For reasons as noted elsewhere I have started re-reading Simon Bond's Monsieur Pamplemousse books on my kindle, I was wondering how they would survive the close on 30 year gap since I last made their acquaintance.
First the backdrop: 30 years ago I was a foodie francophile with an adoration (in no particular order) for Paris, dogs, writing of PG Wodehouse & T Pratchett, cars, bikes. It was no wonder that the author of the Paddington books would draw me in with books set in Paris, around food, with a lead character who had a dog and a 2CV.
Pamplemouse is an ex-surete inspector for "Le Guide", a fictional competitor of Michelin and Gault Millau, who travels France with his companion and partner in establishment evaluation and crime solving: a bloodhound called Pommes Frites. They stumble from incident to incident, and can be guaranteed to go from dans la merde to unexpected success, often without realising either.
How would the books age? Well, on re-reading critically, five books in, I can say that the writing improves from the first volume as the series develops. They are never going to be great literature, but they are jolly good lighthearted fun, still. Pamplemousse is a composite Clouseau-Wodehouse-Paddington Bear figure, the perfect foil for Michael Bond's uncanny ability to build a custard pie scene to a crescendo. Bond weaves in fascinating food and wine related knowledge which, as far as I know, was based on his own interests, along with the Parisian and French backdrop.
I've just about reached the point where I probably stopped reading the series first time out, although to be fair the detail isn't that memorable and I can re-read them happily as if for the first time. My verdict? Perfect holiday reading.
