FROM THE SHADOWS by James R. Benn, Intriguing Billy Boyle World War II Mystery

As the 17th Billy Boyle investigation opens, it's October 1944, and the long-hoped-for end to World War II is still a long way off in terms of daily life. Sure, the Germans are retreating from France—but what permanent changes have they left behind among the people who stay? Who's been and remains a traitor (and France has flip-flopped some ... it's been hard to tell what was right), and who's still destroying humans and landscape on behalf of "the Boche"? 

Forms of violent payback flourish. So for Billy Boyle, a criminal investigator in General Eisenhower's special staff, every step forward holds peril from two sides at once. Delivered by boat to occupied Crete, on a "simple" pickup assignment to bring a Special Operations Executive officer to France, Billy finds his blunt American assessment of good guys and bad ones under challenge right away. And he'll have to test each ally as he goes along, because nobody's telling him much that he can rely on:

The brass wanted him for some SOE business in the south of France. That's all I was told because that's all I needed to know. Need to know is a big thing in this war, a concept I never much liked. As I gazed out over the unwelcoming shore while we rolled on the dying swells, I would have preferred to know why I was risking my neck.

Series fans and new readers alike will appreciate Billy's relief when he finds his trustworthy and intriguing Polish friend Kaz joining the mission in France. But on their way up the steps to their first joint meeting with the brass, shots ring out,. "I instinctively turned to look," Billy describes, "and heard a sharp sound, followed by a sting at the back of my neck." Nicked by a bullet, Billy's wound isn't bad, although another has pierced the top of Kaz's pierced military cap. Either there are some might casual shooters on the base, or a really accurate sniper has just delivered a warning.

Part of the intense interest of James R. Benn's Billy Boyle mysteries is the way Benn assembles details of the war that aren't often taught in the American classroom. This time, in addition to a failed uprising in the French resistance, and all the friction among passionate groups, there's a remarkable addition to the armed forces at hand: the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit of Nisei (men of Japanese descent born in America and eager to enlist). 

FROM THE SHADOWS refreshes the feel of a more raw America where national origins and ethic differences had high significance. From Billy Boyle's American-Irish background, it's an unusual reach to men whose Japanese families may even be suffering internment in California. Every chapter ends with a clif-hanger, and offers historical and human revelation, along with solving the conundrum of who's taken up crime in the ranks.

The book has a September 6 release date from Soho Press. Cushion the onslaught of back-to-school calendars, ends of vacation, and autumn changeable weather by ordering a copy for your reading stack. Every twist is well knotted, and Benn pulls off another satisfying investigation into the human reality of war, crime, friendship, and honor.

PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

The Best Cara Black Yet: Solid Suspense in THREE HOURS IN PARIS

Once in a blue moon, an author leaps from one genre or segment of writing, into another. And either it's an epic fail -- or it's WOW! Cara Black just made the WOW leap, in switching from her well-loved but long (and increasingly predictable) series featuring stylish Parisian detective Aimée Leduc, into a tremendous espionage thriller.

So if you only love Aimée and her struggles to purchase designer clothing in thrift shops while juggling her newborn baby and a couple of love interests -- well, nobody's going to force you to try THREE HOURS IN PARIS (Soho Crime, April 7 release). But you'll be missing a lot if you skip the transition. And new readers will find this book immaculately plotted, riveting in suspense, packed with unforgettable characters, and opening a chunk of historical Paris that's often forgotten: the three hours that Adolf Hitler spent in the City of Light, as it fell into Nazi hands in June 1940.

The story opens with an instant in the fingers, eyes, and heart of Kate Rees, a young American/British woman hidden in a dome in Paris, waiting for her moment to compress a rifle trigger and assassinate the German leader. The only reason she fails to do so -- she's a heck of a sharpshooter -- is the presence of an unexpected person on the steps in her sights: the one kind of person sure to shatter her composure and steal from her the precious seconds her task demands.

And then, in a flurry of pages, we're back eight months, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, learning why Kate's reached this critical moment in an occupied city, in a land where she doesn't belong. Only the harsh events of war can move a person as sharply as Kate's moved in the following hours, days, weeks, speeding toward becoming a secret military assassin.

Her deep wounds, her grief and anger, make complete sense. What doesn't make sense, really, is how she gets recruited for the task. But Kate's in no position to think logically about that, even though readers will get a hint of what's happening behind her back -- and may feel almost as enraged on Kate's own behalf. But most of the time, the action of this well-written, fast-paced thriller distracts even a careful reader from the hidden plots-within-plots that seem destined to wound Kate again, as she risks her life:

Kate's blouse stuck to her back and her breath came in pants as she kept walking. Only a few more stairs until she reached rue Muller. She felt warm air rush past her ears, raise the hair on her neck as footsteps thudded on the stairs behind her. Any moment she expected her arm would be seized.

Then German soldiers were rushing up from behind and past her.

"Halt!"

Just ahead on rue Muller the melon seller looked up, terror in his eyes.

A moment later he was surrounded ... Kate averted her gaze and kept to the wall. Bile rose in her stomach. She tied to block out the man's yells, which raked like nails across her skin. She wanted to reassemble the rifle and pick the brutes off one by one. A car bearing small swastika flags mounted on either side of the hood squealed to a stop on rue Muller. The doors opened and the old man was pulled inside.

Too late.

Keep moving.

Yes,  it's that fierce, all the way through. Next, of course, based on Black's past series, comes the question -- is this the launch of a new series? The final scene doesn't suggest it. But the date, 1940, leaves plenty of occupied Paris ahead. Could it be? If yes -- sign me up for more.

