French Mysteries
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| Cara Black |
"An interesting first story by Cara Black, but at times I felt she was trying too hard to grab our attention with this first effort. Aimee Leduc is almost too good for words, athletic, a computer whiz, full of action. The story starts off with a bang, a murder, and continues at the same high pace, with Aimee racing down streets, over rooftops, hacking into all sorts of computer systems. But at the same time, the story was interesting and a page turner. It won't stop me trying others in this series; I just hope that the next story takes a slower pace to develop its plot and ideas. :) (3 stars)"
"Parisian P.I. Aimée Leduc finds herself involved with a secretive North African radical group the French government would rather she didn’t investigate
When Anaїs de Froissart calls private investigator Aimée begging for help, Aimée assumes her best friend's sister wants to hire her to do surveillance on her philandering husband again. Aimée's too busy right now to indulge her. But Anaїs, a politician's wife with an unhappy marriage and a young daughter, insists Aimée must come, that she is in trouble and scared. Aimée tracks Anaїs down just in time to see a car bomb explode, injuring Anaїs and killing the woman she was with.
Aimée, who saw her father die in a car bomb five years earlier, is shaken by the attack, but manages to escort Anaїs to safety. But Anaїs can't explain what Aimée just witnessed. The dead woman, Anaїs says, is Sylvie Coudray, her cheating husband's long-time mistress, but she has no idea who wanted her dead, and Anaїs officially hires Aimée to investigate.
As she digs into Sylvie Coudray's murky past, Aimée finds that the dead woman may not be who Anaїs thought she was. Her Belleville neighborhood, full of North African immigrants, may be hiding clues to who Sylvie really was. As a prominent Algerian rights activist stages a hunger protest against new immigration laws, Aimée begins to wonder whether Sylvie's death was an act of terrorism, and who else may be at risk. To make matters worse, Yves, Aimée's ex-boyfriend, a journalist who seems to appear in and disappear from Aimée's life without any regard for her feelings, is back in town. Just the kind of distraction she doesn't need right now."
"When a Haitian woman arrives at the Paris office of Leduc Detective and announces that she is P.I. Aimée Leduc’s sister, Aimée must dig into her father’s past to solve a murder.
A virtual orphan since her mother’s desertion and her father’s death, Aimée has always wanted a sister. She is thrilled.
Her partner, René, however, is wary of this stranger. Under French law, even an illegitimate child would be entitled to a portion of her father's estate: the detective agency and apartment that Aimée has inherited. He suspects a scam. But Aimée embraces her newfound sibling and soon finds herself involved in murky Haitian politics and international financial scandals leading to murder in the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank of the Seine, the old university district of Paris."
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| Philippe Georget |
"It’s the middle of a long hot summer on the French Mediterranean shore and the town is teeming with tourists. Sebag and Molina, two tired cops who are being slowly devoured by dull routine and family worries, deal with the day’s misdemeanors and petty complaints at the Perpignan police headquarters. But then a young Dutch woman is found murdered on a beach at Argelès, and another disappears without a trace in the alleys of the city. Is it a serial killer obsessed with Dutch women? Maybe. The media senses fresh meat and moves in for the feeding frenzy.
Out of the blue, Inspector Gilles Sebag finds himself thrust into the middle of a diabolical game. In order to focus on the matter at hand, he will have to put aside his cares, forget his suspicions about his wife’s unfaithfulness, ignore his heart murmur, and get over his existential angst. But there is more to this case than anyone suspects."
"Autumn, All the Cats Return is the 2nd book in Philippe Georget's Inspector Sebag mystery series set in Southern France. This was my first experience with Georget's writing. As far as I know there is one other book in this series, plus one other book by Georget that has been translated into English.
