Reader Comments

Witness on the Quay
“Gini Anding renders the Ile Saint-Louis in such vivid detail that readers will find it difficult to resist calling a travel agent and booking a flight on the next plane to Paris. Mind you, this isn’t the Paris that tourists typically see; this is a singular, almost provincial part of the City of Light peopled by exceptional characters who sometimes steal the scene even when they aren’t in the scene (like the never-seen Caroline Rochefort, de facto queen of the Ile)."

—Sharon Schulz-Elsing, CurledUp.com

“A complex set of subplots woven tightly into a story of intrigue and death as told by a cast of colorful characters...will have...[the reader] turning the pages to find out what happens next.”

—Anne K. Edwards, MysteryFiction.net

“I loved the characters in Witness on the Quay. Amy is an unusual, fun, middle-aged heroine that the reader will fall in love with immediately. Jean-Michel is the perfect hero...The dialogue is wonderfully realistic and sometimes downright fun, especially the conversations between Amy and Jean-Michel. The fascinating setting adds a delightful dimension to the story. I loved all the suspense, the many clues to the mystery, all the wonderful supporting cast, and most of all, the romance and passion...It’s fun to read about an intelligent, talented, and yes, sexy older heroine.”

—Writer's Digest

“I thought I had figured out this story early on, but Anding’s chameleon-like narrative kept throwing me off the track. The romance plot looks predictable at first but is soon preempted by a richly detailed, authentic travelogue centered on the historic Ile Saint-Louis in Paris. Then the murder mystery takes center stage, but just as that seems nearing resolution, unexpected developments in the romance upstage it. This is a compelling, immediate, exciting story with the shifting emphases on each of these responses leaving the reader constantly off-balance—and that element of surprise is the fourth factor in this novel’s consistent charm and interest.”

—Steven W. May, Amazon.com

“I have waited too long to tell you how much I enjoyed reading your first, and happily not last, mystery. It held my interest the whole time and I am full of admiration for your mastery of narrative techniques and the deft use you made of local color, and also for your constant and very charming sense of humor. It was a lot of fun, and I hope you had as much fun writing it... I very much look forward to reading Witness at the Bridge.”

—Lucienne Frappier-Mazur

“I just finished Witness on the Quay, and I liked it a lot. To my way of thinking, the real hero of the novel is the Ile Saint-Louis itself. There is a magnificent sense of place in your book, with fine attention to detail and lots of local pungency. I shall be eager to see what you do next.”

—Warren Motte

“I have just finished Witness on the Quay... I couldn't put it down. Honest! Your work is a fun combination of detective story, spy thriller, and Harlequin romance, with lots of interesting history to boot. I will never walk around the Ile again without thinking of your book.”

—Gerard J. Brault

“For aficionados of mystery-detective-espionage thrillers, Gini Anding offers both a new take on the genre and—best of all—a distillation of the finest features of whodunit fiction. No mystery writer of today comes close to Anding's intimate knowledge of Paris. And here readers of crime-and-spy conspiracy will appreciate how foreign settings come alive to drive a story's action. Witness on the Quay evokes unique tastes and smells of the Parisian scene through skillfully placed details. The map provided as well as the Cast of Characters are helpful adjuncts, as the plot accelerates through its twists and turns.”

—Robert Griffin, Amazon.com

“Wise, witty and winsome, Witness on the Quay testifies warmly on France and things French. As Amy Page, its food journalist heroine, rebounds as an endangered witness of murder in the heart of Paris, we are more than incidentally grateful for her ‘homework’ in the restaurants, bakeries and stalls of the city as preparation for the cookbook she is writing for her American readers. As much as her culinary investigations readers will relish her amorous involvement with her partner in detection, the French policeman Jean-Michel Jolivet. Anding does for the City of Paris what Dan Brown does for the Eternal City! May the Amy/Anding cookbook soon accompany the sequel to Witness!”

—Jacques Otrebor, Amazon.com

“Witness on the Quay is a genuine page-turner. I read the first sixty pages in one sitting. Gini Anding pulls the reader along with such power, yet with a light and graceful touch. The author nails Paris (and the French) in a way that few American writers are able to do. (I can think of only one other: Diane Johnson.) Readers are introduced to the cuisine and mores of Parisians (and aristocratic provincials) by means that are never forced, are always natural, that come straight out of the story and the characters. The pace is swift, but somehow leisurely, and the police procedural dimension of the tale is deftly handled. Most important, we see that love and passion can bloom in the lives of people over fifty, no doubt shocking news to the twenty-something set. What a delightful confection! We really care about the principals, Amy and Jean-Michel, and look forward to meeting them again in the sequels to Witness on the Quay.”

—Robert W. Greene, BarnesandNoble.com

"I have never written a fan letter to an author before. I greatly enjoyed reading your mystery and am convinced that it would make a good movie or pilot for a TV series (here or in France). It also makes me want to go to Paris and rent an apartment on the island and eat French food and drink wine until I burst... I think you are very clever to have invented such a complicated plot... I hope that you will keep up what you have started and give us more adventures of your charming heroine. A cookbook wouldn't hurt either."

 —Joseph R. Jones

“For me, Gini Anding’s mystery novel, Witness on the Quay, was a true page-turner... I read it, fascinated, in two intense reading periods. My immediate and outstanding reaction centered on the creation of characters. The reader knows just how they are going to act (especially Amy and Jean-Michel) all the way through the novel, even up to the last two revelatory chapters. The characters are not simply saying things that tell a story. They come through as personalities, even the seemingly more minor ones like Auguste. Added significance for all readers, including me, is the way in which one gets to know the Ile Saint-Louis intimately (and the map helps a lot), and the cover picture is so appropriate.”

