By JAMES OLIVER CURY | The New York Times, December 18, 2009

For nearly 20 years, PETER MAYLE (left) has entertained foodies, Francophiles and armchair travelers with his adventures in the South of France.

After the success of A Year in Provence,which captured the initial foray — restoring an 18th-century farmhouse in the Lubéron — the trips became a franchise.

Mayle has been publishing follow-up travelogues, food guides and even novels ever since.

In The Vintage Caper, a new work of crime fiction, he returns once again to the country that both enchants and vexes him, only this time he’s chasing suspects deep into fine-wine territory.

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