BWW Reviews: Cara Black's MURDER BELOW MONTPARNASSE

The hallmark of a great book series is that you want to read them all - as soon as possible.

Murder Below Montparnasse is the 13^th installment of Cara Black's series about Parisian private investigator Aimee Leduc. Not only was I sad when it ended, but I wanted to read more.

The inside covers of the book are a map of Paris, indicating key locations in the book. As helpful as that might be, something else I found initially off-putting turned out to be a huge gift: Black's attention to the fashion superiority of French women:

"She scouted for something clean to wear in her armoire, settled on a Lurex metallic t-shirt under a ribbed oversized black cardigan, threw it on over leggings and ankle boots, and added her flea market Hermes scarf...and grabbed her agnes b. leather coat."

No calculated plan. A nonchalance other women can only dream about. But I digress.

This attention to detail - fashion, politics, art, cyber-crime - quickly immerses you in the Paris of 1998. Leduc finds herself thrown into the shadowy world of illegal art sales when her client is murdered, apparently over a mysterious, long-missing Modigliani. Wealthy Russian criminals and the Soviet secret police prove to be dangerous to her health and well-being.

No private detective is without their own demons, and Leduc has plenty of abandonment issues: her mother, her lover, even her partner. All complicate her ability to solve this case (or cases, so it seems). But she keeps at it with a determination even more impressive than her wardrobe.

The side story of her partner Rene, and his temporary relocation to the Silicon Valley, was distracting. It came together at the end, but awkwardly. Perhaps to readers of the previous twelve installments it would make more sense.

Still, I found Murder Below Montparnasse to be a quite enjoyable escape to Paris: rich in detail and begging for another visit. I'll be looking forward to it.

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