—John T. Shawcross

Witness at the Bridge
“A talented combination of romance and mystery, this story is a well told tale that will please the pickiest romantic or mystery buff.”

—Anne K. Edwards, MysteryFiction.net

“This successor to Witness on the Quay could be considered a number of books skillfully melded: a fast-paced mystery involving murder and the international drug trade, a heartwarming love story, a meticulous guidebook to Paris and especially to the Ile Saint-Louis, and a compendium of information about French history, cooking, and assorted customs. The main character is a delightful middle-aged American woman, and we also meet a sometimes bewildering cast of characters, including aristocrats, policemen, shopkeepers, chefs and waiters, crooks, gangsters, a retired concierge, a high-class prostitute and a porn star. Amy and Jean-Michel are even more appealing in this second book, I think, and I look forward to the third.”

—Barbara C. Bowen, BarnesandNoble.com

“Gini Anding’s writing is a delicious mix of mystery, romance and traditional whodunit. Woven into the tale are background details of history and tidbits of interest about the Ile Saint-Louis. Readers will feel as though they have visited in person. While it is enjoyable to read this second Amy Page / Jean-Michel Jolivet tale, it is by no means a prerequisite to have read the first. The novels stand on their own as works of fiction, but readers are lucky to have both books available.”

—Heather Froeschl, BookReview.com

“Gini, you have done it again. Once again you have plunged your readers into the exciting world of Amy Page and Jean-Michel Jolivet. What Judy and I find truly amazing is that with your second novel you have written both a story that can stand on its own as a self-sufficient tale of murder-cum-romance and a perfect sequel to the first novel in the series. In other words, readers new to your work will enjoy your second novel enormously whether or not they have yet read your first novel. You pack so much into your stories—about France, about American expats, about love, about how relationships are formed, about good and bad people and those in between. And all the while readers see Amy and Michel's love for each other deepening. Where is it going, we wonder. But that story will be told in sequels 3, 4, 5 . . . We never want it to end.”

—Bob and Judy Greene

“The venerable suspense writer Dick Francis has said in interviews that when readers choose a thriller, they expect to be entertained and perhaps, equally, to learn something . . . principles at the heart of Gini Anding’s new mystery series . . . [A] crash course for Francophiles, history buffs, pop culture aficionados, cuisiniers and chef wannabes, and fun reading for anyone who loves a contemporary, mature, and Gallic-spiced romance . . . Amy Page has a disturbing propensity and proximity to crime victims: a garroted taxi driver in Witness on the Quay, an international businessman posed in ‘still life’ on the Pont-Louis-Philippe in Witness at the Bridge . . . Happily she meets, and consequently falls in love with [Inspector] Jean-Michel Jolivet . . . Their adventures together are a fast-paced romp . . . Anding’s eye for detail is exact and her . . . ‘Cast of Characters’ and hand-drawn maps are most helpful . . . No reader . . . will want to miss how this engaging, intelligent spy and intrigue series develops.”

—Katherine C. Kurk, Kentucky Philological Review

Witness in the Square
“This is a fun read that will let you feel as if you’ve visited the Ile in person and toured the shops and old buildings. The well-drawn cast of characters will keep you focused on the story. A multilayered take woven into a cleverly plotted tale by talented author Gini Anding will satisfy any mystery lover. Enjoy. I sure did."

—Anne K. Edwards, MysteryFiction.net
Author, Death on Delivery

“In the reflective tradition of Agatha Christie, Gini Anding offers another great mystery for readers to pick apart . . . The plot is bigger than imagined with twists that lead to high-staked risks. With points of interest that include stamp collections, hand carved earrings, Hawaii, forged passports, and terrorist activities, this is not your typical murder mystery . . . Anding goes into wonderful detail of her beloved Ile Saint-Louis, giving historical facts to deepen the reader’s experience . . . This third book in a series certainly adds to the collection but it also stands alone as a fantastic read. I highly recommend Witness in the Square as a murder mystery with a darker side than most.”

—Heather Froeschl, BookIdeas.com

Witness by the Church
"Gini has dedicated such energy and intellect to the details that she makes the settings as real to the reader as to the visitor."

—Julie Costich, Amazon.com

"Another fun read in the series of Amy Page and Jean-Michel's relationship and the mysteries they find themselves involved in. If you like action and intrigue, this is a tale that will please you."

—Anne K. Edwards, MysteryFiction.net
Author, Death on Delivery

“Witness by the Church is the fourth book in Gini Anding’s Witness series. It is the first one that I have read. She reintroduces the characters, so I had no problems stepping into the series. She just made me want to go back and read the other ones. The heroine, Amy Page is an American widow. She is newly living with her lover Jean-Michel Jolivet who has recently retired as an inspector. After Amy begins experiencing too many mishaps, some of which are obviously intentional, Jean Michel becomes suspicious and starts investigating. This leads into other incredible mysteries that involve relics, lost treasures, an ancient church and tales of the Templars. Jean-Michel needs to find out who is endangering Amy’s life as quickly as possible to keep her safe. To him, she is the most important treasure.

Witness by the Church takes you to some wonderful places in Paris. Ms. Anding’s vivid descriptions bring everything to life, so much so that I felt like I was there. I love the romance between Amy and Jean-Michel. What would a mystery in Paris be without love? Amy is a very lively character. She makes everything an adventure. She is also a culinary expert, whose descriptions of food made my stomach growl. I also picked up some interesting trivia on the history of some foods. It was also fascinating to learn about the life of St. Louis and his church.

For a fun, romantic mystery, Witness by the Church is the perfect pick. Romance reader groups will especially love it!"

—Paige Lovitt, ReaderViews.com

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