Mystery of St. Sauveur (French Quintet, #2)

Curious about the birthplace of the racy French author, Colette, an American widow discovers that there are several places called St. Sauveur. Determined to find out more about this copycat syndrome, Margaret decides to visit St. Sauveurs in each of France's thirteen regions.
Heading for St. Sauveur-en-Puisaye in Burgundy, she gets a tip from a guide at the Musee de Colette, who puts Margaret in touch with a local historian. Over lunch on his terrace, he explains to her that, "France is not really a country, but a notion, cobbled together from a grab bag of cultures that often clash." Her informant's words are born out when Margaret ventures to Alsace, where she is befriended by a couple from the village of St. Sauveur. Their tales of invasions and shifting borders confirm that France is a patchwork of cultures.
Moving on to Normandy, where there are six places named St. Sauveur, Margaret learns that this redundancy provided challenges to the Germans and the Allies on D-Day. Unable to uncover the whole truth, she begins to imagine what might have happened, embellishing the facts. The copycat syndrome also created conflicts with their neighbors in Brittany, where there is longstanding resentment about Norman claims to Mont St. Michelle. Margaret discovers that such rivalry is not just ancient history, but continues in a bitter dispute about who makes the best butter.
Hoping to make up for the lack of St. Sauveur in Corsica, Margaret visits St. Sauveur on the tiny island of L'Île d'Yeu, off the Atlantic coast. While the weather doesn't cooperate, she manages to find an informant whose Viking roots have made him a social outcast. She also meets a young woman who questions Margaret's motives as an interloper on the island.
Heading for the Dordogne River, Margaret finds herself among a bunch of Brits who have virtually taken over the village of St. Sauveur. Curious about the SAVE ST. SAUVEUR signs, she attends a community meeting with representatives from the European Union. Hearing their pitch to change the name of the town to comply with the E.U's plan for a secular society, the villagers balk at any changes. The plot thickens when the local gravedigger divulges a secret to Margaret: William Shakespeare sought refuge in St. Sauveur after feigning his death during a card game.
Next, Margaret's quest leads her to the Cevennes, where she gets carried away with the Shakespeare connection and plants a false clue, suggesting that he might have passed through St. Sauveur. Caught up in the possibility that the Bard had visited other St. Sauveurs on his way to Italy, Margaret continues to look for evidence for her theory.
Near the Rhone River, Margaret stumbles upon another St. Sauveur that has become an immigrant enclave; this time, the Dutch. After learning about the Dutch connection from the honorary mayor, she is befriended by the grandson of a Greek immigrant. Realizing that the E.U.'s renaming initiative could render her quest meaningless, Margaret heads for her next St. Sauveur near Paris, but arrives too late; the town has been turned into a haven for driving schools, called Auto-École.
Discouraged by this turn of events, Margaret decides to end her quest in a St. Sauveur that has been absorbed into another community, Coeur de Causses, in the Valley of the Lot River. Curious to find out why the participating communities changed their name before the E.U.'s renaming initiative, she meets an informant who helps her unravel the secret—connected to a plot to restore the French monarchy. Returning to St. Sauveur-en-Puisaye to write her book, Margaret hatches an idea for a sequel: a mystery about Shakespeare's murder by Anne Hathaway.

Merrill Hatlen is an award-winning filmmaker, photographer and writer. The course of his life was altered by spending three years in France, inspiring five novels, two screenplays, and a stage play. His debut novel, The Bard & The Barman: An Account of Shakespeare's Lost Years, is published by Burton Mayer Books (UK).