PS:  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here. (But if you're specifically looking for earlier Cara Black reviews, click here as a shortcut.)

For the Gift List: Cara Black, MURDER IN BEL-AIR

It's time to shop for holiday gifts. One book for me, one book for you. Isn't that fair enough, from one book lover to another?

Cara Black's MURDER IN BEL-AIR, number 19 in her astonishing series featuring single-mom Parisian detective Aimée Leduc, may be her best yet. With a robustly complex plot that involves the disappearance of Aimée's own mother, as well as others, this crime novel plunges into both the Leduc family complications and the criminal enterprises of the City of Lights. And it's full of moments that capture this stylish detective at her most determined an active, like this:

She'd struck a chord. Thrown him off-balance.

"Where are you from?" she asked.

"Arles." His answer came too quick. And she'd never heard a Provençal accent like his. Not even close to that musical patois.

She saw him tense, and his lips moved—he was whispering something.

Merde. Was he wired?

With no more of a plan than to get the hell out, she accelerated, veering left as she kicked straight out with her right foot. Counted on the element of surprise. Her stiletto heel got him in the thigh. Wobbling over the cobblestones in the rain, the scooter shot forward and out of the courtyard.

Right into traffic. Her handlebars scraped a van, and she almost lost her balance. But somehow she kept going, weaving in the downpour with a cacophony of horns blaring behind her.

Black's author note at the start connects the plot to her own mother, and her lithe depictions of strong vibrant women in MURDER IN BEL-AIR contributes to the story's swift action and bright undercurrents. No need to read the other 18 titles first ... get this one for yourself for holiday-season relaxing, and give a copy to one of your best friends as well.

PS:  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

MURDER ON THE LEFT BANK, Aimée Leduc 18 from Cara Black

Who knows what goes on behind the scenes of a long-running mystery series? A few authors have the knack of making each fresh title seem as good as all the ones before it -- or better. But most go up and down a bit, or some titles appeal more to some readers, and so on.

Whatever the pattern is, Cara Black busted clear from it in her epic 18th Aimée Leduc mystery, MURDER ON THE LEFT BANK. Best yet! Each of Black's mysteries with the stylish Parisian detective, now a single mom with a network of support people, has focused on a particular quartier of Paris. This highly successful one begins with a lawyer in the 13th arrondissement, a friend of Aimée's, whose effort to take a shortcut with a compromising document results in the death of his own nephew. Stricken and guilt-wrenched, Éric Besson persuades Aimée to search for the now-missing document -- which leads directly to the crime and power syndicate that Aimée recognizes from murder and betrayal in her own family. Is her deceased father involved in the document? Does she need to stop yet another attack -- one that could affect her own baby Chloé?

Black's plotting is intense and acutely paced, with twists in each chapter and a smooth and powerful narrative that sweeps through the book. She deftly weaves in her usual details of her detective's passion for (gently used) couture clothing along while also slipstreaming her amazing detective agency partner René:

Aimée joined the applause as René presented the award. She then found a flute of champagne and him in that order.

"Nice speech," she said.

His large green eyes popped. "Nice outfit."

She'd worn her cowboy boots and a denim jacket over a black liquid sequin mini accessorized with a slouchy Céline boho bag. Give the outfits here, it was a good thing she'd left the couture in her armoire.  ... She groaned.

"Smile until it hurts," he said. "At least your sequins will grab their attention."

But Aimée is going to need a lot of replacement items for the adventurous pace of her investigation into Paris's power demons:

The garden had ended at a wall. Footsteps crashed in the dark underbrush. Aimée shined her penlight, revealing red smears streaking the glossy leaves.

Blood. Her knees trembled. Whose blood?

Aimée heard a high-pitched whine of a cat in heat and then René's shout: "Over here!"

Had René found Éric?

She forged ahead, continuing along the wall until she came to a woman's slumped figure.

Aimée stumbled, caught herself. "Karine?"

Karine's glassy-eyes stare reflected in Aimée's penlight beam. The tarnished, paint-spattered handle of a pair of scissors protruded from Karine's neck.

"Mon Dieu," said René.

Although Aimée is a private investigator, her adventures tend to feel closer to those of an amateur sleuth: probing each possible combination of means, motive, and opportunity, until things grow dangerous and her own degree of risk shows she's closing in on the criminal(s) responsible. In MURDER ON THE LEFT BANK, she's not just putting herself at risk -- her baby's under threat. So the pace accelerates, the threats multiply, and even her skillful friends may have trouble keeping her safe.

If you missed a few of the 18 previous books, you'll still handle this one well, since Black brings in just the right amount of detail from the earlier investigations. And it's so well crafted that it may well tug you back to the earliest books in the series (say, Murder in the Marais).

This is a great season to focus on collecting the first editions of Black's mysteries, since she's already hinting this series may come to a natural finale when all the districts of Paris have had their places in her mysteries. Good reading, via Soho Crime, an imprint of Soho Press. And ideal for the summer reading stack.

PS:  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

Bold New Aimée Leduc Crime Novel, MURDER ON THE QUAI, Cara Black

Someday I'll see Paris -- and when I do, I hope there will be an "app" for my smartphone that directs me to all the "quartiers" where the Aimée Leduc mysteries take place, with details of plot, and suggestions for where to enjoy the morning coffee-and-croissant or the evening dining and dancing. Wouldn't that be great? It's also an incentive to read these popular detective novels, set in that glittering and romantic city.  With MURDER ON THE QUAI, Cara Black provides her 16th title.

