180th out of 582 books
—
510 voters
Murder in the Marais (Aimee Leduc Investigations #1)
by
Cara Black (Goodreads Author)
Aimée Leduc, a Parisian private investigator, has always sworn she would stick to tech investigation—no criminal cases for her. Especially since her father, the late police detective, was killed in the line of duty. But when an old Jewish man approaches Aimée with a top-secret decoding job on behalf of a woman in his synagogue, Aimée unwittingly takes on more than she was...more
Hardcover, 354 pages
Published
November 1st 2003
by Soho Crime
(first published 1999)
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Mar 06, 2013
Claude
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
ebooks,
boring-and-unfinished
I haven't finished this book and am quitting, 30% into the book. It is driving me crazy. There are all these pseudo-French expressions, to make it look more French. Only, I spend my time spotting things like pâté, spelt pâte, which is a totally different thing, or expressions like "la double morte" which is supposed for Parisians to refer to both police and taxes (?)
This one is one of Black's favourites obviously since she goes on and on about it.
I have been living in Paris for 68 years and hav...more
This one is one of Black's favourites obviously since she goes on and on about it.
I have been living in Paris for 68 years and hav...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This first novel in the Aimee Leduc PI series was flawed, but worth reading. I loved the idea of a private detective series set in Paris, and the plot--which begins with a murder of a Jewish woman, who had a swastika carved on her forehead--sounded interesting.
What made it flawed were the highly unrealistic plot elements (running across Paris rooftops in high heels, amazing recoveries from fights and injuries, a superhuman ability to crack computer systems) and the lack of characterization. Too...more
What made it flawed were the highly unrealistic plot elements (running across Paris rooftops in high heels, amazing recoveries from fights and injuries, a superhuman ability to crack computer systems) and the lack of characterization. Too...more
I enjoyed this book, although I must agree with some of the negative comments that others have made here. She does throw in too many characters too quickly making it difficult to keep track of everyone. At one point, I realized that a character I pictured as a young man, was actually in his fifties (although if I had thought about it, for a minute, I would have realized he had to be). The writing is a little shaky at times, but not terrible. As a first effort, I thought is was fine. It intrigued...more
Murder in Marais is the first of Cara Black's Aimee LeDuc series. Aimee is an attractive spikey haired corporate security private investigator in Paris, who somehow is always engaged in more dangerous investigation. Aimee is edgy smart and frequently chooses somewhat unfortunate lovers. She is an intriguing character, especially for a mystery series.
I had high hopes for this book, because I had read already read the sixth one of the series, Murder in Montmartre, and quite liked it. Murder in Mar...more
I had high hopes for this book, because I had read already read the sixth one of the series, Murder in Montmartre, and quite liked it. Murder in Mar...more
I discovered this excellent mystery on Goodreads. This is author Cara Black's first novel and she got off to a rousing good start.
It is November of 1993 in Paris when private detective Aimee Leduc is stopped by a rabbi who asks her to decipher a 50-year old encrypted photograph and take the results to an older lady in the Marais (the old Jewish section of Paris). Aimee generally does not do this type of work anymore but Soli Hecht tells her that her late father assured him she would help him if...more
It is November of 1993 in Paris when private detective Aimee Leduc is stopped by a rabbi who asks her to decipher a 50-year old encrypted photograph and take the results to an older lady in the Marais (the old Jewish section of Paris). Aimee generally does not do this type of work anymore but Soli Hecht tells her that her late father assured him she would help him if...more
For the last couple of years I have been reading reviews of Paris-set mysteries by Cara Black. The other day while searching a bookstore for books by another author (not found), I came across Black’s books on a “Mystery “ shelf. I thought “Okay, now’s your chance!” I picked up a copy of book #1 in her Paris mysteries, MURDER IN THE MARAIS (ISBN 978-1569479995, $9.99, trade paperback, Soho Press), at a really good price. My wife & I spent about 9 days in Paris last November so it’s really fun...more
There is a nice vegetarian restaurant in The Marais, next to a Lesbian night club. We used to go to the restaurant as the other veggie place we found was seriously cramped. I haven’t been back to Paris since Minty was born and I turned Vegan. I hope to fit in a trip later this year, in the Winter, when it’s quiet. Anyway…
Gary Corby, writer of the superb Pericles Commission, recommended Cara Black’s books to me. I felt a little conflicted – I’m writing about a Parisian detective and so is Cara, a...more
Gary Corby, writer of the superb Pericles Commission, recommended Cara Black’s books to me. I felt a little conflicted – I’m writing about a Parisian detective and so is Cara, a...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book is the 1st in the Aimee Leduc Investigation series. It is also a first novel written by Cara Black. Aimee is a detective in Paris. A Paris of 1993, surrounded in webs of past collaborations, new Nazis, and subtle nuances woven in a tale of new and old hatred and remembered loves all in a background of a fine Parisian atmosphere. In this stunning debut novel Cara Black does for Paris what Linda Fairstein, the author of the Alex Cooper series, does for New York.
