Murder in the Marais

Black, Cara. (1999). Murder in the Marais. New York, NY: Soho Press.

ISBN: 9781569471593

Pages: 354

Genre: Mystery

Annotation: Aimee Leduc must uncover old secrets to solve a murder.

Summary: Struggling computer analysis investigator Aimee Leduc is given a seemingly simple task with a big payoff: decode a photo and deliver it to a woman. Unfortunately, when she delivers the photo she finds the woman murdered. Aimee wants nothing else to do with the situation but finances compel her to solve the murder. Aimee’s investigation leads her to an unsolved murder during World War II. She faces a foe who is determined that secrets, past and present, should remain unrevealed.

Evaluation: good read

Aimee is interesting: she has tragedy in her past which still influences her present. The other modern day characters have potential as well, but could have been portrayed better. For example, I would have liked to have learned more about Renee’s past and why he was in the story. His purpose in the story seemed to be more as a sensational element, a dwarf, than as Aimee’s partner and that annoyed me.  I felt like the characters that lived during War World II were portrayed better: each had a clear purpose and backstory. The storyline was good to a certain extent because it was fast paced without being too fast paced. Where the storyline feel through was the portrayal of computer capabilities. This story had Aimee using computers in ways I would feel amazed at happening now let alone in 1999. It was worth suspending disbelief about that, though, to read about Paris in the past and present. The language, landscape and history are all shown well. This book is a good match for Paris fans, those interested in World War II interactions and strong female heroes.

What else to read:

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay for learning more about events during WWII in Paris  and how they are viewed in the present.

Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light by David Downie for learning more about Paris life.

Paris: The Biography of a City by Colin Jones for more about the history of Paris.

The Salaryman’s Wife by Sujata Massey for a heroine living, and solving mysteries, in another famous place (in this case Tokyo).

The other books in Cara Black’s Aimee Leduc Investigations series.