.

“À Valence, le Midi commence!” is a saying of the French, though this Rhône-side city, the Julia-Valentia of Roman times, is in full view of the snow-clad Alps. It is true, however, that as one descends the valley of the torrential Rhône, from Lyons southward, he comes suddenly upon a brilliancy of sunshine and warmth of atmosphere, to say nothing of many differences in manners and customs, which are reminiscent only of the southland itself. Indeed this is even more true of Orange, but a couple of scores of miles below, whose awning-hung streets, and open-air workshops are as brilliant and Italian in motive as Tuscany itself. Here at Orange one has before him the most wonderful old Roman arch outside of Italy, and an amphitheatre so great and stupendous in every way, and so perfectly preserved, that he may well wonder if he has not crossed some indefinite frontier and plunged into the midst of some strange land he knew not of. The history of Provence covers so great a period of time that no one as yet has attempted to put it all into one volume, hence the lover of wide reading, with Provence for a subject, will be able to give his hobby full play.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Orphan comes an unforgettable historical novel about a secret collection of Dior gowns that ties back to the first female pilots of WWII and a heartbreaking story of love and sacrifice. England, 1939: The Penrose sisters couldn't be more different. Skye is a daring and brash pilot, and Liberty the one to defy her at every turn. Even if women aren't allowed in the Royal Air Force, Skye is determined to help the war effort. She's thrilled when it reunites her with her childhood soulmate, Nicholas. She's less thrilled to learn Nicholas is now engaged to an enigmatic Frenchwoman named Margaux Jourdan. Paris, 1947: Designer Christian Dior unveils his glamorous first collection to a world weary of war and grief. He names his debut fragrance Miss Dior in tribute to his beloved sister Catherine, who forged a friendship with Skye and Margaux through her work with the French Resistance. Present Day: Fashion conservator Kat Jourdan discovers a priceless collection of Dior gowns in her grandmother's vacant cottage. As she delves into the mystery of their origin, Kat begins to doubt everything she thought she knew about her beloved grandmother.

'Sex, disappointment and scandal from some of the 20th century's biggest icons all set against an impossibly luxurious and elegant French backdrop . . . You'll come away both better informed and utterly transported' Stylist 'Tales of glamour, decadence and survival . . . A peek, at once envious and satisfyingly censorious, at the lifestyles of the rich and famous' Washington Post Featuring a sparkling cast of artists, writers and historical figures including Winston Churchill, Daisy Fellowes, Salvador Dalí, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Eileen Gray and Edith Wharton, with the enigmatic Coco Chanel at its heart, CHANEL'S RIVIERA is a captivating account of a period that saw some of the deepest extremes of luxury and terror in the whole of the twentieth century. From Chanel's first summer at her Roquebrune villa La Pausa (in the later years with her German lover) amid the glamour of the pre-war parties and casinos in Antibes, Nice and Cannes to the horrors of evacuation and the displacement of thousands of families during the Second World War, CHANEL'S RIVIERA explores the fascinating world of the Cote d'Azur elite in the 1930s and 1940s. Enriched with much original research, it is social history that brings the experiences of both rich and poor, protected and persecuted, to vivid life.

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes turn the Riviera upside down to crack their most captivating case yet in the New York Times bestselling series that Lee Child called “the most sustained feat of imagination in mystery fiction today.” It’s summertime on the Riviera, and the Jazz Age has come to France’s once-sleepy beaches. From their music-filled terraces, American expatriates gaze along the coastline at the lights of Monte Carlo, where fortunes are won, lost, stolen, and sometimes hidden away. When Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes arrive, they find their partnership pulled between youthful pleasures and old sins, hot sun and cool jazz, new affections and enduring loyalties. Russell falls into easy friendship with an enthralling American couple, Sara and Gerald Murphy, whose golden life on the Riviera has begun to attract famous writers and artists—and some of the scoundrels linked with Monte Carlo’s underworld. The Murphy set will go on to inspire everyone from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Pablo Picasso, but in this summer of 1925, their importance for Russell lies in one of their circle’s recent additions: the Holmeses’ former housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, who hasn’t been seen since she fled England under a cloud of false murder accusations. When a beautiful young man is found dead in Mrs. Hudson’s front room, she becomes the prime suspect in yet another murder. Russell is certain of Mrs. Hudson’s innocence; Holmes is not. But the old woman’s colorful past has been a source of tension between them before, and now the dangerous players who control Monte Carlo’s gilded casinos may stop at nothing to keep the pair away from what Mrs. Hudson’s youthful history could bring to light. The Riviera is a place where treasure can be false, where love can destroy, and where life, as Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes will discover, can be cheap—even when it is made of solid gold.

A collection of nearly 150 recipes captures the rich cookery of the region between Tuscany and Provence, including such dishes as focaccia, ratatouille, mesclun, and ravioli