MURDER IN THE RUE DE PARADIS by Cara Black
Book Quote:
“But a man cannot be too careful in his choice of enemies, as Oscar Wilde pointed out.”
Book Review:
Reviewed by Guy Savage (MAY 15, 2009)
Mon Dieu! Elegant Parisian PI, Aimee Leduc, owner of Leduc Detective Agency is back for Murder in the Rue de Paradis, the eighth mystery from author Cara Black. Itās August 1995, and to Parisians, that means itās vacation time and everyone who can leave the city departs from the dust and heat for friendlier climes. Aimee, however, isnāt taking a vacation. Sheās just landed a big contract, and feeling pleased with herself, she heads back from her late business meeting. On her way home, out of the blue, Aimeeās former lover, investigative journalist Yves Robert shows up without explanation. Itās been a long time since Aimee last saw him, and although Aimeeās been ignoring his e-mails, Yves expects to pick up the relationship where he left off. Now he wants to ātry again,ā and Aimee, ever a sucker for the ābad-boy typeā falls into bed with Yves and is floored when he proposes marriage and apparently craves the whole domestic life thing. Incroyable!
The next morning Aimee wakes up to find Yves gone. A love-āem-and-leave-āem scenario rapidly turns into a murder mystery when Yvesās corpse shows up with his throat cut from ear-to-ear, and police tell Aimee that her lover is reportedly the victim of a transvestite prostitute. Given the evening they just spent together, Aimee isnāt about to swallow the party line on Yvesās death, and so she begins to investigateā¦.
Curiouser and curioser, the suspect dies in police custody and before you can say āQuelle Horreurā Aimee is knee deep in Kurdish nationalists, Turkish fighters, an Iranian hit woman. The mystery is set in a nervous Paris reeling from a metro bombing, protests and political assassinations.
San Francisco based author Cara Black must be a Francophile, and this shows from the intricate descriptions of the Parisian settings to the text which is sprinkled with French phrases on almost every page. For PI mysteries with an ultra-femme touch (there are loads of details of Aimeeās outfits–down to her 3 inch heels), then fellow Francophiles may want to explore this mystery series designed with a light, femme, chick-lit touch which steers far away from dark, hard-boiled noir.
AUTHOR WEBSITE:Cara Black
| AMAZON READER RATING: |  from 16 readers |
| PUBLISHER: | Soho Crime (March 1, 2009) |
| REVIEWER: | Guy Savage |
| AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? | YES! Start Reading Now! |
| EXTRAS: | Olivia Boler’s review andĀ Excerpt |
| MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: | For an extended stay in France, try:
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Bibliography:
- Murder in Marais (1999)
- Murder in Belleville (2000)
- Murder in Sentier (2002)
- Murder in Bastille (2003)
- Murder in Clichy (2005)
- Murder in Montmarte (2006)
- Murder in the Ile Saint-Louis (2007)
- Murder in the Rue de Paradis (2008)
- Murder in the Latin Quarter (2009)
- Murder in the Palais Royal (2010)
- Murder in the PassyĀ (2011)
- Murder at the Lanterne RougeĀ (2012)
May 15, 2009
Ā· 
Judi Clark Ā· 
Comments Closed
Tags: P.I., Paris, Soho Ā· Posted in: Sleuths Series