The Most Mysterious Bookshop in Paris by Mark Pryor

 

First Line: The darkness was complete and, for someone who'd never received so much as a parking ticket, the starless night sky and black leafless trees were a protection greatly valued as The Shadow slipped a key into the front door.

Former head of security at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, Hugo Marston, has retired. It's time to make his lifelong dream of owning a mystery and antiquarian bookshop come true. Then comes the call from J. Bradford Taylor, the U.S. Ambassador. A chocolatier has been targeted for blackmail, and the ambassador calls in Marston to investigate. Hugo must find a way to make the ambassador happy and get his bookshop ready for its grand opening at the same time.

~

A few years ago, I read the first of Mark Pryor's Hugo Marston mysteries, The Bookseller, and although I did like the book's window into Parisian life and its strong mystery, the characters failed to "click" with me. I decided to give Hugo another chance in Pryor's The Most Mysterious Bookshop in Paris, the first in his new Paris Bookshop series.

Once again, I was transported to Paris. I enjoyed watching Hugo and his assistant, Blake Holmes, talk mysteries while getting the shop ready for business. I learned a great deal about the chocolate business, and the 18th-century chateau and former convent was the perfect location for Eclat de Chocolat. I even learned about what is entailed in being given a Royal Warrant.

The mystery is strong and kept me guessing, but-- once again-- the cast just didn't click with this character-driven reader. Why? It's a mystery to me because I do like Hugo Marston and his friends. It's like real life, I suppose. I've met many people that I've liked, yet had no desire to further an acquaintance with them.

However, don't let my lukewarm reaction keep you from giving this book a try. There's a lot to like about it, and it may just be your perfect cup of tea.

The Most Mysterious Bookshop in Paris by Mark Pryor

eISBN: 9781496756404

Kensington © 2026

eBook, 272 pages

Thriller/Suspense, #1 Paris Bookshop

Rating: C+

Source: Net Galley

Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

 

First Lines: Paris. December 1949. Julia Child had a mayonnaise problem.

 

After the death of her grandmother, Tabitha Knight finds herself in Paris, living with her French grandfather and uncle. Having been a "Rosie the Riveter" during the war, she's not sure where life is going to take her next. In the meantime, she's giving French lessons to Americans living in Paris and trying her best to learn how to cook from her friend across the street, Julia Child. 

 

Julia's sister, Dorothy, is working in an American theatre, and Tabitha is invited to the party she gives for her fellow actors and theatre employees. Tabitha is one of the people who finds the body of a fellow partygoer in the cellar. To help Dorothy out, Tabitha agrees to fill in for the dead woman in the coat check room until they can find a replacement.

 

Tabitha can't stay out of the investigation, no matter how discouraging Inspector Merveille is. Why? Because all of the inspector's suspects seem to be Tabitha's friends. The dead woman attended a party in the Childs' apartment. The dead woman worked with Julia's sister, and the murder weapon was a knife from Julia's kitchen. She's going to do whatever it takes to prove her friends' innocence even if it puts her own life in danger.

 

~

 

In Mastering the Art of French Murder, author Colleen Cambridge does for Julia Child what she's done for Agatha Christie in her other historical mystery series featuring Christie's housekeeper, Phyllida Bright. As in the Phyllida Bright series, Julia doesn't take center stage in the investigation. She is there to provide Tabitha with a sounding board, a little encouragement, and plenty of cooking tips. For someone like me who is familiar with Child through her television series The French Chef and the movie Julie & Julia, this book brought a smile to my face.

Young Tabitha Knight shows the dilemma many women faced at the end of World War II. She thrived as one of the many Rosie the Riveters, but when the war ended, her job disappeared, and it's almost impossible to find an alternative that feels just as important and just as fulfilling. Although Tabitha is a dab hand with a Swiss Army knife, I did find her to be annoying. Always pushing. Always snooping. Always taking just one more risk. There were times I wished she'd stay in the kitchen with Julia, and that's not normal because I don't like to cook. 