Long-time fans of the series will be startled to open this book and find a young Aimée, already clever at finding secondhand clothing with haute couture, struggling to do homework and prepare for a test in medical school! The book's actually a prequel to the other 15, and it introduces the reasons this stylish young woman will desert the classroom to take over her family's detective business -- as well as providing answers to many questions readers may have wondered about in the past, like how she started riding motorbikes, where her dog (named Miles Davis, a bichon frise) came from, how she met her super-hacker dwarf partner in crimesolving René, and -- most urgent of all -- the truth of how her father was framed and (gulp) met a dire end.

But if you've never read a Cara Black/Aimée Leduc mystery before, this one's still a great place to start. It opens in November 1989, on the weekend when the Berlin Wall was torn down. Quick math: that would be just 44 years since Paris's occupation, right? So of course, there's a plot thread involving Nazi brutality and gold, as well as Resistance fighters -- many still living at that time, as well as their children, and you know that part about how many generations will carry a crime with them? (Well, okay, the Bible says it differently, but you know what I mean, right?)

I enjoyed romping with Aimée through the Paris days and nights, and watching her grasp each hint and clue about both a crime she happens to investigate, and her own family's secrets. No wonder she chose a different route from medical school -- investigation and operating on a blend of sharp reasoning and fierce instinct suit her like a ... shall we say, like a tenderly aged Chanel jacket??

From Soho Press, which has been Cara Black's publisher from the start -- a gem of a prequel, indeed.

Outstanding International Drama, MRS. JOHN DOE, Tom Savage

I'm not sure booksellers should ever feel at home with the idea of an "e-book original." There is something a bit frightening about the notion of a book that may never have pages or covers. It's a soul in need of a body.

So I hope that Alibi/Random House will soon move from e-version to physical book for the latest from New York City author Tom Savage. Author of six suspense novels and two mysteries (the mysteries are under the name T. J. Phillips), Savage calls himself the Mystery Man, and worked for years at the quintessential mystery shop Murder Ink, as well as being an actor.

With MRS. JOHN DOE, he neatly turns the classic espionage plot inside out: Nora Baron is enjoying and appreciating her upscale Long Island home, just before she gets the phone call that any spouse dreads --"I'm so sorry, Nora. It's -- it's Jeff. He's been in an accident. He's dead."

She heard the words, and they registered; she understood. Something happened inside her, a sudden feeling that she was on a stage, and they were speaking lines that had been written by a playwright. She gripped the receiver carefully in her hand and spoke slowly, distinctly, so that the audience could hear.

It will be many chapters before we understand what that stage image means to Nora. She's headed right away to England, to make identification of her husband's body -- delayed because he'd been without ID, hence a "John Doe." She's quick to decide: It's necessary. On the plane, she suspects for a while that she's being watched. And moments after she makes the critical corpse identification, so that cremation can be done, a personal message and a warning arrive. From friends of her husband? Colleagues? What she knows about his life, its secrets, its shadows, is barely enough to guide her first reactions. An attack in the notorious London fog sends her racing to continental Europe, to discover what complications have thrown her life into such upheaval -- and why Jeff has left such messages for her to follow.

Savage twists the plot in two startling ways, and Nora's transformation from wealthy home-focused wife to clever investigator holds up brilliantly. There may not be many mystery fans today familiar with The Scarlet Pimpernel, but still, MRS. JOHN DOE begs the comparison with that early novel in which a woman shows unsuspected pluck and skill at racing after her husband's politically fraught and dangerous shadow. I enjoyed each page, gasped at the swift twists, and came away with a hunger for more of the same, whether it be thrills, France, or ... books by Tom Savage. Author website here.

Fingers crossed, please, that the book gets its body ASAP.

French Art Mystery, THE COLLECTOR, Anne-Laure Thiéblemont

"Paris had a way of making even gray beautiful." That's Marion Spicer's observation, as she steps out of a mansion after examining a phenomenal art collection that could someday belong to her, and into a classy neighborhood from which she can head toward Paris's "Golden Triangle: Avenue Montaigne, with Dior, Chanel, Nina Ricci, wealthy clients, and prestigious auctions."

That neighborhood, and Spicer's profession as art examiner to detect forged or stolen work at exalted value levels, are alluring invitations into a newly released investigative novel, THE COLLECTOR, the debut by Algerian-born Anne-Laure Thiéblemont. Thiéblemont, a journalist, magazine editor, and art historian, grew up in Madagascar, Lyon, Paris, and Bogota. The South American slant appears immediately in the book, as Marion Spicer's challenges all connect to items of Pre-Columbian art from one of the continent's most inaccessible mountain villages. The art was collected by Edward Magni, whose recent death also became the announcement to Marion, at last, of who her father really was. 

Except ... who was Magni, really? His sneering and manipulative assistant Gaudin seems unlikely to help Marion track down the three other art items that she must locate in order to claim her inheritance -- three that Magni personally sold, even though he "never" sold his collected items. Moreover, they are clearly of excessive value, laden with extraordinary gems, as well as cultural significance.

It turns out that the Golden Triangle of Paris also represents top-level manipulation of the art market and its afficionados. Soon Marion, directed blindly by her dead father's specifications, is dealing with the dark underside of the greed and art lust of the global network of collectors and their nexus in Paris. 

All this makes THE COLLECTOR a must for a shelf of art-related mysteries, or French ones, or those featuring strong women, or, best of all, the wide scope of today's translated crime fiction. Le French Book brought out THE COLLECTOR this week, adding to its rapid expansion in translated mysteries with "French accents." This one, translated by Sophie Weiner, reads fluidly, and satisfies the traditions of a fast-paced international crime novel, with enough twists and red herrings to keep the pages flipping. 

