by Cara Black
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Just released: June 19, 2018
Publisher: Soho Crime
Genre: Mystery, France, Paris
Hardback: 288
Rating: 4
Aimée Leduc Investigation series:
Murder in the Marais (1999)
Murder in Belleville (2000)
Murder in the Sentier (2003)
Murder in the Bastille (2004)
Murder in Clichy (2005)
Murder in Montmartre (2006)
Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis (2007)
Murder in the Rue de Paradis (2008)
Murder in the Latin Quarter (2009)
Murder in the Palais Royale (2010)
Murder in Passy (2011)
Murder at the Lanterne Rouge (2012)
Murder Below Montparnasse (2013)
Murder In Pigalle (2014)
Murder on the Champ de Mars (2015)
Murder on the Quai (2016)
Murder in Saint-Germain (2017)
Muder on the Left Bank (2018)
Book 19 -tba
First sentence(s):
Pale afternoon light filtered into Éric Besson's wood paneled office as Monsieur Solomon untied the twine that bound together a bulging old notebook.
Zombie sighting:
Translation: Eve Gilet resided in a locked down secure facility -- either a zombie from shock treatments or under severe sedation.
-chapter Tuesday Afternoon, page 62
A confession fifty years in the making puts everyone’s favorite Paris détéctive très chic, Aimée Leduc, on a collision course with the “Hand,” a cabal of corrupt Parisian cops among who masterminded her father's murder—and among whose ranks he might have once found membership. When a friend’s child is kidnapped while wearing her daughter’s hoodie, Aimée realizes that the case has crossed into the realm of the personal in more ways than one.
A dying man drags his oxygen machine into the office of Éric Besson, a lawyer in Paris’s 13th arrondissement. The old man, an accountant, is carrying a dilapidated notebook full of meticulous investment records. For decades, he has been helping a cadre of dirty cops launder stolen money. The notebook contains his full confession—he’s waited 50 years to make it, and now it can’t wait another day. He is adamant that Besson get the notebook into the hands of La Proc, Paris’s chief prosecuting attorney, so the corruption can finally be brought to light. But en route to La Proc, Besson’s courier—his assistant and nephew—is murdered, and the notebook disappears.
Grief-stricken Éric Besson tries to hire private investigator Aimée Leduc to find the notebook, but she is reluctant to get involved. Her father was a cop and was murdered by the same dirty syndicate the notebook implicates. She’s not sure which she’s more afraid of, the dangerous men who would kill for the notebook or the idea that her father’s name might be among the dirty cops listed within it. Ultimately that’s the reason she must take the case, which leads her across the Left Bank, from the Cambodian enclave of Khmer Rouge refugees to the ancient royal tapestry factories to the modern art galleries.
My two-bits:
While I have not read all the books in this series, this one works alright as a standalone. However, there are some spoilers when it comes to Leduc's past relationships.
Local investigations in Paris in this story introduces the 13th arrondissement. I enjoyed the focus on the individual arrondissements in this mystery series. It is a fun way to arm chair travel.
This fast-paced action story pulls in some of the protagonist's past and present in regards to her parents.
Love the signature fashion and food blips that were sprinkled in.
* part of Paris in July (here)
* part of Bout of Books 23 (here)
