Reviewed By Liz

ISBN 978-1-56947-474-7

Soho Press – Hardcover
2008

In MURDER IN THE RUE DE PARADIS. Aimée’s former lover, Yves, has returned and asks her to marry him. Aimée accepts and begins to contemplate a more settled life, but the next day Yves leaves their bed before Aimée awakens and is murdered. Aimée learns some surprising information about Yves and comes to suspecs that Yves’ last overseas investigative journalist assignment has something to do with his death. As she investigates, Aimée realizes that distant political controversies have made their way to Paris and a terrorist group is about to make a major statement if Aimée can’t stop them in time.

I have a love/hate relationship with Cara Black’s Aimée Leduc series. I love the historical and architectural details that she includes in the books. Practically every building Aimée walks by is described – its appearance, its history, its claim to fame – and this gives so much flavor to the books. As I read them, I want maps, pictures, and an encyclopedia standing by to augment her intriguing little histories because my interest is truly piqued.

Strangely enough, the reason that I’m not wild about the series is because of something Black does well, too. Black has captured a very old-fashioned noir detective atmosphere. She has set the series in modern day France and has a female main character, but many of the characteristics are there. Leduc is a loner with few close friends or family and who mourns and is obsessed with her past. She works outside the law – she makes sure she gets to the crime scene, the victim’s apartment, or potential witnesses before the police and removes evidence and instructs the witness to run from the police, hindering any other investigation. She uses people, lies constantly, and the way she waltzes through any building she wants – public or private – is just bizarre. She is incredibly self-centered and her single-minded pursuit of the answer puts others in jeopardy or gets them killed. Black writes this character well, but the dark style just isn’t me. But if you like your characters edgy and in an urban atmosphere, you should definitely try this modern noir series.

Favorite character? René, Aimée’s business partner. Did I guess it? Yes. Will I read another? Tough call. I do so love those architectural and historical details… What I really need is the Cara Black walking tour of historical Paris – for that I will be first in line.

Check out Cara’s web site at www.carablack.com.

Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2008

Available at Amazon!

ISBN 1569474753

Soho Crime – Paperback
March 2008

MURDER ON THE ILE SAINT-LOUIS is an Aimée Leduc book. This time out, we see a softer side of Aimée, as she is prompted by a phone call from a frantic woman to come down to the courtyard of her building. Not knowing what to expect, Aimée slips on her kitten heels and grabs her gun. Instead of trouble, she finds a tiny baby girl wrapped in a denim jacket. Okay, for Aimée, that is trouble. Uncertain what else to do, Aimée enlists all of her friends to help her care for the baby until the mother returns for her.

Of course, Aimée doesn’t sit idly by and wait for this to happen. Instead, she tries to find out how the mysterious caller knows her, how she came to select the unlikely Aimée as the child’s protector, and to determine what is keeping the mother from returning to claim her infant. Along the way there is a healthy dose of Parisian history, a few more dead bodies, and some lovely couture frocks acquired at bargain basement prices.

Of the Aimée Leduc books I have read, MURDER ON THE ILE SAINT-LOUIS is my favorite. It has the same wonderful descriptions of the architecture and the historical stories that I enjoy so much, but it has a kinder, gentler Aimée, too. In this book, she must make the safety of the baby her primary concern and she tones down her often reckless and thoughtless behavior. A more considerate main character involves me more in the story because she is easier for me to relate to.

Favorite character? René, Aimée’s business partner and emergency baby sitter. In this book, his unfulfilled wishes are there for all to see as he cares for the baby. Did I guess it? Some of it. Will I read another? Yes.

Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2008

Available at Amazon!

Just wanted to let you know Cara Black has a new book out in hardcover this month.

Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis
By Cara Black
An Aimee Leduc Investigation

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Soho Crime (March 1, 2007)
ISBN-10: 1569474443

Available at Amazon!

Cara Black’s Murder in Montmartre was also released in paperback in March.

Murder in Montmartre
By Cara Black
An Aimee Leduc Investigation

Paperback: 306 pages
Publisher: Soho Crime; New Ed edition (March 1, 2007)
ISBN-10: 1569474451

Available at Amazon!

This book would have been a much better read if I had read it while connected to the Internet. Why? Because it is set in France and has a great deal of French words in it, no definition of terms, and the world’s smallest map. I realize that I am approaching middle age and my vision isn’t what it used to be, but the publisher should be embarrassed at not bundling a magnifying glass with this map. Since you can plainly see this is a street map pieced together with tape, I suspect the map was a last minute addition to the book at the insistence of either the author or a peeved proofreader.

But I think the blame for the lack of definition of terms must fall squarely on the shoulders of the author. She has flavored this book, set in France in 1995, with a great deal of French words. Most of them are secondary to the story and are words that non-French speakers can figure out like thank you, Miss and Mr., good morning, and the like. But there are two words that annoyed me throughout the entire book – mec and flic. Mec is a word used to describe various characters, all men. But it is never clear what a mec is. Is the author describing the men as workmen, bums, toughs, as being from a particular ethnic group or having some common physical characteristic like swarthiness? I never knew.

And a flic is some form of law officer, perhaps a beat cop. But because you don’t know for sure, you spend the entire book trying to decipher the hierarchy of the police department. Imagine reading a book in which the local police, sheriffs, state police, FBI, and CIA all appear, but their departments and roles are never explained. My kingdom for a glossary!

Which brings us back to the map. This book is filled with interesting descriptions of the main character’s travels through Montmartre, a neighborhood of Paris traditionally frequented by artists, in an effort to help a friend accused of murder. These histories of buildings, cemeteries, neighborhoods, and artists are extremely interesting and dispensed freely and frequently and you really want to put them all into context with a map. I was left with the feeling that I could have gotten so much more out of this book if only I had been given a little more information.

Did I guess it? Yes. The mystery is unexceptional – this is one you read for the flavor of a foreign land. Try it out, but remember to have a better map and a French dictionary available.

Mystery Book Reviews by Reviewed Liz.com ©2006