Book Review: Murder in Montmartre
The Lastest Aimee Leduc Mystery by Cara Black
"Murder in Montmartre" is the lastest in a series of Paris-based murder mysteries, featured young, edgy private detective, Aimee Leduc.
The Parisian neighborhood of Montmartre, once home to artists like Toulouse-Lautrec, Utrillo, and Renoir, is built atop a series of limestone quarries. Little do most residents of this quartier know that their apartment buildings have risen on top of a "gruyere cheese" type labyrinth. Just as tentative is Montmartre's large Corsican population, which protects its own, even at its peril.
Murder in Montmartre, the sixth in the Aimee Leduc series, begins with murder. Aimee's childhood friend Laure, now a cop -- a flic -- is severely injured when her partner drags her to a meeting with an informer. Her partner, Jacques, is shot and killed in the exchange and Laure is charged with the murder. That her hands show gunshot residue and that she's in a coma and can't defend herself just makes matters worse.
Aimee Leduc
Aimee Leduc runs a private detective agency, started by her grandfather and perpetuated by her father, a former police commissioner. She specializes in computer security, but can't decline getting involved in the policeman's murder in hopes of clearing her friend. What she finds draws her into the secrets and dangers of the Corsican Separatist Movement, the Armata Corsica, a terrorist organization whose methods are swift and brutal.
Chasing the Past
Since the case is viewed as open and shut by the authorities, Aimee digs to find clues that will clear her friend of murder. As she finds more and more about the dead policeman and his secrets, she finds hints that her father's recent death in an explosion may have been more complicated than it seemed at the time. Will finding the truth about Laure force her to face truths about her own family?
Paris beyond the Travel Guides
Not since Georges Simenon's Maigret novels has a mystery series so vividly depicted life in Paris, beyond the tourist spots. Murder in Montmartre shows a side of Paris that includes small local haunts and habits as well as the seamier side of Montmartre, with its rampant gambling and prostitution. Cara Black ably combines Parisian history and culture with a fast-paced and exciting mystery.
About Cara Black
Cara Black is a American writer with a passion for France. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, a bookseller, and their son, and makes frequent trips to Paris. Her seventh Aimee Leduc novel, Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis, is was released in March of 2007.
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- Murder on the Ile Saint -Louis by Cara Black