I would have liked a bit more of a "French accent" to the dialogue, which lacks the zing of some other translations -- and the occasional misstep in slang (a career woman referring to another professional as a "dude"? I don't think so) can be a bit jarring. I would have enjoyed a more quirky ending, too, with Marion Spicer speaking out better from her expertise and experience. But I enjoyed the ride of action and investigation. Thiéblemont is a skilled storyteller, and the suggestion of a series ahead is good news -- this journalist's move into crime fiction is a fruitful one, and I already expect that she'll bring more French-speaking locales into the Marion Spicer art-action books to come.

Hugo Marston Investigation #5: THE RELUCTANT MATADOR, Mark Pryor

Mark Pryor's French mystery series, featuring U.S. Embassy security pro Hugo Marston, tackles the worst nightmare of any parent of a teen or young adult who heads for Europe: When your child stops answering the cell phone, how soon should you panic, who should you call, and how will you convince the police in another country (and language) that you know your grown child has not taken a vacation from being in touch with you -- something dangerous and frightening has happened to him ... or, in THE RELUCTANT MATADOR, to her. This time it's young Amy Dreiss who should be meeting Hugo for an American-style breakfast in Paris, Hugo's rare chance to catch up on real pancakes. But the young woman doesn't turn up, doesn't even call. Hugo's not inclined to panic -- his job in Embassy security in Paris has shown him the many ways a young tourist can forget to stay in touch with her parents' friends, even for a meal.

Besides, Hugo has his hands full, acting "in loco parentis" to his good friend Tom, an American "spook" who stays with Hugo in Paris when possible. Looks like Tom's been on another bender, and this time he's hit a policewoman. How far should Hugo go, to bail him out? Will any of his scolding actually get Tom to stay sober long enough to partner in security and investigations?

There's no time to test this, because a panicked call from young Amy's dad sends Hugo racing for to track down Amy. And the only way to keep an eye on Tom and keep him off the bottle is to take him along: first to Amy's empty apartment, then to search for the Spanish man who might have offered Amy a "modeling" job. Uh-oh.

"Field trip?" Tom said hopefully.

"We don't know she's there for sure, or where in Spain if she is. ... We can take a local field trip."

"Where to?"

"The club where Amy met this Spanish dude."

"What kind of club?"

"No idea, but it's in Pigalle."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Tom said. They both knew that Pigalle had two faces, the saucy, playful one that showed in the day, and the darker, raunchier one that emerged at night. Any club out there was likely to dangle temptations in front of Tom that he didn't need. "You know the name of the place, I assume?" Tom asked.

"Club Caterina. Familiar with it?"

"No. But I can't remember half the places I've gotten wasted in."

"Well then," said Hugo. "We'll just have to behave ourselves and hope they don't remember you."

Turns out that's not the problem -- the real complication is, Amy didn't just visit that bar, with its brass dance poles and sleazy ambience, trolling for modeling work. Umm ... she danced there. Taking her clothes off for every work shift.

Soon enough, Hugo and Tom figure out that Amy must be in Spain with "that dude." Of her own free will? Or absconded and pressed into prostitution or other sleazy efforts? As the risks pile up -- maybe a ring of kidnappers serving the hot market in young American flesh, or worse -- the investigators race to Barcelona and immediately rub the Spanish police the wrong way, slowing their race to save Amy and turning up a dead young woman. Is it Amy? If not, where is she, and how fast can they find her, before terrible things happen?

Mark Pryor's series featuring Hugo Marston is a great way to armchair-explore Europe; his earlier four titles have covered a lot of ground in France, both urban and rural, as well as some diversions elsewhere. This plunge into Spanish policing and culture adds fresh spice to the series -- this is the fifth book, and no, you don't need to read the others before this one. But I've enjoyed them all. Pryor walks the fine line of a traditional crime investigation without extremes of gore, adding just enough reality of the evil and losses that deadly crimes bring with them. And Marston is in some ways an "amateur sleuth" because his U.S. Embassy work isn't supposed to put him into a police role -- but in other ways he's a seasoned pro with an FBI past and a grasp of how to work with other police forces.

Pryor's own background -- he grew up in Europe, worked as a crime and police reporter, and moved to the US in 1994, adding a law degree and becoming an assistant district attorney in Austin, Texas --
keeps the details well grounded, and the pace and twists of THE RELUCTANT MATADOR are tight and engaging. Best of all, he provides memorable investigators worth following: not just Tom's efforts to get sober and do the dark work around Hugo's careful diplomacy, but also Hugo's own personality, determined to save, rescue, coordinate ... but also very worried about his love life, uncertain of how to woo or win the smart and elegant woman who's captured his attention. Add a fiercely competent Barcelona investigator to the blend, and the action never stops. Risk, danger, and fast thinking -- and oh yes, that diplomacy that Hugo is supposed to have mastered, they all are needed if Amy is to have a chance at surviving her mistakes.

From Seventh Street Books, which has developed a really good line of crime fiction: check it out. And here's Mark Pryor's website, also worth a visit.

Cara Black, MURDER ON THE CHAMP DE MARS (March Publication)

I love this image of Cara Black with her newest Aimée Leduc investigation: MURDER ON THE CHAMP DE MARS. This is the 15th in the well-liked series, and Aimée is at a critical point in her career and her personal life: She's a single mom to a six-month-old, struggling to keep her detection and security business profitable, while sleep-deprived and always late for everything (for those who don't have kids, here's the thing about it -- with each addition to the household, it's harder and harder to get somewhere on time).