The mystery surrounding the young woman's death is an excellent one, and Julia Child's cameos kept me from paying as much attention to it as I should have. All in all, Mastering the Art of French Murder is a good start to a new series and should appeal to readers who are interested in solving an intriguing mystery vividly set in a Paris still recovering from World War II.

Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

eISBN: 9781496739612

Kensington Books © 2023

eBook, 272 pages

 

Historical Mystery, #1 American in Paris mystery

Rating: B

Source: Net Galley

Stick Together by Sophie Hénaff

First Line: Jacques Maire walked along the canal which ran through the centre of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

After bringing a dirty cop to justice in The Awkward Squad, the entire Paris police force considers Commissaire Anne Capestan's squad a bunch of traitors. This certainly isn't going to help them with their latest investigation into the death of Capestan's ex-father-in-law, a former police officer with no shortage of enemies. Even though they're referred to as "the official dregs squad," these misfits seem to be putting clues together faster than their fellow officers in other divisions and have already found two additional murders that tie into theirs.

With everyone expecting them to fall flat on their faces, it's up to Capestan's squad to prove them all wrong, and readers are going to enjoy the journey as long as they don't mind a mystery that focuses more on the characters than it does the investigation-- at least from time to time. It's fun to piece together the clues in Stick Together, even though the identity of one of the bad guys is rather transparent.

However much I do enjoy solving the mysteries in the Awkward Squad series, I have to admit that the characters are what I really focus on. It's been proven time and again that, if you treat someone like a loser, they are going to behave like a loser. That's what's happened to the members of the Awkward Squad-- until they're transferred to their new division. Anne Capestan is the perfect boss for this crew. She accepts them as they are and still expects them to do their best everyday. They get no respect from any other police officer in the city of Paris except for the head of the Police Judiciare who secretly helps Anne when he can. When Anne is given a new transfer, he tells her, "I think deep down he's damaged. Fix him if you can, please, commissaire."

It's to Anne's credit that she does seem to be able to fix damaged police officers, and with an officer who's fresh out of the psych ward and another whose last assignment had been as an informer, she needs every ounce of her skill. Yes, Stick Together-- as well as the first book in the series-- can be read as mysteries, but if you're the type of crime fiction reader who likes a bit of humor and a character-driven story, author Sophie Hénaff should really be your cup of tea. The only part of the book that felt a bit over the top to me was a trip to an island at the end, but it does show the group bonding.

I've always loved stories about how a bunch of misfits and losers come together, learn to work together, and begin to take pride in themselves again. If you think about it, Hénaff's series about an improbable group of police officers follows Harry Bosch's Rule: Everybody Counts, or Nobody Counts.

Stick Together by Sophie Hénaff

Translated from the French by Sam Gordon.

eISBN: 9781635060171

Quercus © 2019

eBook, 320 pages

Police Procedural, #2 Awkward Squad mystery

Rating: B+

Source: NetGalley


 

The Lying Down Room by Anna Jaquiery

First Line: For a long time, he watches the people in the queue.

Commandant Serge Morel lives with his father in their large Paris apartment. His father, always a force in his life, is slowly succumbing to dementia, which is a concern for the busy policeman-- especially considering the puzzling new case he and his team have been presented with.

It's August. It's swelteringly hot, and Morel is called to the crime scene of an elderly woman who's been murdered to the soundtrack of Fauré's Requiem and then grotesquely displayed. As the investigation progresses, the suspects narrow down to a middle-aged man and a mute teenage boy who have been delivering religious pamphlets to older women in various neighborhoods.

As more elderly women are targeted, Morel finds his investigation moving away from France back to Soviet Russia, and locating those two men becomes even more critical.

I came to The Lying Down Room by a circuitous route. The second book in the series really caught my eye, primarily because it takes place in Cambodia, but I decided to read the first book to get a better feel for the character of Commandant Morel. I wish I'd gone ahead and read that second book first.

