Murder at the Porte de Versailles
by Cara Black
Pub Date 15 Mar 2022
Soho Press,Soho Crime
Mystery & Thrillers


Netgalley and Soho Press sent me a copy of Murder at the Porte de Versailles to review:


In the wake of 9/11, Paris is in a state of fear. November is bittersweet for Aimée Leduc: the anniversary of her father's death falls on the same day as her daughter's third birthday. A gathering for family and friends is disrupted when a bomb goes off at the police laboratory—and Boris Viard, the partner of Aimée’s friend Michou, is found unconscious at the scene of the crime with traces of explosives under his fingernails.Boris Viard, the partner of Aimée's friend Michou, is found unconscious at the scene of the crime with traces of explosives under his fingernails after a bomb goes off at the police laboratory.


Aimée doesn't think Boris set the bomb. Trying to prove this, she fights the police and his own lab colleagues, collecting conflicting eyewitness reports. When a member of the French secret service drafts Aimée to help investigate possible links to an Iranian Revolutionary guard and fugitive radicals who bombed Interpol in the 1980s, Aimée uncovers ties to a cold case of her father’s.Aimée uncovers ties to a cold case of her father's when a member of the French secret service asks her to investigate Iranian Revolutionary Guards and fugitive radicals who bombed Interpol in the 1980s.

She has to decide if she should succumb to the pressure of Chloe's biological father and move them out to his farm in Brittany or run the streets of the 15th arrondissement trying to find the truth. Would Aimée Leduc be able to leave Paris?


I give Murder at the Porte de Versailles five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience

An interesting mystery wrapped in a very atmospheric setting.. Loved it.

They will always have Paris.

MURDER AT THE PORTE DE VERSAILLES by Cara Black is an action-packed thriller set in Paris. It is actually number twenty in an internationally best-selling series that features private investigator Aimee Leduc. Her father was a flic (cop) accused of corruption and although she has cleared his name, there is still plenty of animosity and history between her and the local police force. I had not read others in this series so I had to expend some energy keeping all of the characters straight, but Black kept me guessing and had so much going on that I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery which begins with a bombing at the police lab. Since this is Nov. 2001, there are concerns about terrorism and a colleague of Leduc's is implicated. An informant, a voyeur, an artiste and a security guard (plus others!) all offer clues and misdirection in a story complicated by the relationship between Leduc and the father of her three year-old daughter. Learn more about MURDER AT THE PORTE DE VERSAILLES and see the recent Indie Next List recommendations at this website:
https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781641290432

In the 20th book in the Aimee Leduc Investigations series, Aimee and friends are celebrating her daughter, Chloe’s, third birthday. Only two months after 9/11, Paris is on edge. When Boris realizes he left Chloe’s gift back at the police station he hurries back to get it, only to be caught in a police lab bombing. He’s considered a prime suspect and Amie and her partner rush to help prove Boris was not the bomber. As a reader of very few Aimee Leduc mysteries, I was often confused about who was who. If this is you first Leduc mystery, chose earlier mysteries to start with.

MURDER AT THE PORTE DE VERSAILLES
by Cara Black
Soho Press, Soho Crime

I've read every book in Cara Black's Aimée Leduc series, so am a fangirl from way back. Murder at the Porte de Versailles is her 20th offering and one of her best yet.

Set right after 9/11, the tale finds Paris and the world on edge and fears are heightened in the City of Light when a bomb detonates at the police lab, rendering her friend Boris Viard unconscious. Explosive residue is found under his fingernails.

The story races ahead as Aimée tries to prove him innocent. Add in a possible connection to one of her late father's cold cases, plus current terrorist threats in Paris's 15th arrondissement, along with conflict with her daughter's father, and you have one thrilling read. Highly recommended!

Thanks to the author, Soho Press, Soho Crime, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.