MURDER ON THE CHAMP DE MARS open in Paris (of course!) with the detective once again racing the clock, trying to complete a surveillance task and still get home in time for her own darling baby's christening. But what should be a sweet (and brief) event with little Chloé and a few friends turns personally menacing, with the unexpected arrival of her ex-lover, father of her baby -- and he's not there to reconcile with her, but to introduce his newly acquired wife, as well as a hunger to take custody of the baby.

Small wonder that the arrival of an important clue to Aimée's own past, in the form of a boy who is a French Gypsy, one of the Romany people known in Paris as les manouches. The boy needs immediate help for his mother, who's in a hospital, on her deathbed, insisting on revealing only to Aimée a secret about Aimée's own (long-dead) father. It's a dangerous secret, one with roots in the Second World War, the concentration camps, and people still living who have betrayed each other.

Black does a masterful job of keeping the threads of suspense pulled taut, and braiding this complex investigation that puts Aimée Leduc and her family, friends, and career at risk in two directions at once. No, you don't need to read the others in the series before this one, although it would help you grasp why this detective wears Louboutin heels while on stake-out and considers a vintage Courreges dress to be part of her surveillance uniform -- so you may want to indulge in the others after devouring this latest title. The series is cleverly set in the 1990s, so technology has almost no role in the detection, and a quick mind and open heart and a team of allies are the essentials of the job. From Soho Crime, of course! (March 3 release.)

IRÈNE, Pierre Lemaitre: Extraordinary French Crime Writing

[Note to readers of "traditional" or "amateur sleuth" or "cozy" mysteries: Stay with us this week. We have a lot to write about! But this one's probably not your cuppa tea.]

Consider yourself fortunate if you have NOT yet read Pierre Lemaitre's Alex, which is the second in the Vanderhoeven trilogy -- somehow the lines of translation from French to the English-reading market got royally twisted, and Alex, which is the second in this investigative threesome, came out earlier.

Today, however, is the release date for

--> IRÈNE -- the first in the series -- and if you like rich literary mystery writing, or dark European work, or are building a collection of French mysteries, this one is definitely for you.

Commandant Camille Vanderhoeven is a master interviewer of criminals and victims alike. It's a side effect of his artistic imagination and skills, handed down from his mother, a superb painter whose early death has left her studio silenced. As IRÈNE opens, Camille is making a deft sketch of the battered woman in his office who chooses not to reveal her batterer's whereabouts. Laying the lines onto the paper is background for his quick questions of the young woman -- and for his stagecraft, as he has already primed the interview with a planned interruption from a colleague, with a faked report that, in turn, will nudge the young woman into divulging the information that Camille needs.

This scene, in turn, is the author's sketch of the man whose shoes we inhabit for more than 400 pages, as Commandant Vanderhoeven heads up the search for a serial killer. The book's title is the name of Camille's pregnant wife -- the couple is happily expecting their first child. But Camille won't spend much time with his wife, as he chases the murderer across France and backtracks some earlier killings elsewhere. Soon two defining aspects of the series of killings emerge: (1) The murderer is replicating ghastly scenes from classic crime fiction (it takes a while for Camille to realize this and confirm it, but readers will notice the detail on the book cover), and (2) this serial killer is responding to Camille's connection to him, by getting personal. Way too personal.

I like this early description of the first crime scene the French Commandant confronts:

There is no strategy for dealing with atrocity. And yet this was why he was here, staring at the nameless horror.

Before it had clotted, someone had used the victims' blood to daub on the wall in huge letters: I AM BACK. ... Camille stepped over the mangled body of a woman and went to the wall. At the end of the sentence, a finger had been pressed against the wall with great care. Every ridge and whorl was distinct; it looked just like the old-style ID cards when a duty officer would press your finger against the yellowing cardboard, rolling it carefully from one side to the other.

Dark sprays of blood spattered the walls all the way to the ceiling.

It took several minutes for Camille to compose himself. It would be impossible for him to think rationally in this setting -- everything he could see defied reason.

The very slight stiltedness to the language here is maintained throughout the book, and I think it's partly a result of the literary style of translation (by Frank Wynne) and partly Lemaitre's voice -- he has already won both an International Dagger from the Crime Writers Association, and France's prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt. Thus, this one's not for impatient readers or those who like predictable pacing and plotting. 

But if you can make time to accept the author's pace, there's plenty of detail and tension to carry you along, and the blend of art and investigation is complex and memorable. When the book reaches its finale, keep in mind that there is a sequel to come -- I didn't know that when I first read this, and as a result I disliked the ending. But now that I know what's coming, I see the point of it, and the shape of the book makes sense (unlike the first crime scene!).

This is probably NOT going on holiday shopping lists. But if you have "time off" or a slowdown in December/January, it's a good one to put into your stack of to-be-read. Although the idea of crimes that copy books is not a new one, and although France is becoming a popular setting for translated crime fiction reaching the American market, Lemaitre's own blend of noir is haunting and memorable. Recommended, for sure. Keep an eye on future offerings from the publisher, Quercus, to track the rest of the series.

-->

Well Worth Reading: THE BONES OF PARIS, Laurie R. King

Laurie R. King's latest book came out in 2013 (she has another coming out this May, though -- author website here); it's THE BONES OF PARIS and I didn't rush to read it, knowing that her many fans would carry the book along, and at her level of the mysteries field, there are only a few publications whose word really matters in terms of how readers rush to purchase copies.

