Monsieur Pamplemousse Aloft

By Michael Bond

The Channel Tunnel is all very well as a mundane means of crossing La Manche but there are those who still believe in airships as the luxury transport of the future. In a rare spirit of entente cordiale, the governments of France and Britain agree to a trial run, and plan a grand inaugural flight involving their heads of state. But - quelle horreur! - the organisers have overlooked the most important part of every French occasion - the food and the wine. Honour is at stake and a desperate call for help goes out to Le Guide, France's most distinguished gastronomic publication. Monsieur Pamplemousse, ex Surete sleuth turned food inspector, is called on to rectify matters.The assignment gets off to an inauspicious start. As he nears the launch site in Brittany, Monsieur Pamplemousse's 2CV is run off the road by a carful of decidedly ungodly nuns. And the lady trapeze artist who rescues him clearly has something other than the evening's acrobatics preying on her mind. When an old friend cuts him dead, he suspects the worst...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Allison & Busby
• Release date: May 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9780749018764

Michael Bond

Michael Bond was born in Newbury, Berkshire on 13 January 1926 and educated at Presentation College, Reading. He served in the Royal Air Force and the British Army before working as a cameraman for BBC TV for 19 years. In 2015, Michael was awarded a CBE for his services to children’s literature, to add to the OBE he received in 1997. Michael died in 2017, leaving behind one of the great literary legacies of our time.

Reviews for Monsieur Pamplemousse Aloft

[majorbabs · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Okay, I love the entire Pamplemousse (which means grapefruit) series. Pamplemousse is a critic for Le Guide, which gives awards (like its "competitor" the Michelin Guide), to various restaurants. This requires Pamplemousse, and his bloodhound Pommes Frites, to travel across France and eat at fine restaurants where a mystery just happens to occur. Very witty, sometimes some very funny and wry sexual references. The author also writes the Paddington Bear children's books.