Review: Murder on the Champ de Mars by Cara Black

• Format: Kindle Edition
• Print Length: 320 pages
• Publisher: Soho Crime (March 3 2015)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00N6PCP8G

Book Description

Paris, February 1998: Aimée Leduc has her work cut out for her—running her detective agency and fighting off sleep-deprivation as she tries to be a good single mother to her new bébé. The last thing she has time for now is to take on a personal investigation for a poor manouche (French Gypsy) boy. But he insists his dying mother has an important secret she needs to tell Aimée, something to do with Aimée’s father’s unsolved murder a decade ago. How can she say no?

The dying woman’s secret is even more dangerous than her son realized. When Aimée arrives at the hospital, the boy’s mother has disappeared. She was far to sick to leave on her own—she must have been abducted. What does she know that is so important it is worth killing for? And will Aimée be able to find her before it is too late and the medication keeping her alive runs out?

Set in the seventh arrondissment, the quartier of the Parisian elite, Murder on the Champ de Mars takes us from the highest seats of power in the Ministries and embassies through the city’s private gardens and the homes of France’s oldest aristocratic families. Aimée discovers more connections than she thought possible between the clandestine “Gypsy” world and the moneyed ancien régime, ultimately leading her to the truth behind her father’s death…After all, for Aimée, murder is never far from home.

About the Author

Cara Black frequents a Paris little known outside the beaten tourist track. A Paris she discovers on research trips and interviews with French police, private detectives and café owners. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, a bookseller, and their teenage son. She is a San Francisco Library Laureate and a member of the Paris Sociéte Historique in the Marais. Her nationally bestselling and award nominated Aimée Leduc Investigation series has been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, German and Hebrew. She received the Medaille de la Ville de Paris for services to French culture. She's included in the GREAT WOMEN MYSTERY WRITERS by Elizabeth Lindsay 2nd editon published in the UK. Her first three novels in the series MURDER IN THE MARAIS, MURDER IN BELLEVILLE AN MURDER IN THE SENTIER - nominated for an Anthony Award as Best Novel - were published in the UK in 2008 and MURDER IN THE LATIN QUARTER comes out in the UK in 2010. Several of her books have been chosen as BookSense Picks and INDIE NEXT choice by the Amerian Association of Independent Bookstores. The Washington Post listed MURDER IN THE RUE DE PARADIS in the Best Fiction Choices of 2008. MURDER IN THE LATIN QUARTER is a finalist for Best Novel Award from the NCIBA Northern California Independent Booksellers Association.

She is currently working on the next book in the Aimée Leduc series.


My Review

Love this series by Cara Black! Aimee Leduc is once again tracking down a murderer in the beautiful city of light, Paris. Murder in the Champ de Mars is set in the seventh arrondissment, the home of Paris's elite. Except that we don't see the light of Paris much in this latest addition. It is Paris of corruption and of darkness. It is a city of warnings and danger that once again our heroine will ignore.

Aimee's daughter Chloe is now six months old. Chloe's absent father shows up without warning at Chloe's christening with a new wife in tow. And all of a sudden he does not wish to be an absent father. Now Aimee is faced with an unexpected distraction as she heads back to work.

A young French Gypsy boy, a manouche, brings Aimee a message from his dying mother. Aimee is thrust into an investigation of her father's murder. His murder has always haunted her. She neglects everything to get to the bottom of this latest revelation. The mysterious world of the gypsies is not safe for outsiders. But could there be an even bigger threat.

I have read every book in this series. The ending of Murder in the Champ de Mars had me riveted to the story. Oh the revelations....you'll have to read it to find out!