This mystery is well-plotted and has a good smooth pace that moves the story right along. Jaquiery gives readers a strong portrait of Paris in August-- particularly of the murderous traffic and of Président Sarkozy's policies. We're told that "over the past six months Morel's team had closed more cases than any other team at the Criminal Brigade," and we're introduced to them, but the introductions are rather hit or miss. Morel feels that one member belongs elsewhere, and the one that readers see most is Lila Markov of the IQ of 174. She spends the entire book in a perpetual bad mood and just made me want to tell her to get over herself.

Morel has a lot on his plate because budget cuts mean fewer police officers to do more work. His father is in the beginning stages of dementia, and when Morel needs to decompress, he either makes a complicated origami bird or visits his married mistress. All the bones of The Lying Down Room are good, but I didn't particularly enjoy the book because I felt as though I were being kept at a distance; I never felt fully engaged with the story or with the characters. Now I need to decide if I want to follow Morel to Cambodia. If I do, it won't be in the immediate future.

The Lying Down Room by Anna Jaquiery

eISBN: 9781447244424

Pan Macmillan © 2014

eBook, 335 pages

Police Procedural, #1 Commandant Serge Morel mystery

Rating: C+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.


 

The Paris Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal

First Line: Only a single small sparrow, hiding in the high branches of the green chestnut trees, dared to pierce the Avenue Foch's eerie silence with her chirps and trills.

Being dressed in Chanel and staying in a chic hotel in German-occupied Paris is a long way from Maggie Hope's beginnings as Winston Churchill's secretary, but she's on two missions: one, to find her half sister Elise who disappeared after escaping from a concentration camp. Two, to find the whereabouts of captured agent Erica Calvert's research, which is vital for planning the Allied invasion of France. These objectives are going to take all of Maggie's talents for deception and spycraft because England's Special Operations Executive has a traitor who is endangering every one of their agents.

I've been a fan of Susan Elia MacNeal's World War II-era Maggie Hope series since the first, Mr. Churchill's Secretary-- and it's almost impossible to believe that was seven "installments" ago! In each book, Maggie has grown from a woman with a talent for mathematics and thinking on her feet to an agent who not only trains new recruits but does dangerous undercover work herself. The entire series is a homage to the incredible sacrifices that so many (sometimes nameless) people made in the name of freedom during World War II. In MacNeal's capable hands, this series is both enlightening and highly entertaining.  

I'm also happy to say that in The Paris Spy, everything comes together with a sizzle; it's MacNeal's best book yet. Occupied Paris comes to life in all its swastika-drenched angst, and the excellent pacing just never lets up. There are some surprising characters who do not behave as one would expect, and there is danger from so many different angles that it's almost impossible to see how on earth Maggie can pull everything together. It's not all derring-do and razzmatazz in The Paris Spy, however. Bad things happen to good people and the things that agents must do change them both inside and out.

This is a perfect book-- and a perfect series-- for fans of historical mysteries featuring strong female characters. (Think Bess Crawford or Maisie Dobbs.) But... if you ever find yourself with a code to crack or the Gestapo closing in, put your money on Maggie. She'll get the job done.

The Paris Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal

eISBN: 9780399593819

Bantam Books © 2017

eBook, 320 pages

Historical Mystery, #7 Maggie Hope mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Net Galley

Murder on the Champ de Mars by Cara Black

First Line: Aimée Leduc clipped the French military GPS tracker to the wheel well, straightened up and gasped, seeing the Peugeot's owner standing in the shadowy Marais courtyard.

It's April 1999 in Paris, and maternity leave is over for private investigator Aimée Leduc. Feeling guilty over leaving infant daughter Chloë with a child minder, Aimée vows to spend more time with her child, but it's not going to be easy. She's barely started work on pending cases when she's approached by a young gypsy boy. His mother is dying and urgently wants to speak to Aimée, but the woman is abducted from the hospital before Aimée can see her. All this young private investigator has to go on is the fact that the woman's information has something to do with her father's unsolved murder. It's a race against the clock for Aimée, and race she will because knowing who's responsible for her father's death means a fresh future for her and her baby daughter.

