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A review by jgn
Murder in the Marais by Cara Black
3.0
One reviewer called Cara Black's detective Aimee Leduc "Kinsey Milhone [Sue Grafton's detective] in Paris," and that has some truth to it. But the canvas here is larger than Grafton's, encompassing French politics and the long hangover of collaboration.
The evocation of everyday life in Paris was ok but maybe a little thin - but what can one expect for the American reader?
There is a lot of computer security forensics in the book, almost all of which was ridiculous, even for 1993 (the setting of the novel). But that was one of the "donnees" of the book, so I'll just accept it as the price of admission.
This was the first one in the series and had a really hard plot -- I hope the later ones are a bit easier to follow. On the other hand, the conclusion was plausible (at least in terms of the mystery). I'm probably going to skip to Murder in the Latin Quarter which seems to have gotten the best reviews. If that one doesn't impress me, then I'll stop reading Black.
The evocation of everyday life in Paris was ok but maybe a little thin - but what can one expect for the American reader?
There is a lot of computer security forensics in the book, almost all of which was ridiculous, even for 1993 (the setting of the novel). But that was one of the "donnees" of the book, so I'll just accept it as the price of admission.
This was the first one in the series and had a really hard plot -- I hope the later ones are a bit easier to follow. On the other hand, the conclusion was plausible (at least in terms of the mystery). I'm probably going to skip to Murder in the Latin Quarter which seems to have gotten the best reviews. If that one doesn't impress me, then I'll stop reading Black.