Murder in the Marais

by Cara Black

Book Overview

The first in a series of new crime fiction set in Paris, this standout first novel introduces the dauntless private investigator Aimee Leduc. Hired to investigate the grisly murder of an old Jewish... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1569472122
• ISBN13: 9781569472125
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Soho Crime
• Length: 354 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.0" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

This author is by far my favorite murder mystery authors.

This author kept me my on toes the whole time I was reading it. When I thought I had it solved, another clue comes out of no where and threw me for a loop. I love the way she writes and am in the process of reading all her books. If you're looking for something that keeps you interested and is binge-worthy, then the Aimee Leduc series is for you.

engrossing, thoughtful and kept me turning the pages

After I heard the author speak at a reading and explain why she wrote this story , I felt compelled to read this book. Glad I did! She based the tale on her friend's mother's experiences (who was a hidden Jewish adolescent)during the German Occupation of Paris, I found Murder in the Marais, engrossing and heartfelt. The stories of the Occupation in France are seldom told and this one rings true on all levels. I may not know much about computers or orthodox Judaism but I felt the authors research and true-to-life characters took me to Occupied Paris. The precise period details even down to the ration cards and what Metro car the Jews could ride on struck me as first rate research. I also love strong female detectives and love the fact Aimée wears heels (she's half-French after all), has a vulnerable side yet is thorougly modern and spunky and does computer security. Paris is a strong character in this book and I loved it....recommended if you love Paris and strong female detectives.

kept me reading and kept me guessing

i liked this book alot. i liked the main character and i liked the minor characters as well. some of the computer stuff was a bit over the top but hey its fiction right. the marais is a very interesting place and the book is able to convey this along with giving us a bit of history too. the jewish deportation story interwoven with the murder is interesting and thought provoking.

Like Paris itself--exciting and complex

I just read Murder in the Marais. What a wonderful book! I started reading it on the train during my daily commute, then finished it on the weekend. What an intriguing, well told story. Several times during the rest of the weekend, I thought of continuing reading it and realized sadly that I had finished it.Everything worked. A complex, interesting detective. A compelling plot. A great ensemble of characters. And a fascinating setting extremely well described--I haven't been to Paris since 1977, but I felt I was right there. I look forward to Aimee's next case!

Hang on tight

"Aimee Leduc felt his presence before she saw him. As if ghosts floated in his wake in the once elegant hall. She paused, pulling her black leather jacket closer against the Parisian winter morning slicing through her building, and reached for her keys." After the first three lines of Murder in the Marais, we know we are in the hands of a gifted story teller, someone we can trust to take us on a roller coaster ride above and below the streets of Paris. Along the way we meet a fascinating cast of characters: Aimee's partner Rene, a computer hacking dwarf, Leah, the button expert, several handsome neo-Nazis, and a wide assortment of men and women who are not what they seem. Aimee is a well-drawn protagonist, bright and tenacious, who will stop at nothing to exorcize the ghosts of a dark Parisian past. Hired to solve a simple encryption problem, Aimee is pulled into a maelstrom of deceit, ambition, and retribution, beginning with the mutilated body of an elderly Jewish woman, her forehead engraved with a swastika. To find the killer, Aimee must search the shadow side of the City of Light, both past and present, acquiring powerful enemies wherever she goes. Themes of love, loss and identity are skillfully woven through the breakneck action of this sensational mystery as Aimee is forced to confront her own ghosts, as well as those of Vichy France. The twists can be dizzying at times, but we are confident that the author will pull all the threads together by the end of the ride. Ms. Black has created a vivid setting, physically and emotionally, with enough sights, sounds and smells to bring the Marais alive. I can't wait to go back

An exciting new detective debuts in beautifully drawn Paris

Aimee Leduc, the young computer-whiz detective in this terrific first novel, is a compelling creation: brave, confident, smart and street smart, great with a keyboard and a gun. Leduc finds herself engulfed in a murky world of frightened Parisian Jews, old Nazis, and violent young neoNazis as she tries to find out who killed an elderly Jewish woman in the Marais district of Paris. Black's portrait of Paris--both present-day and wartime--is rich and accurate: Paris was and is precisely like this. Her plot is deliciously complex and grips you tight. The characters in Murder in the Marais, even those we meet only momentarily, are well drawn. And most fascinating of all is Aimee Leduc herself, a young woman we grow more and more fascinated by as the plot unfolds. Leduc, who witnessed her policeman father's murder by terrorists, grapples with her private turmoil, but remains proud and capable. I enjoyed her complexity: defending friends, hacking into Interpol, seducing a handsome thug, downing a vicious attacker, and, of course, escaping danger dressed in the latest Issey Miyake. By the satisfying end of Murder in the Marais, I found myself hooked on Aimee Leduc, and I very eagerly await more adventures of this terrific new detective.