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Aimee Leduc Investigations #8
Murder in the Rue de Paradis
Parisian P.I. Aimée Leduc is head-over-heels when a former boyfriend, an investigative journalist, reappears and proposes—but his professional past has caught up with him, and now Aimée must figure out who would want him dead
Aimée Leduc seems to be having a streak of good luck. First, she secures a lucrative computer security contract for her Paris detective agency. Then her ex-boyfriend Yves, the gorgeous bad-boy investigative journalist, reappears in her life. He insists he’s back in Paris indefinitely—and wants to make the ultimate commitment. He proposes to her that very night, and Aimée can’t help but say yes.
When she wakes up in the morning, though, Yves is gone without even leaving a note. Aimée is irate until she learns the awful truth: Yves was murdered early that morning. Heartbroken and convinced the Brigade Criminelle are not following the right leads, Aimée pursues the mystery behind her fiancé’s murder. Yves was killed trying to further a cause he believed in. Even if it means putting her own life on the line, Aimée won’t let him die in vain.
Aimée Leduc seems to be having a streak of good luck. First, she secures a lucrative computer security contract for her Paris detective agency. Then her ex-boyfriend Yves, the gorgeous bad-boy investigative journalist, reappears in her life. He insists he’s back in Paris indefinitely—and wants to make the ultimate commitment. He proposes to her that very night, and Aimée can’t help but say yes.
When she wakes up in the morning, though, Yves is gone without even leaving a note. Aimée is irate until she learns the awful truth: Yves was murdered early that morning. Heartbroken and convinced the Brigade Criminelle are not following the right leads, Aimée pursues the mystery behind her fiancé’s murder. Yves was killed trying to further a cause he believed in. Even if it means putting her own life on the line, Aimée won’t let him die in vain.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
162 people are currently reading
739 people want to read
About the author
Cara Black
44 books1,350 followersCara 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 award nominated Aimée Leduc Investigation series has been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, German and Hebrew. She received the Medaille de la Ville de Paris for services to French culture. She's included in the GREAT WOMEN MYSTERY WRITERS by Elizabeth Lindsay 2nd editon published in the UK. Her first three novels in the series MURDER IN THE MARAIS, MURDER IN BELLEVILLE AN MURDER IN THE SENTIER - nominated for an Anthony Award as Best Novel - were published in the UK in 2008 and MURDER IN THE LATIN QUARTER comes out in the UK in 2010. Several of her books have been chosen as BookSense Picks and INDIE NEXT choice by the Amerian Association of Independent Bookstores. The Washington Post listed MURDER IN THE RUE DE PARADIS in the Best Fiction Choices of 2008. MURDER IN THE LATIN QUARTER is a finalist for Best Novel Award from the NCIBA Northern California Independent Booksellers Association.
She is currently working on the next book in the Aimée Leduc series.
She is currently working on the next book in the Aimée Leduc series.
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January 30, 2019This hardcover is signed by Cara Black.
April 16, 2010
I picked up this book for $1 in the used book section of my library. I paid too much. The previous owner apparently didn't like it either--she left her bookmark in the book in the second chapter. Paris is romantic. French people smoke Gauloises, dwarfs have hip dysplasia, Arabs, Turks, and Kurds hate each other and are terrorists, dark men are romantic and sexy, and Aimee LeDuc wears great clothes. I hope I didn't leave out any of the other cliches.
August 19, 2022
Aimee does grow on you. This turned out to be one of the best of her adventures so far. Most of Paris is off on holiday but not before Aimee's former boyfriend, the one she vowed not to be involved with again, makes a sudden appearance. Her resolve soon founders and she is in bed with him! Then he is found dead with his throat cut. Poor Aimee for even Renee has left for his holiday. Not believing the official account of the murder Aimee is soon burrowing into terrorist activities and crosses swords with a female assassin. Lots of treachery, lots of police departments not wanting her involved but she keeps digging until the real culprit in Yves's murder is uncovered. Very good fast paced story. Enjoyed this one.
4 stars.
4 stars.
September 9, 2022
P.I Leduc does it again!
As Aimée swears off her sporadic relationship with Yves robert, he pops back up into her life after being away on a business trip. She bumps into him late at night and they get to talking about their relationship and how they wished it could have worked out. Aimée makes the mistake of getting into bed with him and winds up being proposed to as he swears to her he's done leaving and can't live without her. Within hours after his romantic gesture Yves is found dead by a street cleaner.
