So if you take a murder mystery and wrap it up in historical fiction, there’s little chance this reader wouldn’t like it.
1940, WWII and the Nazi’s have taken Paris. Detective Henri Lefort has been summoned by the Germans to solve the murder of one of their own – in the Louvre. But how can he solve the murder as Lefort is not permitted in the Louvre to see the murder scene or the murder weapon. And he’s only been given five days on top of that or he’ll probably face a worse fate than the dead German.
This is the first book in what is to become a new mystery series – wonderful. Can’t wait for book # 2.

4.25/5 stars

Set in Summer 1940 Paris, Inspector Henri Lefort is endeavoring to walk the tightrope between the
authority of his badge and the authority of the occupying Germans.

Lefort is ordered to investigate and solve the murder of a German major (which took place in the Louvre Museum) … in five days … or risk his job/life at the hands of the enemy. He is given access to the body (NOT the scene of the crime) and a pre-typed list of five possible suspects/witnesses. With the help of his secretary Nicola, he tracks down clues and persons of interest that eventually lead him to the killer (not too much of a surprising reveal). However, there’s a dual timeline that I found even more intriguing. Lefort has sessions with Princess Marie Bonaparte, a psychoanalyst closely linked to Sigmund Freud (as well as being the great grandniece of Napoleon), in which he discusses his service during WWI (1918 France). We learn that he has been tormented with the keeping of secrets and lies from those days, and the unburdening and surprising twists were fascinating to me.

I enjoyed getting to know the complicated and flawed character of Henri and will look forward to
learning more about him in future adventures (as I’m hopeful to see this as a series). Pryor is also a new author for me, and I look forward to investigating his backlist.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for providing the free early arc of Die Around Sundown for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Die Around Sundown was an intriguing mystery that takes place in German occupied Paris in 1940. It is a murder mystery, but it is also the war story of Henri Lefort.

First of all, Henri is tasked with finding out who murdered a German officer. He is given a list by German officer Vogel, of five Parisians who have to do with the Louvre. The suspects were supplied by a German officer. Of course there are no Germans on the list. Henri is given seven days to solve the mystery. If he didn't solve it he would be killed. Included in the suspects list is Pablo Picasso, although he's not part of the original five.

Intermingled in the murder is the fact that Henri has agreed to be psychoanalyzed by Princess Mimi. His sessions are comprised of his telling of his stint in the military. But before the sessions begin, he is accosted by a journalist who informs him that he has a brother, which he knew but didn't let on. Anyway, Henri tells his story. As I said, he knew of his brother. He had had a private investigator search him out after he learned of his existence through letters of their mother. He found out that his brother had enlisted in the military after being accused of killing his foster parents. What actually happened was that his foster father killed his foster mother and his brother Mike hit his foster father upside the head with an ashtray, which killed him.

So in the telling, Henri found out that Mike was assigned to a special mission and Henri asked to receive the same assignment. He and his brother were twins but fraternal. They got along really well, but at some point Henri was struck in the neck by a bullet. It wasn't bad enough to kill him, but he was incapacitated. Their mission was to find a German defector who had papers for them to carry back. Henri told Mike and one other soldier to go get the man and come back. By that time he thought he'd be able to move on. Mike was able to get the papers. The German had been killed. Henri's team had been found by two Germans. They'd killed the one and the other was knocked unconscious. When Mike got back, he found that the German who had been knocked out had come to and killed Henri. At that point Mike took over Henri's identity, as he knew that, once he was out of the military, he'd go to prison for the double murder. As Henri Mike received a medal for bravery and relocated permanently to Paris.

The private investigator had also located his sister Nicola in Paris. So once he was discharged he found her and they moved in together. Of course Mike told Nicola about the swap. Nicola was working for the French police and Henri/Mike got a job as a detective.

Back to the murder. Henri was able to solve the murder. It was Officer Vogel. It was clear that Vogel was stealing what he believed was original art from the Louvre. Actually, Picasso was taking the art Vogel wanted to steal and making duplicates. It was assumed that Vogel thought the dead officer was trying to steal art as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this who done it. It was as much about Henri and Mike's military experience as it was about the murder. That Mike took Henri's identity was an unexpected twist. I would definitely recommend this book.

This is a classic mystery set in 1940 in German-occupied Paris. Detective Henri LeFort has been given just five days to solve a murder that occurred in the Louvre—a building he is not allowed into. Nor is he given a partner to help his solve the case, as would be normal in a murder. If he fails, the consequences for himself are dire. He gets help from his assistant, Nicola, but the Germans are hiding key evidence. He does, however, interview people like Pablo Picasso and others who know what the Germans are doing to art under the pretense of returning German art to the motherland.

This is well-done and well-paced and enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES AUGUST 16m 2022.