But I enjoy both strands of King's work -- her Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series, and her California police procedurals. So I made sure that my winter reading did include this one ... and it  belongs to neither of those series, but instead is a sequel to Touchstone, which I fear I somehow missed reading (I'll catch up with it soon).

THE BONES OF PARIS fits into the era King's explored from so many directions in her Russell/Holmes books, thought, as it opens in the fall of 1929 with a missive that reaches Bennett Grey in England. Readers of the earlier book will know immediately why the letter and enclosed photos have been sent to Grey -- the rest of us will catch up slowly, as we begin to understand the strange catastrophes and losses that tie together the man in England and a missing-persons investigator, Harris Stuyvesant, whom we meet in the next chapter in the heat of Paris's end-of-summer season, struggling with consequences of his ratty lifestyle and emotional sloppiness, while also trying to earn a living among the "beautiful people" of the expatriate community in Europe. A lot of what's wrong for him, and what goes wrong as he investigates, can easily be blamed on his own choices.

Yet a lot of the twisted nature of the arts community he finds himself investigating is a consequence of two very large factors: the damage done in France by the Great War, and the rebellious efforts of artists at the time to shake up reality, confront death and disaster, refuse to settle for comfort or attachment. The Surrealists make up the characters as well as the setting for King's exploration and Stuyvesant's investigation. King's interweaving of art and despair, loyalty and fractured love, make this "crime novel" simultaneously a deep and layered novel of that extended hold-your-breath season between the two major European wars. And she is generous with hints of the oncoming hostilities, even as her characters insist on heavy drinking and partying in their slice of "peace."

If you've been reading Charles Todd, or Jacqueline Winspear, or Pat Barker's "Regeneration" trilogy, pick up THE BONES OF PARIS. It may also be a good fit for you if you're an Alan Furst fan. And if you stop now and then to think about madness and art, about how new ideas emerge from darkness, about how evil overtakes good and how death fascinates, and how poets become murderers ... Don't come for tea, please. But all of this is in King's crime novel, and it's a darned good read.

Not Just French, but Parisian: New Aimée Leduc Investigation, MURDER IN PIGALLE

Cara Black takes us to one neighborhood of Paris after another, each the focus of one book in her Aimée Leduc investigations. This is the fourteenth, and the action involves the district of Pigalle -- nightclubs, bars, the kind of entertainment you don't want your kids knowing about (and maybe not your mom either, if you're not French!). So there's a double irony that Leduc's sleuthing keeps taking her back to this sketchy neighborhood, after dark, in the search for Zazie, the 13-year-old daughter of one of Leduc's friends. It's an investigation with urgency, because Zazie (what a kid!) has been following Aimée Leduc's example, trying to investigate a serial rapist who's terrorizing the neighborhood and a genuine threat Zazie's own peers. Has her "snooping" (complete with taking photos) made her a threat to a seasoned criminal? As the hours tick past, Aimée is increasingly sick at heart, knowing that kidnappers and molesters who hold a child longer are much less likely to release that child.

Complicating Leduc's trademark pavement-trotting in kitten heels and stylish clothing is her own condition: pregnant. She's got the world's longest lasting case of morning sickness, an obvious bulge on her belly, medical appointments to keep (with her assistant sleuth René backing her up, making suggestions about food and baby names and childbirth), and her emotions about "the Bump" are calling up new reactions to a missing child and danger to other girls. And then there's the matter of the baby's father. But that's too complicated to handle during this investigation, yes? No?

Black's Paris is full of energy and enthusiasm, as well as crime and love, and with Aimée Leduc, the most obvious choices are often half thought through, in the rush to uncover evidence, find a trail, do something, now! The combination of threats in MURDER IN PIGALLE drives the plot at breakneck speed -- for me, this is the best Aimée Leduc investigation yet!

Of course, there are a few threads left dangling for the next book (smile). But all in all: a lively and highly satisfying (and very Parisian!) mystery!

PS -- It's from Soho Crime. Of course!

New from Mark Pryor: THE BLOOD PROMISE, French Crime Fiction

Follow closely: Mark Pryor was British but he now lives in Texas, where he works as an assistant district attorney. His protagonist Hugo Marston is American and works in Paris. With me so far?

Good. Because I have terrific news: There is a new (third!) Hugo Marston mystery available -- it was released last month -- and it's every bit as good as the other two (see our review from last year: http://kingdombks.blogspot.com/2013/05/mark-pryor-two-hugo-marston-novels.html). And it has a wonderful new twist: DNA evidence used not to clear or convict of a crime, but to provide enormous motivation for murder. Hence one aspect of the title: THE BLOOD PROMISE.

Hugo Marston's return to the scene -- he works as the security chief for the American ambassador in Paris -- also brings back Marston's dare-anything friend Tom Green, a former CIA agent with current connections, living in his newly sober stage of life with Marston. And then there's Capitaine Raul Garcia, a powerful Paris investigator who used to counter Marston but now teams up with him (and, if it can be done discretely, with Tom Green as well).

When Marston's chasing a lead, it's in order to protect the vulnerable American reputation in France. This time it's a case of smoothing the way for a right-wing U.S. Senator on hand to conduct secret negotiations with French political leaders about the future of Guadeloupe. Since Senator Lake has a reputation of being stridently anti-Europe, Marston expects to function as a multilingual diplomat at the country mansion of Henri Tourville.

But instead, the Senator insists someone has entered his room at night at the mansion; Tourville refuses flatly to allow any of his family or servants to be fingerprinted; and the lone print that Marston and the Capitaine capture that's unusual turns out to be linked -- without a name -- to a recent murder in another rural location.