When Aimée is called to identify the body and sees that it truely is yves she does not believe what the police tell her about his death and discovers someone who had witnessed the murder. A woman in a chador was seen killing him that night. The hot idea of her taking things into her own hands starts to bounce around as she ignores what the police tell her and abuses her P.I. license. She finds her way through the district and stumbles her way into the dark truth of her fiénces work and the people he was working with; she suddenly understands there was more of an ulterior motive to the killings. After finding a sleeper agent working for the Jhadists, Aimée becomes embedded in Turkish-Kurdish political controversies. She stops an assassination attempt and manages to once again stumble her way into another lead. With a shoulder popped out of pocket and her God-father trying to protect her she still manages to avenge her late lover and stay out of serious trouble with the police.
I loved it. I really enjoyed the way the start was so quick and grabbed your attention, even when things got slow you could still be interested through the imagery. Aimée is reckless and all over the place and I think it really matches with this character. From the way she dresses to the way she makes decisions all helps pull in the idea that Aimée Leduc is a strong heroine. I'm not a huge fan of romance based books but the way Cara Black is able to keep the story interesting and not full of plain romantic plot lines is what makes me enjoy her writings.
As Aimée swears off her sporadic relationship with Yves robert, he pops back up into her life after being away on a business trip. She bumps into him late at night and they get to talking about their relationship and how they wished it could have worked out. Aimée makes the mistake of getting into bed with him and winds up being proposed to as he swears to her he's done leaving and can't live without her. Within hours after his romantic gesture Yves is found dead by a street cleaner.
When Aimée is called to identify the body and sees that it truely is yves she does not believe what the police tell her about his death and discovers someone who had witnessed the murder. A woman in a chador was seen killing him that night. The hot idea of her taking things into her own hands starts to bounce around as she ignores what the police tell her and abuses her P.I. license. She finds her way through the district and stumbles her way into the dark truth of her fiénces work and the people he was working with; she suddenly understands there was more of an ulterior motive to the killings. After finding a sleeper agent working for the Jhadists, Aimée becomes embedded in Turkish-Kurdish political controversies. She stops an assassination attempt and manages to once again stumble her way into another lead. With a shoulder popped out of pocket and her God-father trying to protect her she still manages to avenge her late lover and stay out of serious trouble with the police.
I loved it. I really enjoyed the way the start was so quick and grabbed your attention, even when things got slow you could still be interested through the imagery. Aimée is reckless and all over the place and I think it really matches with this character. From the way she dresses to the way she makes decisions all helps pull in the idea that Aimée Leduc is a strong heroine. I'm not a huge fan of romance based books but the way Cara Black is able to keep the story interesting and not full of plain romantic plot lines is what makes me enjoy her writings.
February 15, 2017
This one leads you into a quarter of Paris little visited by tourists.
May 27, 2012
The 8th book in the Aimee Leduc series by Cara Black was so good I could not put it down. I read it in the car as my husband drove. I read it in the bathroom as our huge orange and white cat Jake and our big ragdoll/siamese kitty Thomas competed to see who would get to sit in my lap. I read it in bed, while eating, pretty much everywhere.
For those who don't know, Aimee Leduc is a private detective in Paris. Her American born mother was married to a French flic (cop) and abandoned the family to become a 1970's radical when Aimee was only 8. Aimee's dad started a private investigation agency that Aimee joined after dropping of med school. She runs the company with a brilliant and sweet dwarf business partner Rene Friant who is a computer genius.
In this book, Yves , the bad boy investigative journalist who pops into her life unannounced for some free sex off and on, shows up and of course Aimee goes to bed with him. She has no sense at all where men are concerned and seems determined to just have sex with men who don't care about her or who want to use or mold her. She only wants the ones who are emotionally unavailable including killers, terrorists, doctors who want to turn her into Suzy Homemaker, or else Yves.
Yves surprises her with a sort of marriage proposal and talk of babies. He has slept with all sorts of women, is out of the country most of the time, has cheated on a wife, and is generally unfit to be a dad (or a husband). She accepts (fool that she is).
The next morning, Aimee wakes up to find Yves gone. What else is new? She feels like a fool. Later that day she finds herself at the morgue identifying Yves dead body. He had his throat slit.
And so we embark on another adventure with Aimee who apparently is now too stupid to keep her cell phone charged and her gun in her purse. It doesn't help that Rene wants to buy into a building where they would have more space and better plumbing. This book involves Aimee telling the usual lies to get what she wants and using Rene and Morbier, an Iranian hitwoman who lost her parents as an 8 year old only to be taken in and brainwashed by Muslims bent on jihad, and Aimee and Rene finding dead bodies. The hitwoman works as a nanny to a 4 year old boy and is set to murder another Muslim woman who is now in a government position.