Pyror knows his way around WWII Paris. And he knows how to create a great protagonist and keep a mystery going.. And he's got the ultimate ticking time bomb of an investigation -- a French policeman in Nazi-occupied Paris who will die around sundown if he's not successful. I have a few quibbles about the supporting cast, but the story rocks.

I had never heard of this author until I found this particular novel. This book was everything you want a book to be. It was entertaining, it kept you on the edge of your seat, it devoured you. This was hard to put down once I started.

Hello! What a time to be in Paris! Die around Sundown is one of the better books I have read lately to take place during the WW2 era. While, on the surface, the story focuses on a crime that takes place in the Louvre (a crime for which the detective is not permitted to enter the Louvre to try to solve but, yet, was only given one week to solve), it is also, beneath the surface, a detective story about personal understanding. This book conveyed the tension that exists between the French and Germans not only on this crime but also in a wider sense. Henri Lefort seems to be symbolic of and a representative for all French who are living under the watchful eyes of the Nazis at the time...and who are presented with ultimatums (tension that only was exacerbated as time wore on). I love the fact that this mystery is one that surrounds the art world...a world (aka, the museum) in which Henri is not permitted to enter but must understand fully in order to fulfill his duty. I love the partnership between Henri and Nicola as well. Wonderful work! Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC! These are my honest opinions.

In Mark Pryor’s impressive new novel, the hated SS pressures acerbic police inspector Henri Lefort to solve the murder of Major Walter Fischer , however; the Nazis impede his investigation by refusing access to the murder scene- the famous Louvre museum and a limited witness list. Lastly he must solve the case in seven days or suffer deadly consequences.

Additionally, Lefort’s troubling memories of the last war and a secret known to only two people intensify the suspense of this gripping narrative. In order to untangle his confused thoughts , Henri reluctantly agrees to undergo psychoanalysis by Princess Marie Bonaparte, a disciple of Freud.

To sum it up, Pryor skillfully writes a fast paced, engaging book by including colorful characters such as Pablo Picasso, multiple twists and turns in the plot and the history and beauty of Paris. As a result Death around Sundown is a very readable, noir like story that will enthrall fans of Alan Furst, Philip Kerr and Ken Follett and leave them waiting for Pryor’s next novel.

It has been far too long, about 30 months, since I read my previous two books by MARK PRYOR. They were books one and two in the Hugo Marston series. I have now rediscovered Mr. Pryor with a new series featuring WWII era Parisian police detective Henri Lefort. And what a tale he tells in DIE AROUND SUNDOWN!

Henri Lefort is one of the best police homicide detectives in Paris in the early summer of 1940. The Nazis have been in Paris for a little more than a month and were starting their reign of terror in that beautiful city. Lefort lives with Nicola who is also his primary assistant in the homicide department.

A Nazi officer, Walter Fischer, is murdered in the Louvre. Fischer is the lead in the cataloguing and looting of that museum’s art works. SS Major Ludwig Vogel assigns the case to Lefort. Vogel gives him 7 days to solve the case or die. Ludwig tells him this is necessary because Adolph Hitler is coming to Paris in a week and he wants to show Hitler that the Nazis have Paris under control. He tells Henri that he cannot, under any circumstance, enter the Louvre during the investigation. Ludwig also gives Lefort a list of several suspects.

Henri Lefort is also called upon to investigate a break-in and possible murder in the home of Princess Marie Bonaparte, a noted psychoanalyst (actually helped Sigmund Freud escape from the Nazis) and descendant of Napoleon. When he arrives at the crime scene, Lefort actually saves her life. A couple of days later, after the Nazis appropriate her palatial Parian home, she moves into an apartment just below that Henri and Nicola. She offers Henri free psychoanalysis in exchange for his patronage. He reluctantly agrees, because he is hiding dark and deep secrets. This becomes a story within a story.

Among the suspects who are on Ludwig’s list are five employees of the Louvre or associated contractors for the museum. During the investigation, two of the suspects are murdered. After Fischer is killed, Lefort discovers that he has hidden a Pablo Picasso painting in his clothing. The artist becomes another suspect in the investigation. The famous Café Hugo in Paris is integral to the story.

During the Great War (WWI), Henri Lefort served in the French Army as an 18-year-old private. He is assigned to a secret mission to save a German officer who wants to defect with lots of information about Germany’s military plans. The small team is made up of American, British and French troops. The mission does not go well but for Lefort there are amazing discoveries that change his life. This is the story that Henri tells Bonaparte.

The author does a great job of combining fact and fiction into a very compelling story. There is plenty of action. The characters are wonderful. The setting is impeccable. If you like history, detective stories, police procedurals or just plain great writing, then this is a must read for you. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
GO! BUY! READ!

Die Around Sundown was an excellent piece of work! Never once did it make me wish I had died around sundown or at any other time.

