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Best ever in a great series!
Rating:*****
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Susanne Alleyn has written a third riveting, well-plotted mystery starring
Aristide Ravel, this one set in Paris shortly before the French Revolution and
I think it is definitely the best yet in the series! For you folks who have not
yet discovered this talented author, and who like to read a series "from the beginning",
you have the rare chance to begin with "The Cavalier..", as it is a prequel to
the two prior books featuring Aristide Ravel and gives us a glimpse into
how Aristide is induced, reluctantly, to help the police inspector, M. Brasseur
investigate and ultimately solve murder amidst the turbulent political
unrest and scandals of the time. The earlier two books are set after the
Revolution, but the murder at the center of this book, Aristide's first
venture into crime-solving, is fascinatingly and deftly linked to one of
the most famous scandals of the time, the Diamond Necklace Affair
involving Marie Antoinette, and the brewing discontent of many
intelligent men of consequence with overweening, corrupt aristocrats and
wretched conditions of the populace.
What I think sets this book above so many historical mysteries is Alleyn's
ability to strike just the right balance between historical context and
the mystery that drives the plot. Too many times, I've read mysteries
of this subgenre in which the story is interrupted by pages and pages
of what are simply unrelated dumps of the author's research into the
clothing, the food, detailed descriptions of place, etc. that contribute
nothing to the mystery and its solution. I think most of us read mysteries because
we want to follow that story. Alleyn never includes unrelated social
context, even though I learned lots of interesting facts about the period.
She is also very very good at creating characters that ring true and are sympathetic.
Aristide, impoverished, often discouraged and suffering from self-doubt, stubborn
and proud, is enormously appealing - you can't help rooting for him.
Brasseur, for all his wiliness, has his own gruff appeal and sense of honor.
The other main characters are well-drawn, whether aristocrat or middle class,
along with some unsavory citizens that add spice to the mix.
The story begins with Aristide's encounter with a mysterious church fire, one
of a string of such, his meeting with Brasseur and his efforts to find
a publisher for his own attempts at writing rather dangerous pamphlets.
Then the discovery of a gruesomely murdered man in a cemetery propels
Aristide into a fast-moving series of events, increasingly dangerous, as
he tries to discern why the man was mutilated, what the strange symbols
mean, and what the connections to a missing aristocrat, a powerful
Cardinal, and certain secretive societies are. I don't want to give away
too much, so I won't tell you any more. Read the book. I was hooked
very quickly, and couldn't put it down. Then, if you haven't yet, read the
prior two- Game of Patience and A Treasury of Regrets. Let's hope
Alleyn has many more adventures for Ravel in store for us!
I recommend this book to all those who love a good mystery, an
interesting time and place, and prose so well written that you "fall into
the world" of the book without the slightest effort. -
The police procedural investigation is well written and fun to follow
In 1786 Paris Aristide Ravel struggles to earn a living from writing commentaries that criticize the church as corrupt and depraved, and King Louis XVI as feeble. Ravel also warns those in power that a great internal Revolution similar to that across the ocean will occur with much blood flowing.
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Ravel finds a murdered corpse wearing a fancy waistcoat that does not conceal the symbols etched on the body; markings of the Masons. His former neighbor when he could afford to eat cake, police inspector Brasseur, names Ravel as his prime suspect, but hires him to solve the homicide just in case someone else did it; if the writer fails, he will arrest him for the crime. Knowing he will be a guest of the Bastille and probably Madame Guillotine, Ravel investigates. Although the body is stolen from the morgue, Ravel finds out who is reported missing and concludes only the Marquis de Beaupreau or Monsieur Lambert Saint-Landry could have owned the waistcoat. Both are Masons. His inquiry leads to revelations about his father that shake him. Ravel keeps digging into the Masonic clues that seem to imply a conspiracy to remove Louis XVI from the throne and a scandal focused on Queen Antoinette and a missing necklace. All this occurs while the sleuth is fascinated by Lambert's spirited sister Sophie.
The police procedural investigation is well written and fun to follow, but what refreshes this brisk historical mystery is the insightful look at the era just before the revolution; as Susanne Alleyn vividly depicts a period of trouble boiling over which the King, his advisors, and the Church do not believe will ignite as the prevalent theory of most of the powerbrokers start from the axiom of "the divine right of the king" and cannot make the paradigm switch. Fans of French revolutionary War whodunits will relish this great prequel that occurs before Ravel's previous starring roles (see the post Revolutionary GAME OF PATIENCE and A TREASURY OF REGRETS).