1. Look up Ben Constable’s website, www.Benjamin-Constable.net, to find fascinating additional information about the book, including photos of places mentioned in the story, additional writing that did not make the final edit, and stories about the writing of the book. The website also features some of Ben’s short stories, articles, and even music.
2. Ben Constable, the author, named his main character after himself. After reading his biography on his website, what similarities can you distinguish between Ben the author and Ben the character? As an exercise, have members of your group write a fictional paragraph or two with themselves as their main characters. Discuss how you each chose your topics, how strange (or natural) it was to write yourselves as protagonists, and note the similarities between authors and characters.
3. Tomomi and Ben often meet in Paris to drink wine, and even while Ben was in New York City, he needed a bottle of French red to solve one of Tomomi Ishikawa’s clues. Bring a lovely French wine to your meeting—a Château Lafite Rothschild if you want to splurge, or a more modest bottle, perhaps at the recommendation of your wine merchant. If wine is inappropriate, consider creating a yogurt bar with different toppings. Include almonds if you wish, but skip the bitter toffee variety!