I have come to enjoy Cara Black's series. It's been a pleasure to get acquainted with Paris and its history district by district. In Murder on the Champ de Mars, we learn about the history of the gypsies, and it's a tragic one. I've also been looking forward to seeing how Aimée adapts to motherhood because I didn't think it would be an easy transition. I was right. In fact Aimée-as-parent is one of the things that bothered me in this book.

The parenting issue is clouded by the appearance of Chloë's father, and even with his presence in the background, Aimée's good intentions come to naught. In fact she seems to go out of her way to be away from her baby and to put herself in dangerous situations. This is a woman who needs a sharp jolt to force her to face reality. You can't speed like a maniac through Paris, break into buildings, and generally try to act as though you're a super hero when you have a baby depending on you. But Aimée does, simply because it's more important for her to find out who killed her father. She is a woman obsessed.

Another issue was the pacing of this book. At times it moves at breakneck speed, but there are slow intervals when nothing much seems to be going on. Aimée is a character I've never completely warmed up to. She's much more interested in fashion and makeup than I. My interest has always been more focused on her partner René, their part-time employees, and the stories the author weaves. These slow intervals when Aimée is basically spinning her wheels and grasping at straws affected my enjoyment of the book. By the end, I almost felt as though the mystery solved itself and Aimée just happened to be in the vicinity.

Something else that I noticed in Murder on the Champ de Mars is the prevalence of French words and phrases. Much more than I felt necessary. I certainly don't have a problem with it since I can read and speak French, but if other readers can't, they may find this to be distracting and annoying.

All in all, I did enjoy this book. No non-French crime writer can take you through Paris like Cara Black. It's the main reason why I keep coming back for more. However, it's certainly going to be interesting to see if Aimée's parenting skills have improved in the next book.

 Murder on the Champ de Mars by Cara Black

ISBN: 9781616952860

Soho Press © 2015

Hardcover, 320 pages

Private Investigator, #15 Aimée Leduc mystery

Rating: B-

Source: the publisher


 

Unbecoming by Rebecca Scherm

First Line: The first lie Grace told Hanna was her name.

Julie's from California, in Paris working in a shop to restore all sorts of things like teapots, boxes and jewelry. But there's a problem. Her name is actually Grace, she's from Garland, Tennessee, and every night she checks the internet for news of two young men who are going to be released from prison soon. One of the men is her husband. The other man she's in love with. Both were sent to prison for a robbery that she planned to the last detail, and while the two were committing it, she was on a plane to Prague with a stolen canvas in her suitcase. Once these men are free, Grace knows that her waiting game will really begin, and her meticulous construct of lies and deceit will inevitably be shattered.

This is a novel that I tried very hard to like, but in the end I just couldn't. Unbecoming comes wrapped up in all sorts of "hints" and "echoes": Hitchcock (well, one of his movies is mentioned a couple of times), Highsmith (I do see the connection between Tom Ripley and Grace), and Gillian Flynn, who's currently flavor of the month. Perhaps I should've heeded my inner alarm when I saw Flynn's name because I couldn't get past the first twenty-five pages of Gone Girl. I didn't pay attention; however, and I had to force myself to finish this book.

Unbecoming is also labeled a "heist novel," but it isn't really. The robbery is alluded to many times, but it's never really talked about in any detail until the end of the book. Instead almost the entire novel is a very slow and meticulous look into the metamorphosis of Grace. Grace, who started out as a lonely but very likable child looking to be loved, to be a part of a family. As the years pass, she becomes enmeshed in the life of her chosen family, becoming chameleon-like in an attempt to be accepted. 

