Reviewed By Liz

Today’s featured author is Susanne Alleyn. A TREASURY OF REGRETS, the sequel to GAME OF PATIENCE (2006), is the second book in a series set in Paris just before, during, and after the French Revolution. Both novels feature freelance investigator (a.k.a. police spy) Aristide Ravel and are historical police procedurals.

For police agent and investigator Aristide Ravel, the teeming streets and alleyways of Paris are a constant source of activity. And in the unruly climate of 1797, when gold and food are scarce, citizens will stop at very little to get what they need.

When Jeannette Moineau, an illiterate servant girl, is accused of poisoning the master of the house where she works, Ravel cannot believe she is guilty of the crime. With stubborn witnesses, a mysterious white powder, and stolen goods all stacked against her, however, he knows it will not be easy to clear her of the charges. But he finds an unexpected ally in Laurence, a young widow of the house, whose past surprisingly intersects his own.

In a large household brimming with bickering and resentment, everyone seems to have a motive for poisoning old Martin Dupont. But as more family members begin to turn up dead, the list of suspects rapidly dwindles. Tensions rise and Ravel and Laurence must probe the secrets of the city’s crafty politicians and confidence artists for clues to clear Jeannette’s name. Finding information, though, in dissolute post-revolutionary Paris, can lead to costly and dangerous demands.

GAME OF PATIENCE, Paris, 1796. Aristide Ravel, freelance undercover police agent and investigator, is confronted with a double murder in a fashionable apartment. The victims prove to be Célie Montereau, the daughter of a wealthy and influential family, and the man who was blackmailing her.

A friend of Célie’s, Rosalie Clément, an enigmatic, bitter young woman, provides Aristide with intelligence that steers him toward a young man, Philippe Aubry. Aubry has a violent past and was in love with Célie, but further inquiry reveals that - according to an eyewitness - he cannot have been her murderer.

As time passes, Aristide finds himself reluctantly falling in love with Rosalie, although he suspects that she knows more about the murders than she will say. From the gritty back alleys of Paris to its glittering salons and cafés, through the heart of the feverish, decadent society of postrevolutionary France, Aristide’s investigation leads him into a puzzle involving hidden secrets, crimes of passion, and long-nurtured hatreds.

Susanne Alleyn can be found on the web at www.susannealleyn.com.

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Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2007