Farrago set for stand-up summer with one from Moore

Duckworth imprint Farrago has acquired Ian Moore’s Death and Croissants, the first book in the Folle Valley series, a series of "humorous mysteries" set in the Loire region of France. 

World rights were acquired from Bill Goodall by publisher Pete Duncan, with publication scheduled for July 2021.

The synopsis reads: "Richard is a middle-aged Englishman who runs a B&B in Vallée de Folle, a fictional valley in the Loire, France. When one of Richard’s older guests disappears, he is exposed to a mysterious world of crime. Things become really serious when someone murders Ava Gardner, one of his beloved hens. The disappearance of a guest is one thing, but you just don’t mess with a fellow’s hens!"

Duncan said: "Ian Moore’s new fiction series is the perfect summer pick-me-up: properly funny, totally charming, and coupled with an inside-out love for the Loire."

Moore commented: "This has been such a fun genre to write, combing my two loves — comedy and murder! I hope they put a smile on peoples’ faces. We could all do with that."

Moore is a stand-up comedian who stars in Dave's "Unspun" and Channel 5's "Big Mouths". He lives in in the Loire Valley with his Franco-English wife and three children and is the author of A la Mod: My So-Called Tranquil Family Life in Rural France (Summersdale, 2013), and C'est Modnifique!: Adventures of an English Grump in Rural France (Summersdale, 2014)