Most of Grace's attempts to belong involve some sort of lying or deception, and although I'm the farthest thing from being an ultra-conservative moralist, I just couldn't empathize with her. Neither could I empathize with Riley, since he came from a family with a bit of money and he coasted through his life without really thinking about anything very much-- especially consequences. The only character I could muster up some empathy for was Alls, the boy with the father everyone in town whispered about, the boy who had no money and had to work for every single thing he had. I could empathize with Alls, but I never grew to like him.

The incredibly slow pace of the novel and its characters were killers for me, but there were things I liked about Unbecoming. For me the book came to life whenever Scherm described the work Grace did to restore items in the shop in Paris. Both the items she worked on and Grace herself seemed to glow, and I swiftly began to look forward to these scenes. 

I also appreciated the very intricate plotting of the book, which was skillful even if I didn't like the story. Grace is also one of the most nuanced characters I've encountered in a long time. It's just a shame that I didn't like her and grew tired of her slow unveiling.

All in all, Unbecoming just wasn't my cup of tea, but that certainly doesn't mean that it can't be yours. 

Unbecoming by Rebecca Scherm

ISBN: 9780525427506

Viking © 2015

Hardcover, 320 pages

Literary Mystery, Standalone

Rating: D+

Source: Amazon Vine  

The Bookseller by Mark Pryor

First Line: The largest of Notre Dame's bells tolled noon just as Hugo reached the end of the bridge, the brittle air seeming to hold on to the final clang longer than usual.

Hugo Marston, head of security at the U.S. Embassy, enjoys his posting in Paris, and has made friends-- or as much as he can-- with irascible old Max, a well-known bouquiniste (bookstall owner), who can usually find the books Hugo is looking for. When Hugo is forced to stand and watch Max be kidnapped at gunpoint, he is determined to find the elderly man before it is too late. When local police insist there has been no kidnapping, Hugo takes some time off to conduct his own search with the help of his friend, semi-retired CIA agent Tom Green.

When the two men learn more of Max's background, they don't know if he was kidnapped because of the books he sold or because of his past. Then other bouquinistes begin to disappear only for their bodies to be discovered later floating in the Seine. Hugo himself becomes a target, and he's going to have to find some way to convince the police to become involved.

I enjoyed The Bookseller for its window into Parisian life and for the background it provided of the bookstall owners. I've seen so many photographs of the bouquinistes, yet this is the first time I've read anything of their history. It was fascinating.

Unfortunately, the rest of the book wasn't on par with its insights into Paris and one of its institutions. Having deduced what was happening to the booksellers and why very early on, I wondered how long it would take Hugo Marston to put the pieces together. Too long, as it happens. Moreover, Marston himself never really clicked as a main character for me, and neither did his friend Tom Green. Both have promise, but both lacked that indefinable spark that would bring them to life.

Now that I've said all that, I will say that this is a promising debut mystery, and I am more than willing to give the next book in the series a try. 
  

The Bookseller by Mark Pryor

ISBN:  9781616147099

Seventh Street Books © 2012

eBook, 312 pages

Law Enforcement, #1 Hugo Marston mystery

Rating: C+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner

First Line: Storm clouds raced over the barren plain between the fortifications and the goods station at Les Batignolles, where the scrubby grass smelled unpleasantly of sewers.

It's Paris during the 1889 World Exhibition, and the thing to do is go up the brand-new Eiffel Tower to sign the book proving you've been there. When a woman dies on one of the viewing platforms, her death is attributed to a bee sting, but when other "bee sting" deaths begin cropping up in close proximity to the stunning landmark, bookseller Victor Legris thinks there may be another, more sinister, cause of death. His investigation takes him all over Paris, and his list of suspects include his surrogate father and a beautiful Russian artist. One thing is for certain-- he'd better hurry up because he's drawn the attention of the killer, and time is running out.

This book is a splendid evocation of Paris during the Belle Époque, and Legris' frequent walks in various neighborhoods made me very happy indeed. The two women booksellers who write as Claude Izner bring their setting to life.