Aimee, is a thirty four ye...more
Aimee, is a thirty four ye...more
Cara Black reinforces the belief that it must be difficult indeed to write a good mystery; Murder in the Marais is eye-rollingly bad. Oh, I wanted to like it! It's Paris! It's the resistance! We get to learn about just how miserable life was in occupied Paris! But there are just so many problems. From the small ones - her dog, cloyingly named "Miles Davis" NEVER has to go out to pee, and seems to spend all day and night in her apartment or at the local news stand; to the simply annoying - she sl...more
What stands out in this read was the book’s location, Paris. Author Cara Black created a vivid setting that effectively delivers the story and moves the plot along to the conclusion. I was thoroughly pulled into the two timelines within the story, the 1940s Paris during the World War II German occupation and the modern day Paris in the early 1990s. The main character Aimee Leduc is well drawn. She’s an Info Tech investigator that reluctantly agrees to investigate the murder of an elderly Jewish...more
THIS IS THE BEST BOOK ABOUT NAZIS I HAVE EVER READ!!! IT MIGHT EVEN BE BETTER THAN THE HISTORY OF HISTORY.
sorry for yelling but that was important. This is a really coolly layered mystery novel set in france. you are dealing with nazi/conspirators/jews from the WWII era, but in a modern world filled with neo-nazis, so you get these great dynamics that ask us fundamentally would a nazi today agree with a neo-nazi, what power did people have, can a fundamentally good person be a fundamentally bad...more
sorry for yelling but that was important. This is a really coolly layered mystery novel set in france. you are dealing with nazi/conspirators/jews from the WWII era, but in a modern world filled with neo-nazis, so you get these great dynamics that ask us fundamentally would a nazi today agree with a neo-nazi, what power did people have, can a fundamentally good person be a fundamentally bad...more
#32 - 2010.
First in a series about French-American Aimee Leduc who is a private investigator in Paris. Specializing in computer investigation she is displeased to be asked by a local synagogue's representative to investigate something from the ancient Nazi years in Paris. It quickly turns into a murder investigation and then the dead bodies begin to pile up.
This is an interesting first novel. It has realistic views of living in Paris and the Parisians' view of politics (for all I know) while th...more
First in a series about French-American Aimee Leduc who is a private investigator in Paris. Specializing in computer investigation she is displeased to be asked by a local synagogue's representative to investigate something from the ancient Nazi years in Paris. It quickly turns into a murder investigation and then the dead bodies begin to pile up.
This is an interesting first novel. It has realistic views of living in Paris and the Parisians' view of politics (for all I know) while th...more
Feb 23, 2013
Sharon
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
all-things-france,
forensic-sciences
I discovered this series at a small bookseller's booth during the San Francisco Writers' Conference. Suffice it to say, I'll be reading all of them.
This is the first book in the Aimee Leduc Investigations series. Aimee is a private detective specializing in computer crime. Her Paris-based business is on the brink of closing when Soli Hecht, representing Temple Emmanuel, asks her to look into the murder of a Jewish woman, Lili, who was found with a swastika carved into her forehead. Aimee relucta...more
This is the first book in the Aimee Leduc Investigations series. Aimee is a private detective specializing in computer crime. Her Paris-based business is on the brink of closing when Soli Hecht, representing Temple Emmanuel, asks her to look into the murder of a Jewish woman, Lili, who was found with a swastika carved into her forehead. Aimee relucta...more
2.5**
Aimee Leduc heads the Leduc Detective Agency; she does not typically deal with criminal matters, but specializes in computer security and investigation. When a rabbi asks her to break the encryption on a 50-year-old photograph she agrees only because the old man was a friend of her father’s. However, when she goes to deliver the information to an elderly woman living the Marais (the old Jewish quarter) she finds a dead woman – strangled and with a swastika carved into her forehead.
Nothing...more
Aimee Leduc heads the Leduc Detective Agency; she does not typically deal with criminal matters, but specializes in computer security and investigation. When a rabbi asks her to break the encryption on a 50-year-old photograph she agrees only because the old man was a friend of her father’s. However, when she goes to deliver the information to an elderly woman living the Marais (the old Jewish quarter) she finds a dead woman – strangled and with a swastika carved into her forehead.
Nothing...more
Actual Rating: ***1/2
The Paris setting of Murder in the Marais was so well written that I easily imagined being lost in the back alleyways and secret courtyards of the Marais, the old Jewish quarter of Paris. Given the descriptions of Aimee Leduc that were spread throughout the book and having watched two episodes of Missing on television just before reading Murder in the Marais, I had no problem envisioning Ashley Judd as Aimee.
