(Aimée Leduc Investigation #5)
by Cara Black
Published: 2005
Publisher: Soho Crime
Genre: Mystery, France, Paris
Hardback: 320
Rating: 4
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First sentence(s):
In the storefront Cao Dai temple under the red lanterns, her foot asleep, pins and needles up and down her legs, Aimée Leduc struggled to keep her spine straight, thumb and pinky together, in the half-lotus position.
Aimée Leduc, private investigator specializing in computer security, has been introduced to the Cao Dai temple in Paris by her partner René Friant. He urges her to learn to meditate: she could use a more healthful approach to life. The Vietnamese nun Linh has been helping Aimée to attain her goal, so when she asks Aimée for a favor—to go to the Clichy quartier to exchange an envelope for a package—René prompts Aimée to agree. But the intended recipient, Thadée Baret, is shot and dies in Aimée’s arms before the transaction can be completed, leaving Aimée with a wounded arm, a check for 50,000 francs, and a trove of ancient jade artifacts.
Whoever killed Baret wants the jade. The RG—the French secret service; a group of veterans of the war in Indochina and some wealthy ex-colonials and international corporations seeking oil rights are all implicated. And the nun, Linh, has disappeared.
Since the incident in which she was temporarily blinded (Murder in the Bastille), Aimée has promised to avoid danger. But somehow, it continues to seek her out.
My two-bits:
This story ventures into some history between Vietnam and France. The historical and descriptions of Parisian neighborhoods continues to draw me to this series.
Action and a touch of romance troubles keep Aimée on the move in this Leduc mystery series.
* author binge (series): Cara Black
* part of Paris in July (here)