The mystery is also a good one. By the time I pieced all the clues together, it was almost time for the reveal. The list of suspects is a long one and represents almost all the various social strata in the city, which gives the authors more opportunity to depict their beloved Paris.

The one aspect of the book that I felt was lacking was the cast of characters. The only character in the entire book whom I felt had a real spark of life to him was Joseph, the assistant in Victor's bookshop. (While I'm on the subject of that bookshop, librarians and booksellers reading Murder on the Eiffel Tower will see that customers really haven't changed much from one century to another.) The main character, Victor Legris, is what I've always thought of as a boulevardier-- a man-about-town. He dresses well, he dines well, he has a mistress. Victor has many things and does many things (even deigning to work in his shop from time to time), but he still felt a bit two-dimensional, a bit reserved, as did everyone else.

As much as I loved mentally walking the streets of Paris in the late nineteenth century while solving an enjoyable mystery, it's the stiffness of the characters that will make me hesitate to continue with this series.    

Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner
Translated from the French by Isabel Reid
ISBN: 9780312383749
Minotaur Books © 2008
Hardcover, 304 pages

Historical Mystery, #1 Victor Legris mystery
Rating: C+
Source: Paperback Swap 

A Paris Apartment by Michelle Gable

First Line: She only wanted to get out of town.


April Vogt's boss at Sotheby's makes her day. When he tells his continental furniture expert about an apartment in Paris's ninth arrondissement that has been discovered after having been untouched for seventy years, April can't wait to get over there to take a look at the treasures the apartment may contain. It also helps that she needs distance from her philandering husband.

Once in Paris, April quickly learns that the apartment is a gold mine; not only for its furniture and other priceless objects, but for the letters and journals she finds that were written by the very same woman in the breathtaking (and previously unknown) Boldini portrait in the salon. Soon April's days are filled with furniture appraisals and reading about the life of one of Paris's celebrated Belle Epoque courtesans. The more she learns about the courtesan's life, the more she examines her own life-- until she realizes she must stop ignoring her problems if she wants her own happy ending.

I'd been following news articles about an apartment in Paris that had been discovered only after the rent stopped being paid. When the doors to the residence were opened, it was learned that these rooms had been untouched for seventy years-- and were a veritable treasure trove of antiques and ephemera (like the dozens and dozens of calling cards that the author used to put together a sort of cast of characters for this book). When I learned that Michelle Gable had written a book using this very same apartment at its heart, I couldn't wait to read it.

The segments describing many of the items found in the apartment sparkled and made me feel as though I were present at some wonderful archaeological discovery. Equally strong was the story line involving the courtesan who owned the apartment and wrote the letters and journals found by the appraiser. Marthe de Florian is a fully fleshed figure, one that a reader can empathize with and even condemn on occasion.

The story line that really didn't hold up its end was the modern one of April Vogt. She's pursued by a Parisian lawyer while doing her best to avoid her husband, who once cheated on her. Granted, there's not much new and exciting in a tale like that, but I didn't mind it. What I did mind was April's character. She has every appearance of traveling through her life with blinders on... as though she believes there's only one side to every story. Her willful blindness soon began to annoy me, which meant that I took respite in Marthe de Florian's story. And how wonderful it is that there's so much more to this book than April!

A Paris Apartment by Michelle Gable

ISBN: 9781250048738
Thomas Dunne Books © 2014
Hardcover, 384 pages

Fiction, Standalone
Rating: B
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen 

Murder in Pigalle by Cara Black

First Line: Stepping into the shadowed cool of Passage Verdeau, Aimée Leduc welcomed the reprieve from the late-June heat-- but not the barrel of the Uzi blocking her way.