#MurderAtThePorteDeVersailles #carablack#SohoPressSohoCrime #NetGalley

It’s two months after the horrors of 9-11, and Paris is still on high alert. While Aimee Leduc is celebrating her daughter Chloe’s third birthday with her friends and colleagues, a bomb destroys the main police lab. One of her best friends, Michou, a scientist at the lab, is at the site, and she sends the authorities into the rubble to find him. He is gravely injured, but even worse than that, evidence points to him as the bomber and he is arrested for terrorism.
She calls on all her resources to clear his name. She enlists the staff of her private investigative agency, her baby's daddy, and a voyeuristic teenager in her quest. As always, Ms. Black has given us a perfect mystery enriched by the color and atmosphere of Paris, from its haut couture (flea market style) to its historical beauty, and into the dangerous streets and alleys of Teheran-sur-Seine.
On a personal level, Melac, her on-again-off-again-on-again lover is urging her to take their daughter and move to join him in Brittany. It would be a safer, more tranquil life, but Paris, with all its mess and complexity is her home. Her head and her heart are struggling to decide her next step.
At the Porte de Versailles is the twentieth novel in the best-selling Aimee le Duc Investigation Set in Paris. This is another excellent book in a stellar series.

I was fortunate enough to discover Clara Black's Aimee Leduc series with the first installment, "Murder in the Marais," and I have purchased and read every one since, at the moment it was published. In this instance, thanks to NetGalley, I read the twentieth book in the series ahead of the publication date and it did not disappoint. NOTE: In my opinion, this is a series you will appreciate most if you read it chronologically. We know early on in the series that Aimee's now deceased father was a police investigator who left the force under a serious cloud. He raised Aimee after her radical American mother deserted them. Each mystery takes place in a different section (arrondissement or recognizable neighborhood) of Paris. Aimee's friend and colleague Rene, a Little Person with serious self defense skills and advanced computer capabilities is featured in every book. Black writes in a spare manner, but conveys the atmosphere of Paris/the particular section that is the focus of the book, characters' backstories, personalities, dreams and motivations, and the plot itself brilliantly. All twenty books are at least four stars, some five star reads. Murder at the Porte de Versailles opens with Aimee's daughter Chloe's third birthday party. Chloe naturally changes the trajectory of the series as Aimee has to consider her in her risk taking, but when her dear friend Boris is seriously injured in bombing of the police lab, she sometimes forgets to put Chloe first. Because by nature, Aimee has to take risks and is passionate about her work. Throughout each book, Black uses a few French words and phrases, adding to the feeling of being in France and to the context in which Aimee operates. She is a croissant and espresso breakfast person, a person who will buy thrift store Chanel over fast fashion, politically aware ... of French politics. I love this. Unaccountably, there is evidence that Boris had something to do with the bombing. This series starts in 1999 and we have just reached 2001 in Murder at the Porte de Versailles. 9/11 is on everyone's minds when there is destruction like this. Paris and France are full of Iranians. There is still interest in finding activists from the 1980s who committed acts of terrorism. Rene and Aimee and their employee Saj, using 2001 technology and old-fashioned detective skills, set out to clear Boris. Black gives us wonderful characters and places us in Paris in every book. This is no exception. I loved teenager Hugo, who captured information on video, his grandfather who is loopy and not terribly honorable, Boris's partner who is convinced he was cheating, and others I won't mention for fear of spoilers. I highly recommend the whole series, including this book.

Very quick paced writing. It was refreshing to read this novel because wit writing was so smooth, well transitioning and a resolution! Highly recommend

Thank you NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of Murder at the Porte de Versailles by Cara Black and SoHo Press (March 15, 2022) All opinions are my own

I just reviewed Murder at the Porte de Versailles by Cara Black. #MurderatthePortedeVersailles #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Paris, terrorism, historical-novel, historical-research, history-and-culture, law-enforcement, falsely accused, family, family-dynamics, relationship-issues, relationships, investigation, private-investigators, murder, 21st-century****

It feels like the kind of book that enriches an addictive series but needs something in order to stand alone. The publisher's blurb gives a good start, but I would have been more comfortable with an audiobook. The murder mystery with all of its tension, plot twists, and red herrings is very well done but the personal background and interpersonal stuff left me behind. Still, I liked it very much.
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Soho Press/Soho Crime via NetGalley. Thank you!