Black's descriptive writing was at times brilliant because of the...more
The Paris setting of Murder in the Marais was so well written that I easily imagined being lost in the back alleyways and secret courtyards of the Marais, the old Jewish quarter of Paris. Given the descriptions of Aimee Leduc that were spread throughout the book and having watched two episodes of Missing on television just before reading Murder in the Marais, I had no problem envisioning Ashley Judd as Aimee.
Black's descriptive writing was at times brilliant because of the...more
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 t...more
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 t...more
Aimee Leduc, a young French-American detective living in Paris, is hired by a renowned Holocaust survivor to decode an encrypted message and ends up entangled in a murder investigation in the Marais district of Paris. Her undercover search leads to a neo-Nazi group and lots of intrigue involving current politicians and people involved in the German occupation of France in World War II.
The story was interesting and the characters certainly were a challenge as many were not who they seemed or pres...more
The story was interesting and the characters certainly were a challenge as many were not who they seemed or pres...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Mar 29, 2013
Babs
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery,
mystery-historical
This series sounded interesting, so I decided to try it. It's a bit of a weird historical time period, in the sense that the author doesn't concretely say when it is taking place. It is obviously sometime soon after WWII - the fact of the story confirm this; but exactly how long after WWII is unclear. It's definitely not current time, but that leaves a huge range.
While the time frame is intriguing to me, it doesn't distract from the story. I really enjoyed this. The heroine is a young woman in P...more
While the time frame is intriguing to me, it doesn't distract from the story. I really enjoyed this. The heroine is a young woman in P...more
Paris, mystery, history unburied ... I was impressed, but I wanted to like the book more than I did. I've been to Paris, speak French, and love mysteries, so I was excited by the idea of a mystery novel set in Paris, but Murder in the Marais was hard to follow. Aimee's escapades through the city are detailed street by street, using names and references only a local or a very frequent visitor could be expected to follow. I couldn't decide if the author was trying to show off how well she'd resear...more
I hope you remember Paris, all the streets and alleys, the monuments. If you don't or haven't been there, well, you can just keep googling all the streets and get an idea of the background for the action. Speaking of the actions, it's mostly incomprehensible. Choppy, inferred events and developments drive the narrative over literary plotholes.
It's also rather prurient material. The narrative involves the predicaments of French Jews during the Occupation, and their collaboration with Nazis. Cert...more
It's also rather prurient material. The narrative involves the predicaments of French Jews during the Occupation, and their collaboration with Nazis. Cert...more
Anticipating our mountain vacation, I picked this up at what is perhaps the only remaining independent bookstore in downtown New Haven. Other than the books that they deftly highlight, my favorite part of this store is Pierre -- a one-of-a-kind bookseller! Heck, Pierre is such a character that I'd stop in for entertainment even when I am not looking for a book (my favorite conversation I overheard was between Pierre and a Hungarian woman -- Pierre was talking with her about "Green Acres" and Zsa...more
Everything about this book sounds like something I would just LOVE. Mystery. Paris. Part of a series (enough to keep me reading for a long time)---but perhaps I've read too much Stieg Larsson as of late and it's hard to adjust to Aimee Leduc's detective ways. She's no Lisbeth Salander, and maybe just maybe I'm stepping way out of line comparing the two ladies. Aimee is a disguise-wearing, computer-hacking, rogue detective based in Paris who knows how to get the job done. She's not afraid of brea...more
The first in a series of murder-mysteries set in more-or-less contemporary Paris, this one introduces us to Aimee Leduc, a tech-savvy private investigator whose business is hanging on by a thread when she gets a generous offer that she wishes she could refuse. Despite having sworn off working criminal cases -- she prefers to focus on corporate crime –– she takes the job and finds herself waist-deep in trouble in the historic Jewish quarter (the Marais) of Paris.
The story feels a little shop-wor...more
The story feels a little shop-wor...more
Quick summary: A recommended read, with the caution that the plot revolves around some extremely horrific true events.
A minor spoiler about the general topic of the book follows (revealed very early on in the book).
I have mixed feelings about this first book in the Aimee Leduc series. On the one hand, the story was fascinating, dense with details of Parisian life, well written, full of plotting twists that kept me surprised and compelled me to stay up way too late reading. But the subject matter...more
A minor spoiler about the general topic of the book follows (revealed very early on in the book).
I have mixed feelings about this first book in the Aimee Leduc series. On the one hand, the story was fascinating, dense with details of Parisian life, well written, full of plotting twists that kept me surprised and compelled me to stay up way too late reading. But the subject matter...more
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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...more
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Mar 06, 2013 08:12am
Maybe in Poughkeepsie,...more
Mar 06, 2013 09:14am