Cara Black, MURDER AT THE LANTERNE ROUGE -- 12th Aimée Leduc Investigation

The twelfth Aimée Leduc investigation from Cara Black, MURDER AT THE LANTERNE ROUGE, is scheduled for March 6 release -- so it's a good time to pre-order a copy if you're a series fan. This one's a must: Black takes us back to the Marais, and to the Chinatowns of Paris, as Aimée searches for the missing girlfriend of her partner René. It's clear very quickly that the pretty young Meizi must be one of Paris's many illegal immigrants. But that's not enough justification for the violence surrounding Aimée's investigation.

Aimée bit her lip, adrift on a sea of conflicting emotions. She was not eager to voice more suspicions of Meizi, fracture her crumbling image, or hurt René. Every part of her wanted to protect him.

And as the young private eye races through ancient streets and buildings, in leopard-skin coat and high-heeled boots, her past and future are both racing toward her. Everyone's got eyes on her this time: partner, boyfriend, the flics, the secret service, and ... but of course, at least two groups of criminals. It's hard to tell where her godfather Morbier fits into all this, too.

Narrated in Black's staccato, caffeine-propelled style, MURDER AT THE LANTERNE ROUGE is one of the most complex investigations yet for Leduc. You can read it without knowing any of the other volumes, but it's richer, and even more suspenseful, if you've been reading along with the series.