June, 1998 is not the best time in the world to be five months pregnant: French football fans are in riot mode anticipating the World Cup, the sticky heat is oppressive, and a serial rapist is targeting teenage girls in Paris's Pigalle district. Private investigator Aimée Leduc is trying to focus on her unborn child, but when Zazie the 13-year-old daughter of the proprietor of Aimée's favorite café disappears, everything changes in a heartbeat. The police aren't taking Zazie's disappearance seriously enough, and her parents are asking Aimée for help. She couldn't say no... even if she wanted to.

There's a lot in Murder in Pigalle for a reader to digest, especially Aimée's own reactions to her pregnancy. How is she coping with morning sickness, getting tired easily, and her clothes no longer fitting properly? How are her friends and business associates reacting to the news? This is all important, especially for future books in the series, but front and center is Zazie's disappearance with this serial rapist on the prowl. Aimée knows how important time is in relationship to the young girl's survival, and her sense of urgency swiftly becomes the focus of the reader. As Aimée fights nausea, exhaustion, and an almost overwhelming sense of panic, I, too, became panicked-- and I couldn't read fast enough.

As her investigation progresses, it soon becomes clear that this is not a simple case of one young girl's disappearance. There are more things at stake here, and Aimée must unravel a tangled skein of clues in order to make sense of it all and save Zazie. Of all the books in this series that I've read, Murder in Pigalle is the strongest. I can't wait to see what Cara Black has in store for us next. 

Murder in Pigalle by Cara Black

ISBN: 9781616952846

Soho Crime © 2014

Hardcover, 320 pages

Private Investigator, #14 Aimée Leduc mystery

Rating: A

Source: publicist  

City of Darkness and Light by Rhys Bowen

First Line: Like many Irish people I have always been a strong believer in a sixth sense.

The New York City police commissioner has decided to crack down on Italian gangs, but when one retaliates against Daniel Sullivan, his wife Molly and their infant son Liam find themselves on their way to Paris, France, to stay with Molly's friends, Sid and Gus.

Although filled with fear for her husband who remains behind, Molly can't help but be a bit thrilled at the thought of going to Paris. But when she gets there, nothing goes according to plan. Sid and Gus have disappeared, and Molly has her hands full with the care of a baby and the search for her friends. Her search not only leads her through all levels of Parisian society, it leads to a dead body as well, and no one can blame Molly for beginning to think that Paris may be even more deadly than New York City.

It's been a long time since I've visited with Molly Murphy, and a lot has changed in her life. After reading City of Darkness and Light, I wonder why it took me so long to renew my acquaintance. Molly has been independent, she's been a private investigator, and I was interested to see how she was adapting to married life. We've barely scratched the surface of her new role as wife and mother when the world explodes around her in a thrilling-- and heartbreaking-- scene, and she and infant son Liam find themselves on the way to Paris.

Molly always seems to find interesting people wherever she goes, and this book is no exception. Whether it's a group of women on board ship, or the shop keepers and artists of the streets of Paris, City of Darkness and Light is filled with savory characters. Several of them are famous, and not all of them are named-- Molly wouldn't know them all, would she?-- and part of the enjoyment of reading is trying to put names to all them all.

Yes, I did love conducting my very own identity parade while I read, but some of my favorite scenes in the book involved Molly dealing with the mundane: if you don't know anyone in Paris and you don't speak the language well, how are you going to deal with a cantankerous landlady? How are you going to find a place to stay? Where is your food coming from? Who on earth is going to care for your baby while you're out trying to find your friends?

It's this mix of finding a murderer, rubbing elbows with the great and not-yet-great in the Parisian art world, and changing diapers that makes this latest Molly Murphy mystery so much fun to read. Molly's fans will be enchanted... and newcomers may very well be hooked. 

City of Darkness and Light by Rhys Bowen

ISBN: 9781250011664

Minotaur Books © 2014

Hardcover, 320 pages

Historical Mystery, #13 Molly Murphy mystery

Rating: B+

Source: the author 

Murder in Belleville by Cara Black

First Line: Aimée Leduc's cell phone rang, startling her, as she drove under the leafy poplars tenting the road to Paris.

