I love the setting of this book and the writing is good, the premise is very interesting. It’s definitely a book worth reading, especially in terms of the story line. I’m always interested in anything to do with the Holocaust and any way to educate people on the atrocities of this time. I also love that’s it’s set in the 90’s and goes back and forth.

Murder in the Marais An Aimee Leduc Investigation by Cara Black

369 Pages
Publisher: Soho Crime, Soho Press
Release Date: April 26, 2016

Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, French, Holocaust, Racism

Aimee Leduc is starting out as a private detective. Her late father was a police detective, but he was killed in the line of duty. She is approached by an elderly Jewish man to investigate the death of a woman from his synagogue. She was found murdered with a swastika carved into her forehead. Aimee researches neo-Nazi organizations and infiltrates the local group to find out who was behind the killing. What she find takes her back fifty years to World War II.

The book is the first of the Aimee Leduc Investigation series. It has a fast pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. Aimee is the master of disguise and takes her job seriously. If you like fast action mysteries, you will enjoy this book.

I was honestly blown away with the writing in this book. The attention to detail was very enlightening. I enjoyed feeling like I was actually in paris. I do have to admit that the plot it's self was a little tough to get into. I did however enjoy the book.

The premise for this novel was good but the writing just didn’t capture me. The flow was not there and parts were not very realistic. I’m sure others will enjoy it more.
Many thanks to Soho Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Murder in the Marais absolutely immerses the reader in Paris. From the sewers to the upper rooftops, with stops for baguette and some Berthillon in between, Cara Black takes us on a whirlwind, exhilarating tour. Aimee is not an easily approachable character, she can be a bit prickly and defensive, but she is definitely a lot of fun, and well worth the read! I loved it!

Finally got round to reading this first instalment in what has become a highly successful series.
I loved Aimee Leduc’s style and approach to crime solving. She is fearless and resourceful. I loved the backdrop of Paris and that Cara Black takes a different area in each of her stories.
This one is set largely in the Marais, (published in 1993), where some 50 years previously, during the Nazi occupation and with French collaboration all the Jews in the district were systematically rounded up and sent off to the death camps.
This is a great plot and it is exploited with great sensitivity and menace. Paris in the ‘now’, is the centre of political tension, far right Neo-Nazi groups are lobbying against open immigration and there is a sense of threat again in this arrondissement.
This is a story that places the past very much in the present (1993) and works, because there are people alive in this modern time who lived through those war years. It is a novel about identity, survival and carrying the burden of the past. For some they would sooner forget the past and their role in it, a change of name is often sufficient to move on. Yet as happened in real life with Holocaust survivors recognising their oppressors and captors this novel poses the threat to a modern successful figure whose past can be unravelled by someone recognising them.
This account could only be written within this timeframe and the author makes the most of that opportunity.
For me the plot is a little jumpy. Events are not seen through before we are taken elsewhere and the fact that Aimee can travel so freely around the capital when the Police are on the streets is a little far fetched.
But the sense of place is well done and the transition of the Leduc’s investigation agency into tackling murder and political corruption is a smooth one. Aimee is shown to be a great protagonist well supported by an usual group of friends and associates.
I look forward to following her journey in future novels in this series.

I am reading everything I can find by this author now. The book was well paced and I enjoyed the protagonist very much. Will be looking forward to more.

Murder in the Marais absolutely reeks of Paris. From the sewers to the rooftops, with stops for baguette and Berthillon in between, Cara Black takes us on a whirlwind tour. Aimee is not a very approachable character, she is prickly and defensive, but she is a lot of fun, and well worth the afternoon's read!

A well written, suspenseful thriller about a female private detective solving a 50 year old murder.
Wonderfully descriptive setting - in modern day Paris. I really liked the protagonist, Aimee Leduc and her many costume changes, to blend in wherever she is investigating. She and the other characters have stayed with me after finishing the book and I look forward to reading more in this series

I couldn't finish this book. There were too many pseudo-French expressions, and words misspelled. Aimée Leduc is an idiot and somehow pulls off ridiculous stunts. The author should not attempt to speak French since she uses it incorrectly throughout the book.

First line: Aimee Leduc felt his presence before she saw him.

Summary: Aimee Leduc is a private investigator in Paris, whose main focus is computer crimes and forensics (in the early days of the Internet). However, when a rabbi comes in and has a secretive job for her, in which she finds a murdered woman, she is suddenly on the run trying to save her own life. Running up against a politician with a mysterious past and an Aryan hate group, there’s much more to the mysterious death of the Jewish woman than Aimee bargained for.

Highlights: This book is well written and is a great read. I found it easy to root for the main character and there was plenty of action. Aimee is creative, and is great at thinking on her feet. She finds herself deeper and deeper in trouble, unable to trust even those who are closest to her. But despite that, she is grounded in her beliefs and wants to know why the woman was murdered.

Lowlights (or what could have been better): Sometimes this book required just a little too much suspension of disbelief. However, I still think I’d like to read more of the series.

FYI: Nothing graphic, no harsh language, but the book does address white supremacy and atrocities of World War II.

The story was interesting and well-convoluted to surprise the reader, but I do wish the main character had been a bit more relate-able. She was a bit annoying and overly pretentious considering all of the things she had to do in order to get to the story. The story, however, in which she pieces together the relationship between the Jew and the Nazi was intense and intriguing and a whole book should be written on them!

I enjoyed this first book in a murder mystery series set in Paris, France, but it did come with a set of flaws.

The heroine, Aimee Leduc, is believable, and likable without being a pushover. But some of her actions seemed pretty far fetched. Who could run across Paris rooftops, let alone in high heels? I liked her partner the dwarf, Rene. But again their partnership seemed a little far-fetched.

I MIGHT be willing to give this series another go. I liked some of the plot elements, French Resistance in Paris during WWII for example -- and I think that Aimee might turn out to be a good character. Besides, I'm a sucker for a book set in Paris.

This was too unbelievable for me. I could not connect with the characters. I thought it would be great since it was in Paris. Even that couldn't save it for me.

This was a sad but enjoyable read. The characters were built and we didn't know who was guilty right til the end. This is a time in history that I usually avoid reading about as it is such a blackmark on humanity. I wonder if generations to come will be reading about us the same way and shaking their heads.

This book was by far one of the better detective novels. I seldom read mysteries but this book, I had to devour.