Monday, November 23, 2009

Black, Cara


"Murder in the Marais: An Aimee Leduc Investigation" Soho: 1999

This author certainly has her fans. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and teen son. I had looked forward to reading the above book which was based on a murder of a French Jewish woman in the Jewish quarter of Paris. It was written well. The characters were well developed, but I just did not care for it. I think it was because it was set in 1993 and involved Nazis. Some of the characters were the Neo Nazis but most of the mystery involved the old Nazis of World War II. I just could not buy those old Nazis making that much trouble so many years after the end of World War II.

The private detective Aimee Leduc is exciting and attractive and I had trouble with that as well. I don't expect detectives to look like Miss Marple, but having them super duper young ladies with fathers who are deceased but left them the business is for me a bit old. Still, this was not a badly written mystery novel. I might try it again as long as there is no Nazis in it.