This is an exciting Paris mystery shortly after 9/11. Aimee has a birthday party for her 3 year old daughter, Chloe. Most of her friends are there, including Chloe's father, Melac, Aimee's godfather Morbier, her detective partner, Rene, and friends Boris and Michou. Boris forgot his birthday present and goes to his office in the Laboratoire Central de Police to get it. Michou gets a call from Boris' phone, but hears sirens sand an explosion. Aimee rushes to the site, and sees a crowd of people and Boris wheeled out on a stretcher. Boris has semtex under his fingernails, and the police hink he is a prime suspect, while Aimee knows he wouldn't have set off a bomb!

Meanwhile, across the street, teen Hugo has had a telescope in the window for an astronomy project, but it has filmed a lot of what is happening across the street. He was filming a scantily clad woman across the street, but the telescope slipped down to show the action in the street including a man running from the building as the bomb explodes. Hugo's grandfather recognizes the man and wants the film for blackmail to buy a new leg.

In order to help exonerate Boris, Aimee goes to work for Bellan, a man who used to work for her father and is in counterterrorism. She gets Rene and Saj to help. There were some cases still open in the Laboratoire, and the bomber could have been trying to destroy evidence, or it could be Iranians. Shortly before, a woman was killed in the park, and a man with the same last name had an accident in his car. A homeless man living in the park is poisoned, and he might have seen something. There was also something going on with the refrigeration units in the Lab, and the company working on them appears to be somewhat suspect. While Aimee is working to exonerate Boris, Chloe has gone to Brittany with Melac, and he is trying to get her to move there and be with him, while Bellan is becoming interested in Aimee.

There is a lot going on, and the more Aimee learns, the more danger she puts herself in. Hugo also appears to know too much and he is in danger as well!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.
Since I live in Paris for much of the year, I love reading books and recognising where the action takes place.
Cara Black is high on my list of 'must reads.'

I believe this is the 20th book in the Aimée Leduc series. When the series began, the books were a breath of fresh air. A female detective who gets herself in and out of precarious situations all while wearing 2nd hand designer outfits. Her assistant is a loveable dwarf-I'm sure there is a PC word for him-who is a tech genius and now there is a Muslim guy who answers the phone on the first ring and organizes Aimée most days.

The books have taken on a rote feeling. Though Ms. Black does her research and comes up with very interesting themes, the books have felt the same. The action moves very quickly. There is always a love interest (and now there is a 3 year old daughter) who Aimée is often ambivalent about. She is impulsive and driven by memories of her father's death although she has figured that one out.

I still enjoy the books and will definitely keep reding them but they are no longer fresh and novel.
Ms. Black has written one stand alone book that was fascinating both in theme and writing. I hope she ventures out on another stand alone.

This was another enjoyable adventure with Aimee. A mother of a three year old now she is still chasing around Paris on her Vespa tracking down criminals. This time a dear friend is injured in a bombing and then arrested as a terrorist. Aimee will not stand for this and is off to find the truth.

This is the twentieth volume of Black's excellent Aimee LeDuc series. This installment is set in November 2001, just after the 9/11 attacks while Paris, like the rest of the world is on high alert. When a friend of hers, Boris, is injured in a bombing in Paris Aimee sets out to prove that he is innocent in the horrific incident. The story twists and turns, ultimately bringing Aimee to work with the French secret service while at the same time dealing with family issues concerning her young daughter and the child's father. The ending is dramatic and satisfying. The series gets better and better and Aimee as a person is growing in interesting directions. A highly recommended read.

I’m not sure what to think of this title in the series. I usually enjoy them very much but I had difficulties with this one. We’re some of the situations more unbelievable this time? Was the pacing wrong? Or am I tired of the series. I don’t know but I didn’t think it was one of the best.

Thank you Soho Press through NetGalley for Advance Reader Copy. This book will be available in spring 2022 - Don't miss it!
Tempo = Allegro and/or Presto! Start to finish the action is compelling and captivating. Aimee is enjoying a birthday party for her daughter with friends during what seems a perfect evening. Friend Boris has forgotten Chloe's present back at the crime lab and sets off to get it. This action leads to a complicated set of circumstances causing Boris to be under suspicion for bombing the lab.
Aimee and team take up the cause to clear Boris. There are other deaths caught up in the web of deceit and subterfuge and it takes a team to untangle and find the truth. Now reaching the 20th book in the Aimee Leduc series, I can truthfully say it just gets better!