I first encountered the book in a Minotaur Sampler in the Spring and have been holding onto it like a child afraid of being lost holds into its mother’s hand. I’ve savored the anticipation and it did not disappoint any more than that mother would.

During the early days of the German occupation of Paris a French detective is tasked, upon threat of his life, with the investigation of the murder of an SS officer. With a deadline looming, he uncovers a band of unlikely French patriots working together to retain French art. Alongside the investigation, he begins a delve into his own history with a student of Freud and descendant of Napoleon.

Filled with numerous twists, always revealed in believable ways, Henri’s complex story is opened layer upon layer like a flower to the sun.

I understand this is the first in a series that I will be impatiently waiting for - “tapping my nails” on the wineglass until the second is released.

Thank you Net Galley for this great ARC.

Thank you so much NetGalley for letting me review this book.
Set in 1940 Paris France (world war 2)

Henri Lefort is a detective, who is asked to solve a murder of a german soldier who worked at the louvre. Not happy with the assignment because he considers the germans enemies and he has one week to solve it. His secretary Nicola helps him with the case. Both i find like-able characters.
Henri also has a secret about his past that he needs to come to terms with.
Interesting characters show up in this book like Pablo Picasso and Marie Bonaparte (a descendant of Napoleon)
World War 2 novels are one of my favorite and this book is not a disappointment. Kept my interest Die Around Sundown by Mark Pryor. #NetGalley

Once again, NetGalley and Minotaur Books have provided me with another opportunity to read a new author (for me) in Mark Pryor. My thanks to them for allowing me access to Die Around Sundown: A Mystery as an ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

The setting is Paris, summer of 1940. The Nazi occupation has begun, and the Paris police attempt to manage an uneasy working relationship with them. When a German major is murdered in the Louvre Museum, Inspector Henri Lefort has but one week to solve the case. Oh, by the way, Lefort works in the robbery division, but he’s caught the attention of a German superior officer because of his actions the previous day at a burglary/murder at the home of Princess Marie Bonapart. Yes – the psychoanalyst. She becomes a prominent character. Lefort is given a list of “suspects” but is forbidden from entering the Louvre. Something’s fishy in Denmark – forgive the mixed metaphor. I should add that along with the art theme, we get to meet Pablo Picasso as well.

I liked Lefort immediately. He’s a cheeky fellow, but his humor is not always appropriate, nor is it always appreciated. He does know when to keep his mouth closed, at least around the Germans. He does have a problem with his hearing, however, or perhaps more accurately, his brain. Bonapart, who asks to be called Mimi, settles on the term “hyperphonia,” which is not quite correct. Lefort becomes annoyed, agitated even, by sounds of gum chewing and loud crunching of foods like carrots and celery. There is a term for this – “mesophonia.” He hesitantly to psychoanalysis sessions with Mimi. In return for a glass of wine each time, he talks. What he shares is quite revealing about his past and who he is. Who he really is.

What starts out to be a rather easy-going story turns out to be a great character portrait of a man who went through some very rough times as a child and in WWI. Now he’s a detective, and his city is under siege again with all the uncertainty that comes with it. And he has these ridiculous expectations set for how he must investigate this crime. Will we find that war and murder have hardened him, or does Henri Lefort have a heart and soul left in his body?

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the plot. There’s a twist that I never saw coming. This was my first time reading anything by Mark Pryor, and I appreciate his style. Die Around Sundown is a very different kind of historical fiction and a fun mystery to boot.

Layers upon layers of secrets! I've never read anything else by this author. I enjoyed Die Around Sundown immensely and look forward to the next book in the series. (My brain supplies Humphrey Bogart as the leading man, Henri LeFort.)

This is a change of pace from the author's past series, but still set in Paris. This is during the Nazi occupation and is a riveting story with many twists and turns. Will we be hearing more from Henri Lefort?

A engaging and refreshing story about great trauma but handled with a graceful lightness. A complex but believable story about how discoveries are made through the help of others and relationships that are formed through circumstances rather than by intention. A wonderful set of characters with believable personalities and strengths and quirks. I looked forward to every time I got a chance to sit down and read more of the story. It sets a high standard for his future works, but I do hope there will be many!

Mark Pryor's Die Around Sundown is outstanding. It fights past a mediocre cover and an utterly mundane setup to be one of the most gripping books I've read this year. It is decidedly not just another World War II/Holocaust mystery. Instead, it is a wonderful hard-boiled mystery cloaked in its time period without being weighed down by it. The central mystery is so good I'd hate to ruin any part of it and the twist at the end took me entirely by surprise. Recommend for any mystery reader seeking an exciting, well-written novel.

Die Around Sundown by Mark Pryor is an excellent story of a Parisian detective during the first days of the Nazi invasion of Paris. Henri Lafort needs to solve a mystery in one week while trying to stay alive to do so. A story within the story adds to the enjoyment of the book as do the twists and turns of the character's lives. This is a great historical mystery and I hope soon to read the next one.

Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read the first entry in Pryor's new series.
It's the summer of 1940 and the Germans have occupied Paris. Robbery detective, Henri Leforte is called to the home of Princess Bonaparte to investigate a theft. While in the house, Henri deduces that one of the thieves is still on the premises. His action earns him a promotion to the Murder Squad but his first assignment comes with frightening conditions. He is to investigate the murder of a German officer murdered n the Lourve. He is not allowed to examine the body or the crime scene. German officials give him a list of suspects and a deadline for finding the killer. He must solve the case in a week or forfeit his life!
A parallel plot line focuses on Henri as a young soldier in WWI and is just as page-turning as the hunt for the murderer.
The Paris setting under German occupation is expertly presented.
This fast-paced, intriguing mystery is a promising start in a new series.

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Paris Police Robbery Detective Henri Lefort is not happy. It’s 1940 and the German occupation of Paris is now a month old . . . a situation that fills the detective with anger. Like most Parisians, he resents the presence of the Nazi soldiers.

Called to the home of Princess Marie Bonaparte to investigate a burglary, he realizes one of the robbers is still in the house. In his attempt to escape, the robber kills Marcel Rapace, one of the police officers, but Lefort kills him before he can shoot anyone else.

And so he finds himself promoted to the murder division and tasked with finding the killer of Hauptmann Walter Fischer, a German soldier murdered at the Louvre while he helped with looting the museum’s artworks.

And Lefort has only one week in which to solve the crime.

Supplied with a list of suspects, but not allowed into the Louvre, Lefort will suffer the consequences . . . at the hands of the Gestapo. And, as he investigates, Sturmbannführer Ludwig Vogel, delights in making veiled threats against Henri.

At the same time, Princess Bonaparte [Mimi] is urging Henri to go through psychotherapy with her as she believes the World War One veteran’s issues could be addressed in a positive manner.

Will Mimi help Henri face the secrets of his past? And will he find the murderer before time runs out?

=========

In this, the first in a new series featuring Detective Henri Lefort, the characters are well-drawn and believable. Lefort’s propensity toward humor is a welcome contrast to the harshness of the Nazi SS characters.

Unforeseen plot twists and turns keep the tension high as the challenging case keeps Lefort busy; his list of “suspects” [French, of course] includes Pablo Picasso, other artists, Maurice Babin, a curator at the Louvre, and Abraham Simon, a frame-maker.

Flashbacks to Lefort’s wartime experiences provide a strong backstory for the character and result in a series of intriguing interactions with Princess Bonaparte, a protégé of Sigmund Freud. This backstory, that of Henri’s experiences during the first World War, makes as intriguing a tale as does the murder mystery.

Of particular interest in the telling of the tale is the attitude of the Parisians when they encounter the soldiers of the German occupation. A strong sense of place complements the narrative and readers, pulled into the story from the outset, will find much to appreciate in this historical perspective.

Readers will find much to appreciate in this unputdownable tale.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley
#DieAroundSundown #NetGalley

Holy cow, is this book good.

Henri Lefort is a robbery detective in Paris. It is Monday, July 15, 1940 and the Nazis have been in town for a month. Henri is called to a mansion to investigate a robbery. An armed burglar is hiding in the house and Henri saves the life of the owner, one Princess Marie Bonaparte.

Only a few pages in at this point, I google "Paris Police Prefecture," "Pont Saint-Michel," "Les Deux Magots" and "Princess Marie Bonaparte." An enjoyable hour later, I have brushed up on my "Shakespeare and Company" and other historical locations and personages of French history.

And this, this, is why I love historical fiction. Mark Pryor drops the reader into the opening days of the Occupation, right alongside the shocked and grieving Parisians. Our fictional protagonist struggles with all the oppressive cruelties that a conquering Nazi Reich inflicts. And we know, with dread, how much worse it will get.

As a reward for his heroism, Henri is promoted to the murder squad and given the unenviable task of sorting out who killed SS Captain Walter Fischer. Fischer had been working in the Louvre, cataloguing art to be "repatriated" to the Fatherland when an icepick in the brain ended his wartime experience. Henri is barred from the scene of the crime, handed a list of five conveniently French suspects and given a week's deadline to solve the case. Or else.

In the course of this week, Henri will question Pablo Picasso in his still-extant art studio (more googling!).
He will undergo psychoanalysis with Princess Marie, Freud's protege He will relive his terrible experiences in the first war while dealing with resistors, collaborators and occupiers in the current one. Oh, and solve the crime.

I really enjoyed the character of Henri Laforte. He reminds me, in the best way, of Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther. A cynical yet dedicated police officer tries to both do his job and remain alive in the bizarre, highly dangerous world of the Nazis. 10/10. Highly recommend!