This story has an interesting back story exploring the transfer of Algeria back to the Arab majority by General de Gaulle. The story deals with the historical battle for Algeria between the French national OAS and the Arab FLN. It's a nasty, vicious period in French history. In the story, an ex-OAS fighter now living in France is murdered. Inspector Sebag and his team of investigators begin an investigation to find the killer. The story moves from Inspector Sebag to the killer and then back in the past to the battle within Algeria. At the same time, Sebag has told his young daughter that he will check out an auto accident where her school mate was killed and, as well, he is examining himself and his relationship with his wife, Claire, who he thinks has cheated on him.
It's not a perfect story by any means but the subject matter is unique and the characters are all interesting and the investigation is conducted methodically and comprehensively. I liked learning about that area of France and found the historical references especially interesting. I did partially come up with some of the solutions but that didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the story. The translation was more than satisfactory and did not affect my enjoyment. I'll try and find the first book, Summertime All the Cats are Bored. (3.5 stars)"
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| Mark Pryor |
"Max—an elderly Paris bookstall owner—is abducted at gunpoint. His friend, Hugo Marston, head of security at the US embassy, looks on helplessly, powerless to do anything to stop the kidnapper. Marston launches a search, enlisting the help of semiretired CIA agent Tom Green. Their investigation reveals that Max was a Holocaust survivor and later became a Nazi hunter. Is his disappearance somehow tied to his grim history, or even to the mysterious old books he sold?
On the streets of Paris, tensions are rising as rival drug gangs engage in violent turf wars. Before long, other booksellers start to disappear, their bodies found floating in the Seine. Though the police are not interested in his opinion, Marston is convinced the hostilities have something to do with the murders of these bouquinistes.
Then he himself becomes a target of the unknown assassins.
With Tom by his side, Marston finally puts the pieces of the puzzle together, connecting the past with the present and leading the two men, quite literally, to the enemy's lair.
Just as the killer intended."
The remaining 6 books are -
- The Crypt Thief (2013)
- The Blood Promise (2014)
- The Button Man (2014)
- The Reluctant Matador (2015)
- The Paris Librarian (2016)
- The Sorbonne Affair (2017)
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| Fred Vargas |
"I've wanted to try Fred Vargas for a little while now as the stories, featuring Chief Inspector Adamsberg of the Paris police, seemed interesting. I found a copy of the first book and there you go, gave it a try. It definitely was interesting. I didn't particularly like the writing style, kind of reminded me of Cara Black's Murder in the Marais, just a bit all over the place. However, with that complaint out of the way, it did hold my interest and was an interesting plot; somebody making chalk circles in the sidewalks of Paris and leaving something in each circle. Until a body is found in one circle. Adamsberg is new to Paris, having moved from one of the police precincts in another town. He's getting used to his people and they to him. His style is vague and loose and irritates the other police somewhat, but he also has a great reputation for solving crime so they give him some latitude. There is a very laissez-faire style to his investigation, but ultimately, he comes up with a unique solution, that was kind of neat, actually. It was frustrating at times, but there were different characters and we got to see a bit about Adamsberg and his team and I think I will keep reading this series to see how it progresses. (3 stars)"
"Disturbing things have been happening up in the French mountains; more and more sheep are being found with their throats torn out. The evidence points to a wolf of unnatural size and strength. However Suzanne Rosselin thinks it is the work of a werewolf. Then Suzanne is found slaughtered in the same manner. Her friend Camille attempts, with Suzanne's son Soliman and her shepherd, Watchee, to find out who, or what, is responsible and they call on Commissaire Adamsberg for help."
"People will die,' says the panic-stricken woman outside police headquarters.
She refuses to speak to anyone besides Commissaire Adamsberg. Her daughter has seen a vision: ghostly horsemen who target the most nefarious characters in Normandy. Since the middle ages there have been stories of murderers, rapists, those with serious crimes on their conscience, meeting a grisly end following a visitation by the riders.
Soon after the young woman's vision a notoriously vicious and cruel man disappears. Although the case is far outside his jurisdiction, Adamsberg agrees to investigate the strange happenings in a village terrorised by wild rumours and ancient feuds."
The final two authors are two of my favorite crime writers.