This book is fast and smooth. Don't blink or you'll miss something exciting (like Aimee escaping from protective custody or Rene getting thrown out of a car). I do believe this is the best one yet except for the very unwelcome reappearance of the doctor who wanted to turn Aimee into his own little housewife (she is NOT the type any more than I am). I have the ugly dread that his phone call means he is on the way back into her life. Hopefully someone will bump him off in the next book.
For those who don't know, Aimee Leduc is a private detective in Paris. Her American born mother was married to a French flic (cop) and abandoned the family to become a 1970's radical when Aimee was only 8. Aimee's dad started a private investigation agency that Aimee joined after dropping of med school. She runs the company with a brilliant and sweet dwarf business partner Rene Friant who is a computer genius.
In this book, Yves , the bad boy investigative journalist who pops into her life unannounced for some free sex off and on, shows up and of course Aimee goes to bed with him. She has no sense at all where men are concerned and seems determined to just have sex with men who don't care about her or who want to use or mold her. She only wants the ones who are emotionally unavailable including killers, terrorists, doctors who want to turn her into Suzy Homemaker, or else Yves.
Yves surprises her with a sort of marriage proposal and talk of babies. He has slept with all sorts of women, is out of the country most of the time, has cheated on a wife, and is generally unfit to be a dad (or a husband). She accepts (fool that she is).
The next morning, Aimee wakes up to find Yves gone. What else is new? She feels like a fool. Later that day she finds herself at the morgue identifying Yves dead body. He had his throat slit.
And so we embark on another adventure with Aimee who apparently is now too stupid to keep her cell phone charged and her gun in her purse. It doesn't help that Rene wants to buy into a building where they would have more space and better plumbing. This book involves Aimee telling the usual lies to get what she wants and using Rene and Morbier, an Iranian hitwoman who lost her parents as an 8 year old only to be taken in and brainwashed by Muslims bent on jihad, and Aimee and Rene finding dead bodies. The hitwoman works as a nanny to a 4 year old boy and is set to murder another Muslim woman who is now in a government position.
This book is fast and smooth. Don't blink or you'll miss something exciting (like Aimee escaping from protective custody or Rene getting thrown out of a car). I do believe this is the best one yet except for the very unwelcome reappearance of the doctor who wanted to turn Aimee into his own little housewife (she is NOT the type any more than I am). I have the ugly dread that his phone call means he is on the way back into her life. Hopefully someone will bump him off in the next book.
May 4, 2018
Meh. Not one of the best in the series. I'm also not sure if it's just because the author is on a roll and these were just publishing errors, or the editor just doesn't care anymore, but I noticed quite a few mistakes with the spelling of French words and typos. "Aventures" was misspelled as Adventures and there was a hyphen in "Arrondissement" in one spot (not supposed to be a hyphen) and then the hyphen went missing in another spot, among other weird typos. I suppose these aren't really that grave of mistakes to point out but one quick look by a French person could have cleared this up. Also, at one point Aimée breaks the heel of her sandal and switches to "emergency red high top sneakers." Two paragraphs later the author refers to "the heels of her sandals clicking against the wet pavement." Editor asleep at the wheel at that one. I guess I just thought with all the errors and bland story, the writing here felt lazy to me. Normally, I love this series and I love how Black dives into lesser known neighborhoods of Paris with intriguing story lines. To be fair, the backstory on the Kurdish and Turkish strife in this story - and France's potential involvement- was interesting, but the supposed love story of Aimée and Yves was beyond lame. And Cara Black, after 10 years of Aimée's adventures (aventures!) in Paris, seems to just have her go around in circles. There's not much new to her personal story. At one point she mentions that she still can't pay her contractor to continue the renovation on her home, however, she'll easily take out 500 Francs (by no means a small chunk of change in the mid-90s, when the rent on my share of an apartment in 1999 was 600 Francs) to pay for information on a case that she's working for free, not to mention all the taxi fare she throws around in lieu of the cheaper Métro (which would be less fun underground than on the Paris streets, but she is supposedly frugal what with all of her flea market shopping). Anyway, it's the same old money struggles that show up in every book and I am, by now, tired of them.
On a fun side-note, I read this while on vacation last week in Paris and our Air BnB was incidentally located on Quai d'Anjou in the Ile-Saint-Louis where Aimée lives!
