Cara Black’s newest Aimee Leduc mystery, Murder on the Left Bank (Soho,$27.95), is another in this great series for people who love Paris and enjoy a satisfying mystery full of interesting characters, including her brilliant partner, bitter ex-cops, assistants in the coroner’s office, an idealistic policewoman assigned to the juvenile bureau, and Aimee herself.
Mademoiselle Leduc is utterly fascinating. While Cara provides little physical description, you can easily imagine Aimee as tall, attractive but not beautiful, big eyed, and athletic. I especially loved the scene where Aimee dislocates her shoulder, not that I wanted to inflict pain on the heroine, but having had shoulder dislocations, the description is spot-on. Aimee also suffers a sprained ankle, gets arrested, threatened with murder, and nearly has her ten-month-old baby kidnapped. All putting our heroine in riveting danger.
Cara sprinkles the narrative with many French phrases so if you speak no French, they can be a bit distracting. But as always, Left Bank is tight, well edited, and a page turner. The plot is partly developed upon prior books in the series and it may be difficult to quickly get into the flow, but nevertheless it’s a good stand-alone. And unlike many series mysteries there is no decline in the drama or the writing. Francophiles can’t ask for a better series than Cara Black’s. We can only hope Aimee’s scooter keeps going.
Steve E Clark as seen in the New York Times is Author of Justice Is for the Lonely and Justice Is for the Deserving, Kristen Kerry Novels Of Suspense. Steve is a 2017 NY Big Book Award winner and a 2018 Independent Book Awards recepient. You can purchase his books via https://steveclarkauthor.com/buy-the-book/ or request it at your local book store. Want to know more about Steve Clark, read more reviews or speak directly with Steve? Learn more about Steve at SteveClarkAuthor.com
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