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.

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.

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.