"Suspense and drama in a fabulous city"

Aimée Leduc, a computer security expert and investigator in the early stages of nicotine withdrawal and dealing with a difficult client, is disheartened to see another woman wearing the same jacket (a supposedly one-of-a-kind creation ) that she is wearing at a fashionable restaurant. Later that same night, Aimée is mugged and nearly killed. However, she's the lucky one; the woman in the matching jacket turns up dead in an alley near the one in which Aimée was attacked.

Police and media claim that the murder was just one more in a string of deaths caused by a local serial killer, the Beast of Bastille, but she isn't buying it. She also can't be convinced that the dead victim was the killer's intended target, and that Aimée's attack was only a case of mistaken identity. Her experience in investigations tells her there is more to the story, and regardless of the fact that she has been left blind by her assault, she will find out the truth. With her business partner René helping her, she discovers how priceless antiques, commercial development, and high fashion are all connected to murder, and that there are people in this world who will do anything to keep their secrets.

MURDER IN THE BASTILLE, set in modern-day Paris, takes readers on a tour of the city that is off the beaten path. So much detail is imbued in the story that it's hard to believe when you look up from the pages that you're still sitting in your bedroom and not at a French café, sipping espresso and watching the world fly by in a beret. In keeping with the detailed setting, there is also a fair amount of French used in both the narrative and the dialogue, and any reader who doesn't have more than a rudimentary understanding of the language would do well to read with a French dictionary as a companion.

Unlike the hard-bitten, cynical voice almost required of mysteries today, the book has a very elegant tone, with cultured characters, civilized police, and a general aura of European sophistication. The fourth in the series featuring Ms. Leduc, MURDER IN THE BASTILLE has a clever ensemble of characters, with many appearing in previous books. While it is important to use that dictionary to help muddle through translation difficulties, this is a rare example of a series that does not require that it be read in order, although it is certainly logical to do so. References to previous novels are made, but do not take away from the current mystery or the enjoyment of the story.

Reviewed by Kelley Hartshorn
Posted February 25, 2003

Summary

April in Paris, Time for Crime - Aimée Leduc is all dressed up in her new Chinese silk jacket for dinner with a difficult client at an elegant restaurant in the Bastille district. She is chagrined to see that the woman seated at the very next table is wearing an identical jacket. When the woman leaves her cell phone on the table Aimée follows her to return it and is attacked in the shadowy Passage Boule Blanche. When she regains consciousness, Aimée finds that she is blind. The woman she was following was found in the next passage, murdered. Was her attacker actually a serial killer targeting showy blondes, as the police insist? Was he really after the other woman? Or was Aimée his intended victim?