Pryor neatly twists the notion of French crime investigation so that it makes perfect sense for Americans to be detectives-in-place. His Paris scenes are rich with detail. And best of all, throughout the quickly action and cleverly tangles, he makes room for matters of the heart -- what else is Paris for? But what Marston wants and what this case delivers are far apart, and grievous losses occur before the means, motive, and opportunity, and finally identity of the criminal(s), can be determined.

It's not critical to read the two earlier Marston books (The Crypt Thief and The Bookseller), but after enjoying this one, you may want to go back and pick them up. All are paperback originals from Seventh Street Books, an imprint of Prometheus Books.

And when you'd like to check out the author, here's his website: http://www.daconfidential.com. My suggestion: Read the books first; then go investigate Pryor's wry British take on life and writing.

Brief Reflection: Alan Furst, MISSION TO PARIS

It was a pleasure at this year's Bouchercon (the biggest mystery fan conference nationally -- held close enough so Dave and I could attend!) to receive a special "complimentary copy" of Alan Furst's 2012 title, MISSION TO PARIS. Random House used this to prepare for his upcoming 2014 book, although they don't reveal its title ... just that, as Furst comments at the end of this handout, it's linked to the Spanish Civil War. Count me in. I want to know more about that, and reading one of Furst's moody espionage novels with such a delicate balance between great change in the world and small but vital change in human lives is my favorite way to learn "history" through immersion.

Having this softcover version meant I could take my copy of MISSION TO PARIS with me on my walks, and while on the road. (You can't do that with a treasured signed hardcover.) I enjoyed it a lot. Most of all, for me, Furst nailed the way an ordinary person caught at a world-shaking moment can choose to do the extraordinary. Here, actor Fredric Stahl, sent from Hollywood in September 1938 to make a film based in Paris, unexpectedly discovers that he is willing to make a sacrifice for his adopted nation, America, by carrying some messages that amount to spying.

But the human risk and cost are enormous. The quiet way in which Stahl falls into agreeing to take on such tasks contrasts with what will happen if he is caught -- and what will happen to his friends, one way or another.

My father was a teen in Europe in 1938, and I could picture him in almost every scene of the book. It moved me deeply.

The book's had some challenging reviews, particularly in terms of its very strange ending. I presume Furst intended it to feel uncomfortable in terms of an espionage novel's ending. Yet it is, in some ways, exactly what happened to my dad. Once again, I find the opportunity to learn about history through a novel -- this time, my family's roots.

Today has been a time for remembering the tragedy at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut, a year ago today. "Let us never forget" remains also the best response I know to World War II and its predecessor, the Great War, now known as World War I. Next year (almost here!) will be 100 years since that war began. A lot to remember, a lot to learn ... and we too have the chance to make small differences that may, in the long run, help to protect the people and values we care about. Deep thoughts for a gray winter afternoon; ah well, a good book sometimes will do that.

Delicious French Mystery Series: Bruno #5, THE DEVIL'S CAVE by Martin Walker

A delightful French mystery series came my way this summer, and I'm only sorry that I discovered it so late -- the "Bruno, Chief of Police" books by Martin Walker are already in the fifth title in the U.S., as THE DEVIL'S CAVE was released here in July. Title number 6, The Resistance Man, is already published in Europe and will reach the States in February 2014.

Bruno Courrèges may reside in rural France, but his passions are as sophisticated as any in Paris -- he cooks (the descriptions make my mouth water), enjoys the company of intelligent women (and makes love with them), and also savors building his own house, as well as hunting. Bruno's "St. Denis" is located in the Dordogne in southwestern France, and both tourism and sport center on its river. 

But in THE DEVIL'S CAVE, the two significant features of the region are its potential for upscale lodgings, and its potential for increased tourism at the local attraction known at the Devil's Cave, where pedal boats, a café, and a souvenir shop await visitors. "Smaller chambers led off from the main space, and the eerie formations of stalagmites and stalactites had been carefully lit to justify the rather-fanciful names thay had been given, such as Our Lady's Chapel ... or Napoléon's Bedchamber."

Now, unfortunately, a dead woman found floating down the river in the heart of town -- naked -- appears to be linked to Satanism in the town, perhaps in a chamber of the cavern. As Chief of Police, Bruno investigates the possibilities, while simultaneously coping with an apparent case of spouse and child battering; a possible entry of prostitution in an element of the new tourism; emerging aspects of the murder that may have links to the past (this is France; the German occupation and the mistresses of past kings seem to have equal significance in affecting the present).

I enjoyed Bruno's steady and determined investigation, but equally enjoyed the diversions of his life: at least two women who want to spend time with him, and his tendency to cook for any guest, male or female, in his home. (They also prepare feasts for him.) Even the smallest menu item attracts a culinary complexity that American mysteries -- other than those featuring the great Nero Wolfe -- seldom indulge.  As the case begins to crack open and the charges in front of the procureur are prepared, Bruno juggles phone calls and replicates a black-market-prepared dish from the war years:

Bruno rang J-J's mobile to alert him but had to leave a message. He'd wait for Fabiola's next call before informing the procureur. He finished the potatoes, peeled some shallots, set the table for two and lit the fire. Back in the kitchen, he opened a can of beer, drank half of it and then used an opener to punch some more holes in the top of the beer can. He took a large chunk of butter and began working it with a knife and mixing in the chopped garlic. He added some fresh rosemary from the garden and then began pushing the buttery mixture under the skin of the chicken as far as he could reach ... Gilles would arrive soon.

