Murder in the Rue de Paradis (Aimee Leduc Series #8)

by Cara Black

Overview

Parisian P.I. Aimée Leduc is head-over-heels when a former boyfriend, an investigative journalist, reappears and proposes—but his professional past has caught up with him, and now Aimée must figure out who would want him dead

Aimée Leduc seems to be having a streak of good luck. First, she secures a lucrative computer security contract for her Paris detective agency. Then her ex-boyfriend Yves, the gorgeous bad-boy investigative journalist, reappears in her life. He insists he’s back in Paris indefinitely—and wants to make the ultimate commitment. He proposes to her that very night, and Aimée can’t help but say yes.

When she wakes up in the morning, though, Yves is gone without even leaving a note. Aimée is irate until she learns the awful truth: Yves was murdered early that morning. Heartbroken and convinced the Brigade Criminelle are not following the right leads, Aimée pursues the mystery behind her fiancé’s murder. Yves was killed trying to further a cause he believed in. Even if it means putting her own life on the line, Aimée won’t let him die in vain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781569475423
Publisher:	Soho Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/01/2009
Series:	Aimée Leduc Series , #8
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	634,683
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Cara Black is the author of sixteen books in the New York Times bestselling Aimée Leduc series. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and visits Paris frequently.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Murder in the Rue de Paradis

“A tightly spun web worthy of a classic spy thriller . . . Leduc’s City of Light is a stylish, dangerous place throbbing by night to an ominous techno world beat, and Aimée Leduc is a marvelous invention, a thirdgeneration Sam Spade in couture.”
—Washington Post Book World

“Brimming with Middle Eastern intrigue that reflects the modern era.”
—The Christian Science Monitor

“Black deftly makes the history of the city resonate . . . Murder in the Rue de Paradis is a page-turner, but some of its pages invite you to linger and reflect.”
—San Francisco Gate

"Riveting . . . Aimée Leduc, smart, spirited and sassy, takes the reader on an action-packed ride fueled by the hidden secrets of her beloved Paris."
—Publishers Weekly


Praise for the New York Times bestselling Aimée Leduc series

“Charming . . . Aimée is one of those blithe spirits who can walk you through the city’s historical streets and byways with their eyes closed.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“Cara Black books are good companions. . . . Fine characters, good suspense, but, best of all, they are transcendently, seductively, irresistibly French. If you can’t go, these will do fine. Or, better yet, go and bring them with you.”
—Alan Furst

“Conveys vividly those layers of history that make the stones of Paris sing for so many of us.”
—Chicago Tribune

“If you’ve always wanted to visit Paris, skip the air fare and read Cara Black . . . instead.”
—Val McDermid

“The buzz is partly about her heroine’s hip, next-generation, cutting-edge investigations and partly about Paris, a setting of unrivaled charm.”
—Houston Chronicle

“Compelling . . . Aimée makes an engaging protagonist, vulnerable beneath her vintage chic clothing and sharp-witted exterior.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

From the Publisher

Today's Paris, both international and quintessentially French, an intriguing blend of centuries of decay and mod futurism, is a fine backdrop for a modern noir, and Leduc finds herself navigating a tightly spun web worthy of a classic spy thriller, complete with a Métro bombing and shadowy assignations with Kurds and Sunnis. Leduc's City of Light is a stylish, dangerous place throbbing by night to an ominous techno world beat, and Aimée Leduc is a marvelous invention, a third-generation Sam Spade in couture.
—The Washington Post

Kevin Allman

In Black's riveting eighth Aimée Leduc mystery (after 2007's Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis), Aimée reconnects in the summer of 1995 with a former boyfriend, investigative journalist Yves Robert, while Paris still reels from the St.-Michel Metro bombings. But after a romantic evening when Yves even proposes marriage, Aimée is shocked to be called in to identify Yves's body at the morgue. Believing he was working undercover, Aimée ignores the sanitized police report and enlists her partner and best friend, René Friant, to help solve Yves's murder. Her investigation ignites a chain reaction that reveals assassination plots, informers and secret contracts surrounding the strained relationship of a militant Turkish group and the Kurdish Labor Party, all leading back to Yves. Aimée Leduc, smart, spirited and sassy, takes the reader on an action-packed ride fueled by the hidden secrets of her beloved Paris. (Mar.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

In Paris working as a nanny, devout Shi'a Nadira Abouz is given an important assignment by her Iranian handler: assassinate Kurdish feminist Jalenka Malat for the glory of Allah. Meanwhile, edgy, stylishly outré Aimée Leduc (last seen sleuthing her way through Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis) has a little assignment of her own, for on-again, off-again boyfriend Yves has suddenly reappeared and proposed marriage. And then Yves is dead, leaving Aimée to hunt for his chador-clad killer. Her investigation leads her straight into the heart of the Kurdish question and Nadira's murderous plan because world-class reporter Yves was deeply involved in a story about the ongoing Kurdish bid for independence and dam construction in Turkey on reclaimed Kurdish territory. Does Aimée triumph? Of course, but first she'll have her usual brawl with the Préfecture de police. Once again, Black has crafted a superb tale informed by current political tensions, showing how they play out in French society while suggesting larger implications. The plot itself is swift and assured, the language elegantly gritty, the characterization deft, and the end a truly satisfying surprise. Highly recommended for all mystery collections. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ10/1/07; see the Q&A with Black on p. 48.-Ed.]
—Barbara Hoffert

Library Journal

Murder spoils a reunion between French detective Aimee Leduc (Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis, 2007, etc.) and her lost love Yves Robert. The last time Aimee Leduc saw her lover was on a Paris street corner as he waved goodbye and left for an undercover assignment with Agence France Presse. Now he's back, putting a Turkish betrothal ring on her finger and swearing he's been reassigned home. But after one passionate night together, Aimee wakes to an empty bed and a phone call from Brigade Criminelle about a body found in the Rue de Paradis. Naturally, the body is Yves's, and naturally, instead of grieving, Aimee goes on a hunt for his killers. Mailliol of the Brigade warns her to butt out; her old friend Morbier is on his first vacation in history; and Yves's colleagues at AFP are in no hurry to return her voicemails. Nohant, a security guard at the Baccarat gallery across from the crime scene, saw nothing, but her counterpart Vatel may have-only he's been reassigned. Still, Vatel's a Turk, just like Jalenka Malat, the Kurdish MP whose name was stashed in Yves's wallet, maybe because he's the target of a Islamist plot. Can Aimee put the pieces together in time to thwart the terrorists and avenge her lover?Black's seventh takes longer to get in gear than an old Renault, and tastes less of Paris than earlier outings.

Kirkus Reviews