Claude is a middle-aged accountant who's been bumbling along with a middle-aged widow, filling a void yet depressing himself in the process as he really doesn't like her. On one of her must-do nights out in the city he comes across Alex (Alexandra), much younger than him and very much an enigma. So far, so middle-aged guy cliché. Circumstances concerning Alex put Claude in a 'stick with the old or throw caution to the wind' scenario, and the novel plays out how that turns out.

Whilst the plot of this novel is verging on chic-lit territory in places, Valerie Martin is a good writer - she knows how to spin a good yarn, and I zipped through this in a couple of sittings as she had me hooked early on. The ending was a bit anticlimactic, but otherwise an enjoyable (but probably fairly forgettable) read.

4 stars - good summer holiday reading fodder. ( )

I cannot say enough about this exquisitely-written book about love and hate and betrayal and murder on the bayou. Claude Ledet, middle-aged and not expecting all that much more out of life than he already has. He has a middle-aged lover, but the night when he meets the mysterious Alexandra in the French Quarter of New Orleans, everything else goes on hiatus. Fantastic book!!! ( )