Got bored didn't finish. Great start that went off from the direction I thought it should have continued in.

Loved reliving my past in France (esp first half of book).

Theresa has lost her job and on impulse decides to "retire" to Southern France. She finds a lovely flat with a view of the harbor in Bellevue-Sur-Mer, a small village near Nice, where she meets a group of ex-pats, mostly British, who befriend her. But not all is perfect in paradise. A series of burglaries and a couple of vicious muggings have people on edge. Not to mention the family difficulties each of them has - cheating spouses, ungrateful children, dwindling funds, alcoholism, etc.
In her debut novel, Imrie has given us a sort of “coming of old age” story. I loved Theresa, though I wanted to shake her a few times when she put up with bad treatment by her ungrateful, selfish daughter and her bratty grandchildren. Still, this is a woman who has always done her best and who is slowly but surely realizing that she deserves some pleasure in life. The cast of supporting characters was marvelous as well: the smooth and attentive Brian; Sally a former British TV star; Americans Carol and David; “dragon lady” Sian and her philandering Aussie husband Ted; the witty, seemingly never aging octogenarian Zoe; compliant Faith and her pushy son Alfie who insists she needs a mansion rather than the small flat she’d prefer; and gay couple Benjamin and William.
I thought it was an enjoyable, fast novel. Perfect for a vacation read. The bad guys get what’s coming to them, and everyone learns a lesson or two. It’s not exactly a happily-ever-after ending, but it gives me hope for the future of these characters. There are two more books in the series (thus far), and I look forward to reading them.

I picked this book up as a light, holiday themed read to escape as I’ve been reading a few heavier books recently and needed a break. It did satisfy this need for light-heartedness, but that was about all it satisfied, unfortunately.

Imrie’s writing was fairly timid and left a lot to be desired. The story line as a whole had a good premise and I did end up finishing this book as I just wanted to know how it ended. However, I did consider DNFing several times. Quite a lot of the “major events” were predictable, yet still presented as “shock twists”. It also felt incredibly old fashioned in the way it approached sensitive topics, i.e. social norms, social class/ status, sexism and gender norms. This element of the story really disappointed me and had me quite taken aback at times.

The final few chapters were a big ol’ pretty bow on the top that’s for sure. All loose ends were tied up in a nice and timely fashion. Sadly, the entire story lives up to it’s title quite appropriately - “Not Quite Nice”.

this book is about Theresa, an older woman who ends up moving to France when she is forced into retirement. presented as someone who has spent much of her life tending to others' needs, Theresa is finally doing something for her own happiness and enjoyment.

this series was recommended as a mystery, which I think is only nominally applicable. it was quite fun to read. it's written in a very casual, chatty way. the characters are fairly shallow and have a lot of drama. at times, they treat one another terribly. for some reason, they continue to spend time together. many of the characters have very badly behaved children, but they all go through their own redemption arcs by the end. I wanted Theresa to be happy. it was satisfying every time that things worked out just so. this was perfect light reading to keep my mood up and distract me (briefly) from everything that's going on in the world these days.