And finally, almost no Parisian woman who spends that much time walking in Paris would wear high heels. Ever. With the cobblestone streets and uneven pavement, it's a oneway ticket to a broken ankle and ruined shoes. Nearly every Parisian woman I saw over the past two weeks wore either nice flats or stylish sneakers. Just sayin'. Sorry, Aimée, not buying it.
On a fun side-note, I read this while on vacation last week in Paris and our Air BnB was incidentally located on Quai d'Anjou in the Ile-Saint-Louis where Aimée lives!
And finally, almost no Parisian woman who spends that much time walking in Paris would wear high heels. Ever. With the cobblestone streets and uneven pavement, it's a oneway ticket to a broken ankle and ruined shoes. Nearly every Parisian woman I saw over the past two weeks wore either nice flats or stylish sneakers. Just sayin'. Sorry, Aimée, not buying it.
August 21, 2012
Don't get me wrong, I like the Aimee Leduc mystery series. This was a good novel with interesting ideas and the same solid, strong characters. However, I have to say that this was a disappointing book in the series. I felt that this was a half-developed story. Aimee's sudden thirst for revenge is a little jarring; yes, she has the tendency to go her own route and the police were not necessarily going to put the clues together fast enough to be effective, but this novel just makes the police seem completely incompetent. Her actions also isolate her to the point where I felt that there had to be something magical about her to make everyone she knew forgive her for her actions, because grief only goes so far and fanatical pursuits of revenge are not always sympathetic. After half of the stunts she pulled in this, I would think that her contacts and allies would not easily acquiesce to assisting her in the future; though I'm sure that, for plot reasons, they will in future books.
Worst yet, of the two plots, the red-herring secondary plot was far more engaging and ultimately had little to tie it to the real mystery. The final reveal felt rushed, and most elements in the Yves murder plot felt inorganic and tacked on, while the bulk of the detail and focus was put into the terrorist red herring. It feels like two possible plots were smashed together to flush out the weaker and less explored Yves murder plot.
Ultimately, while I enjoyed parts of the book, I found it frustrating to follow Aimee's adventures this time.
Worst yet, of the two plots, the red-herring secondary plot was far more engaging and ultimately had little to tie it to the real mystery. The final reveal felt rushed, and most elements in the Yves murder plot felt inorganic and tacked on, while the bulk of the detail and focus was put into the terrorist red herring. It feels like two possible plots were smashed together to flush out the weaker and less explored Yves murder plot.
Ultimately, while I enjoyed parts of the book, I found it frustrating to follow Aimee's adventures this time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 8, 2016
It is a good thing these mysteries do not try to have a moral value. Aimee's lover shows up at the very beginning. They have one night of passion and he asks her to marry him. The next morning he is killed. So to avenge his murder Aimee has to protect a high profile female politician from an assassin and get about six other people killed. On the way there are the normal ups and downs of her relationship with Rene. The business always struggling to pay its bills. Her god-father help is a part of the story. This one too is a great international issue of dams, flooding ancient villages, fights between Kurds and Muslims. Bribery and jealousy. There is a little of everything. Of course there is a section on the lost mother and a little light shown on that. And as she still sobs over the death of one lover, a previous lover comes back into the picture. Life is so complicated for these poor people.
March 5, 2015
The political intrigue, the tragic loss of her love, the final hug from old friend of her mother's all added to my enjoyment of this installment.
October 20, 2017
I enjoyed this book immensely from the opening pages. It is sad the Yves Robert as Aimee’s bad boy paramour is no longer in her life, but thus “murder” in the series seemed to be channeling images of the current society although it takes place in 1995. Published in 2008, it was eerily familiar to the bombings happening today in Somalia and other African and middle eastern countries. That it was someone who Yves knew and worked with was sad and opportunistic.
And the ending at the UNEDCO reception that Aimee “crashes” for a woman who Aimee thinks might have known her long lost mom, was so helpful to Aimee as she try’s to move on from hoping to see her mom to “growing up” and being resigned to never seeing her. And then a voice message from Dr Guy? Well, I can’t wait for the next book in the series!!!
And the ending at the UNEDCO reception that Aimee “crashes” for a woman who Aimee thinks might have known her long lost mom, was so helpful to Aimee as she try’s to move on from hoping to see her mom to “growing up” and being resigned to never seeing her. And then a voice message from Dr Guy? Well, I can’t wait for the next book in the series!!!
January 20, 2020
Incredible detail of Paris streets, shops and quartiers.
Aimee is perpetually getting herself into dangerous situations and squeaking out of them as well.
Why she doesn’t become an actual PI is bothering me. A couple or 3 times needing to figure out a murderer is one thing but it seems to be a recurring theme that is getting old.