The phone call is from the sister of Aimée's friend Martine. Anaïs is the self-absorbed wife of a government minister. Crying and frightened, she insists that Aimée meet her on a street in the tough neighborhood of Belleville. Belleville, once the home of internationally famous singer Édith Piaf, is now better known for its high concentration of Arab immigrants.

Aimée arrives at the address, and she and Anaïs narrowly escape a car bombing which kills the former mistress of Anaïs's husband. Although the explosion has brought back all the horror of her own father's death, Aimée reluctantly agrees to try to find out why this particular woman would have been the target of a bomb.

The further she digs, the more unsettling are the clues she finds. The dead woman had an alias, and it appears that she led a double life. In one, she was the mistress of a government minister, in the other, she was right in the middle of a situation involving a secret North African radical group. As Aimée continues her investigation, she attracts the notice of people who will stop at nothing to end her snooping, but her findings-- that there is a dark side to immigrant politics that the government doesn't want known-- are too important to ignore.

Author Cara Black is sending me on a tour of Paris, France, one book-- and one neighborhood-- at a time. It is a tour that I am fast learning to savor. A little bit of historical background, a little architecture... add interesting local characters, an intriguing puzzle, and a stylish private eye who doesn't know when to quit, and I'm settled in for the evening.

I found the politically charged theme of immigration to be absorbing, and the more crime fiction I read that's set outside the United States, the more I learn that this is also a problem in many parts of the world. (If you read mysteries set outside the US, you also learn other countries' equivalents of dialing 911 and other bits of trivia such as the fact that "Jane Does" are called "Yvette" in France.)

Aimée is just the sort of strong yet vulnerable character that I like to follow in a series, and the action-filled finale of Murder in Belleville found me starting to chew a fingernail more than once. The only thing in the entire book that bothered me was Aimée's on-again-off-again lover, Yves, whom I found distracting. Fortunately his scenes are few, so he was a minor annoyance.

Do you love France? Do you love reading books set in other countries? Do you love strong-yet-flawed main characters? Do you love carefully crafted mysteries? If you said yes to any of these questions, I would suggest you get your hands on a book written by Cara Black so you can become acquainted with Aimée Leduc!

Murder in Belleville by Cara Black

ISBN: 9781569472798

Soho Crime  ©2000

Paperback, 368 pages

Genre: Private Investigator, #2 Aimée Leduc mystery

Rating: A

Source: Paperback Swap

Murder in the Marais by Cara Black

Title: Murder in the Marais
Author: Cara Black
ISBN: 9781569472125
Publisher: Soho Crime, 2003
Paperback, 360 pages
Genre: Private Investigator, #1 Aimée Leduc mystery
Rating: B
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: Aimée Leduc felt his presence before she saw him.

Aimée Leduc lives in an inconvenient apartment in an ideal location (an island in the River Seine in Paris), and she's a private investigator specializing in computer forensics. She has an apparently mundane task: decipher an encrypted photograph from the 1940s and deliver it to an old woman living in the Marais, the historic Jewish quarter of Paris. When Aimée tries to deliver the photo, she finds the woman dead, a swastika carved in her forehead.

With the help of her partner, René, Aimée uncovers clues relating to a German war veteran, the Jewish girl he saved from Auschwitz, and other shadowy figures. In order to understand the real motive behind the killing, Aimée has to question reluctant older residents of the Marais and to go undercover in an Aryan supremacist group.

I loved reading this book for its bringing Paris to life, and for Black's inclusion of fascinating tidbits like this:

He referred to white and brown sugar, the metaphor for right-wing conservatives and leftist socialists. She knew that in many households political leanings were identified by the kind of sugar sitting in sugar bowls.

The plot line involving World War II collaborators was fascinating, and although I didn't feel as though I had a very good sense of Aimée or her partner René, I look forward to learning more about them as I read more of this series.

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