First lines in thrillers and mysteries

Over at the website Thriller Central, William Dietrich posted a really fun list of first lines from various thrillers and mysteries. Do you know where these come from?

“The last camel collapsed at noon.” (My favorite.)
“Where’s papa going with that axe?” (That one’s good too.)

I highly recommend checking out his entire list.

I got to thinking that it would be fun to pull out our first lines and see how they stand up. Here goes.

The Paris Lawyer,by Sylvie Granotier:“One early afternoon, in all othe...