Martin Walker, himself a half-time resident of the Dordogne and a think-tank senior director, vacillates a bit in how intimate he allows the reader to become with this police investigator, whose kitchen-friendly ways are coupled with athleticism and a strong attraction for and attractiveness to women. While I found myself very familiar with Bruno's cuisine, I was less certain of how he'd respond to the stresses of the investigation, including to what extent he'd resist the political pressure. After all, a murder case isn't good for tourism! Nor is it politically wise to threaten to shut down a new architectural project that includes a sports hall for the region.

I haven't read any of the others in this series, and I will soon do so, to get a better feel for Bruno. Meanwhile, the website of this unusual author provides both a personal blog and insight into both the kitchen and the (wine) cellar of the Chief of Police: http://www.brunochiefofpolice.com.

Fans of Donna Leon's Venice mysteries will find similarities here. I recommend adding Martin Walker's mysteries to the shelf of internationals that may be growing into a full--size bookcase or even a wall, depending on how you're pursuing them. When the power of dark Scandinavian crime fiction makes you yearn afterward for a hint of fresh sunlight and easy loving mixed into your crime reading, Bruno, Chief of Police, will fit the bill.

NOTE: Interested in more insight about the author? I like the interview with Martin Walker provided here.

Mark Pryor: Two Hugo Marston Novels -- Paris and Crime!

Lucky, lucky me ... I picked up Mark Pryor's new book THE CRYPT THIEF, the second Hugo Marston detective novel -- and I hadn't known about the first one! So as soon as I finished one, I devoured the other, also. You know how a really good meal gives you a calm sense of goodwill? So does a pair of good books, one after the other. Ah .... I might just read poetry for the rest of the week (well, maybe not, but it feels that good).

Hugo Marston is a delightful investigator, intense, highly skilled, and very believable. A former FBI profiler, he's switched careers to provide security to the US Ambassador in Paris, a much less risky, less dark endeavor. Moreover, his Ambassador is smart, sane, supportive -- life could be simple and honorable and ... clean. Even if not always fortunate in terms of love.

But in The Bookseller, a shabby strreet-level bookseller who has shared many a good book (at good prices) with Hugo over the years gets kidnapped at gun point. And Hugo Marston may be the only witness, and one unable to do anything about it.

The Paris police won't buy into the case; somehow there are Nazi hunters involved; old books play a role; and so does Hugo's new relationship with a beautiful and savvy reporter. It's a classic detection novel, played out in France, and worth every turn of the page.

Then comes THE CRYPT THIEF, where Marston's profiling skills are called into play as someone incidentally kills two tourists in the famous Pere Lachaise cemetery -- while stealing bones. Marston's former FBI buddy Tom Green, an intense and somewhat damaged CIA operative and consultant but a good friend (who also appeared in The Bookseller), arrives for a long visit and assumes Hugo will put up with his drinking, his despair, and his bad decisions. As Marston's investigation picks up pace and focuses on a clever and powerful serial killer, will Tom's rash behavior capsize the operation? And what are the risks of allowing Claudia, the reporter who's backed away from Marston, back into the press of events?

Tightly written, quick-paced, and redolant of French life and Parisian complexity, this is a pair of books well worth reading. And it's clear there will be more Hugo Marston mysteries ahead. Oh, I am indeed a very lucky reader ...

By the way, here's author Mark Pryor's website. Have fun -- and if you've already enjoyed one or both of these, do add your thoughts on the series as a comment here, s'il vous plait.

France in June -- Champagne -- and Murder: Janet Hubbard, CHAMPAGNE: THE FAREWELL

This debut mystery from Virginia/Vermont author Janet Hubbard (now a professor at the University of Vermont) gives a delightful romp through both the bubbly beverage area and the protagonist's romantic life, as she takes a break from her NYPD detective work in the vineyards of the Valley of the Marne in Champagne, just half an hour outside Paris.

Max Maguire is both attractive and good at her job -- she already has her detective "shield" at age 29, which can't really be explained by her father Hank being a long-timer on the force. And while a trip to France may sound like a sweet opportunity for lovers, in her case it's just in time to absorb the disappointment of finding out a New York City cop has been majorly unfaithful to her.  In fact, the lover in question sends her a text, "we r over," as her trans-Atlantic flight is on the runway.

In France, though, one of the first men to catch her eye is Olivier Chaumont, a young "examining magistrate" -- the sort of judge who, in the French system, directs the investigation of a crime. Sparks fly and the two are just headed for an impulsive romp between the sheets when their hostess's aunt, Champagne magnate Léa de Saint-Pern, is murdered. Half her face has been crushed by a tremendous blow (any guesses on the weapon? if you're a champagne lover, you may already have a notion). And as Max and Olivier team up unofficially to track down the murderer, there are multiple strands of inheritance, family resentment, and sexual secrets to track.

Poisoned Pen Press brings us this lively mystery, and the title page promises a series: it's "A Vengeance in the Vinyard Mystery." I'm already wondering how Max -- who has half French heritage (her mom) and a mysterious unknown French grandmother -- is going to slip the bonds of NYC effort to get back to the ooh-la-la that makes her other life so delicious.

The author's website is http://www.janethubbard.com; the book was released last week through retailers, had a "pop the cork" event at a wine shop, is touring with the author in Virginia in late August, and New Englanders can catch up on Sept. 27:

• August 23rd - Wine tasting & reading at CORK; Waterbury, VT
• September 27th - Book signing at Phoenix Books; Essex Junction, VT, 7 p.m
• Early September:  launch party at Phantom Theater, Warren, Vermont

   Week of August 24th: reading in South Hill, Virginia (place to be announced).