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| Georges Simenon |
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| Various |
"This is the first in the Inspector Maigret mystery series. It's one of those books that you can sit down and read in a day, it's that entertaining and interesting. The case involves the mysterious Pieter the Lett, who has made his way from Russia to Paris. Little is known about him, other than a brief description. As Maigret arrives at the train station to meet him, he finds instead a murdered man. This begins a chase across France as Maigret tries to sort out who Lett is and what he's up to. Maigret is an interesting character, grumpy, a bit of a loner and intelligent. He seems to work without sleep and food, in all weather conditions. It's a nicely, fast-paced case and a page-turner, one you'll find difficult to put down until the very end. A super introduction to Inspector Maigret (4 stars)"
"Léonard Planchon, a tense man with a harelip, goes to Maigret with an unusual problem. He wants to kill his wife, or perhaps his wife and her lover, who for two years now have been making him sleep on a cot in the dining room. He has even worked out a plan to hide their bodies in concrete. Uneasily investigating a murder that has not yet been committed, Maigret explores the bistros of Montmartre and uncovers a peculiar--and pathetic--ménage à trois. (3 stars)"
"Maigret Meets a Milord by Belgian Georges Simenon is the 2nd book in the Inspector Maigret mystery series, published originally in 1931. This story finds Maigret investigating a murder of a woman along the canal / locks. The body is discovered by carters who make a living pulling barges through the lock system.
It turns out that the body is that of the wife of a retired English colonel who sails his yacht along the canals, living a decadent life style. Maigret begins his investigation, traveling by bicycle along the locks, interrogating witnesses amongst those that live and work and travel through the lock system. Exploring the life along the locks made for a very interesting scenario. The people and the lifestyles were fascinating. The mystery, as I've found the other Maigret stories, was also interesting, with Maigret working more by instinct and touch to come up with his solution to the crime. The solution was also satisfying, coming as a nice surprise. I continue to enj0y the Maigret books as they are different from most of the series I enjoy. (4 stars)"
"Inspector Maigret, after ruling out the possibility of professional murder and having his spotless reputation called into question, solves the perplexing murder of a nightclub owner who at first glance seems to have no enemies." I rated 3 stars.
"I've enjoyed the Inspector Maigret mysteries I've read so far. Maigret in Exile by Georges Simenon, originally published in 1942, finds the irrepressible inspector banished from Paris to a small coastal town, for some unknown reason. An elderly woman shows up at his office and tells him that there is a body at her neighbour's house in a nearby town.
In his meandering way, Maigret begins his investigation. There seems to be no particular reason for what he is doing, but in his way, he slowly gathers the inspiration to solve the crime.
Maigret relies more on instinct than facts in working through the crime. There are many interesting characters in the story, especially the neighbour, Didine, and her husband, who seem to know everything that goes on in the village. Maigret is a grumpy soul but also very intuitive. As he investigates he pretty well has everything sorted out but seems also to fly by the seat of his pants. It's interesting how he works through things, basically keeping things to himself until he comes to his resolution. An enjoyable series and story. (3.5 stars)"
"One by one the lighted windows went dark. The silhouette of the dead man could still be seen through the frosted glass like a Chinese shadow puppet. A taxi pulled up. It wasn’t the public prosecutor yet. A young woman crossed the courtyard with hurried steps, leaving a whiff of perfume in her wake. Summoned to the dimly-lit Place des Vosges one night, where he sees shadowy figures at apartment windows, Maigret uncovers a tragic story of desperate lives, unhappy families, addiction and a terrible, fatal greed. (3 stars)"
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| Martin Walker |
"Bruno is a former soldier who has embraced the pleasures and slow rhythms of country life -- living in his restored shepherd's cottage; patronizing the weekly market; sparring with, and basically ignoring, the European Union bureaucrats from Brussels. He has a gun but never wears it; he has the power to arrest but never uses it. But then the murder of an elderly North African who fought in the French army changes everything and galvanizes Bruno's attention: the man was found with a swastika carved into his chest.
Because of the case's potential political ramifications, a young policewoman is sent from Paris to aid Bruno with his investigation. The two immediately suspect militants from the anti-immigrant National Front, but when a visiting scholar helps to untangle the dead man's past, Bruno's suspicions turn toward a more complex motive. His investigation draws him into one of the darkest chapters of French history -- World War II, a time of terror and betrayal that set brother against brother. Bruno soon discovers that even his seemingly perfect corner of la belle France is not exempt from that period's sinister legacy." I rated 5 stars.
"This is the second in the Bruno Chief of Police books. It was a worthy follow-on to the intro to Bruno and his small community of Saint-Denis in France. Bruno is involved solving an arson and murder case and must also deal with an American businessman trying to establish in international wine business in the valley. Not only an excellent mystery, the story by Martin Walker provides a well-crafted, interesting description of the small community and the people who live there. I enjoyed very much, like Bruno and his dog, Gigi and also his friends. A nice mix of mystery, character development and just an excellent story. (4 stars)"
"There is something about this series that I love. I picked up the first book, Bruno, Chief Of Police, because I was firstly attracted to the cover. And then when I read the synopsis, I had to give it a try. I wasn't disappointed, quickly falling in love with Bruno's life, his village and friends. I've since read the second book, The Dark Vineyard, which was even better, further developing Bruno's character and letting us know more about his friends and his village. I finished this third book this morning; I had to find out how it would end.
I have to give this a five-star rating. I find that Martin Walker writes the story in such a way that I find myself drawn into the life of the community of St Denis in the district of Périgord. I find myself caring for Bruno, worrying about his future, his personal life and the lives of his close friends; the Baron, Pamela (the English resident), the lovely Fabiola (the doctor) and all of the others. This story is filled with action, from illegal truffle activities, illegal Asian immigrants, gang wars and political intrigue. But even with all that, there is time to delve into the community that Bruno patrols and into Bruno's life. He loves his community and will do anything to protect it.
The people are colorful and different from my own experiences and Walker describes them gently and lovingly. And the food... ah, the food, my mouth waters as i watch Bruno prepare his repasts. At any rate, it's an excellent series and I'm happy to discover that there are at least three follow-on books for me to find and see what will happen next? Will Bruno settle down with Pamela? Or someone else? :) Enjoy! (5 stars)"
"The Crowded Grave is the 4th book in the Bruno, Chief of Police mystery series, by Martin Walker, a series that very quickly became one of my favourites. Bruno is the police chief in the small French hamlet of St. Denis and the stories for the most part focus on cases and the lives of the people who reside in the community and surrounding area.
In The Crowded Grave, Bruno investigates a body discovered at an archeological dig and crimes against local foie gras producers. As well, he is seconded to the national security apparatus as they are organizing a conference in the local area between French and Spanish governments. Add to the mix a new, young state prosecutor, on whose bad side Bruno seems to fall, and the arrival of previous love, Isabelle, and you've got the makings of a fast-paced interesting story.
There is so much to like about the Bruno books as they focus on more than just crime. There is the wonderful, close community of St. Denis, the fantastic cuisine that they share with you with such enjoyment and the scenic area where the stories are set. It's difficult not to want to visit.
The mysteries in The Crowded Grave are interesting as you have possible involvement by PETA, suspicious activities by Basque separates and a decades old mystery. It definitely keeps the story moving along and Bruno has to use all of his wits to try and sort out whether the various activities are related. Throw in the fact that his current love, English resident Pamela, has family problems of her own to deal with and the confusion to Bruno of the arrival of Isabelle and it's an intriguing story. The story is wrapped up very nicely although it left me very sad at the end; something that I never expected to happen, that did and left me heart - broken. But I'll leave that for you to find out. If you've never delved into Bruno's world, I recommend it heartily. If you have, this book is a worthy follow-on to the first three. (4 stars)"
Well, there you go, a bit of la belle France for you. Take a look and have a great week.
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