I really like the characters and her writing.
I would like to add that Ms Black really does her research. I didn’t know about the massacre of Kurds by Turks in the 80’s and 90’s. Seems that these eliminations don’t get much press. Kurdish farms, homes and people were flooded by opening the dams. They also murdered them to get the land. The Turks and French contracted for bigger dams that eliminated at least 60 Kurdish villages.
Aimee is perpetually getting herself into dangerous situations and squeaking out of them as well.
Why she doesn’t become an actual PI is bothering me. A couple or 3 times needing to figure out a murderer is one thing but it seems to be a recurring theme that is getting old.
I really like the characters and her writing.
I would like to add that Ms Black really does her research. I didn’t know about the massacre of Kurds by Turks in the 80’s and 90’s. Seems that these eliminations don’t get much press. Kurdish farms, homes and people were flooded by opening the dams. They also murdered them to get the land. The Turks and French contracted for bigger dams that eliminated at least 60 Kurdish villages.
September 4, 2024
Murder in the Rue de Paradis is another in Cara Black’s private detective Aimee Leduc series. Set in 1990’s Paris Leduc’s journalist boyfriend is brutally murdered shortly after proposing marriage to Aimee. The distraught PI sets out to discover the perp. Her search takes her into a terrorist demimonde that pits Turkish Yellow Crescent operatives against Kurds, Shi’a against Sunni and assassins embedded in sleeper cells. The Parisian law enforcement is otherwise preoccupied with terrorist bombings across the city and resentful, as ever, of her independent pursuit of criminal activity. The denouement reveals the root of all evil: cupidity. Black ably takes us into Paris of the 90’s but leaves our protagonist empty of inner development.
August 30, 2018
Aimee has never been more Aimee-ish
Aimee Leduc hunts her fiancee's murderer despite being warned off by French security services. She gets her villain after preventing an assassination and a bombing and does not let a dislocated shoulder or her godfather's attempt to babysit her slow her down. If the story as a whole is more a thriller than a mystery, Aimee does an admirable job of sleuthing, even if a reader can guess the murderer halfway through the book.
Aimee Leduc hunts her fiancee's murderer despite being warned off by French security services. She gets her villain after preventing an assassination and a bombing and does not let a dislocated shoulder or her godfather's attempt to babysit her slow her down. If the story as a whole is more a thriller than a mystery, Aimee does an admirable job of sleuthing, even if a reader can guess the murderer halfway through the book.
January 16, 2024
Poor Aimee. She runs into her on again/off again boyfriend, Yves. They spend an evening talking and Yves proposes - yes. How could Aimee possibly say no. The next morning she wakes up to find Yves gone and no note. Upon investigation Aimee finds out that Yves is dead! Determined to find out who killed her fiance she begins to uncover the story Yves was working on. There is a dangerous plot brewing and Aimee finds herself in the middle of it.
March 22, 2021
Aimee gets a phone call. Her finace has arrived back in town from a business trip. He comes up. After he leaves, she gets a call. He is found dead. So Aimee decides to investigate. She finds herself in an unfamiliar world: Turks and Kurds. She is in danger. But somehow she overcomes it all and finds out the real truth. Highs and lows. Entertaining. And a good back story.
August 8, 2021
You know, when you take a book off your shelf and say "I'll read this one, I haven't read it before," and you find a bookmark that you clearly left there, it's not a good sign.
I had, in fact, started this at some point in the past and abandoned it.
This time I finished it, but it is still not the series for me. Aimee and her adventures can be left to other people now- I will leave her be.
I had, in fact, started this at some point in the past and abandoned it.
This time I finished it, but it is still not the series for me. Aimee and her adventures can be left to other people now- I will leave her be.
January 10, 2019
It's an enjoyable enough holiday read. The Paris settings are well described, but a little cliched. The political terror plot is also terribly one-sided. Lots of emphasis on the protagonist's wardrobe. An entertainment, nothing more.
June 13, 2020
Continuing to work my way through the Aimee Leduc Investigations series. Love the narrator who captures the spunk of Aimee as she doggedly pursues why someone who would murder Yves the attractive investigative journalist. Recommended!
November 17, 2020
Yves comes back and asks Aimee to marry him. Early the next morning, he is dead. The police are trying to put it off on a suspect that subsequently overdoses. This doesn't feel right to Aimee so she sets out to figure out who murdered him. It leads her to a Turkish underground.
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November 24, 2023I appreciate the inclusion of international news/perspectives that we don't really hear much about in the US. Black needs to stop using the phrase 'bad boy' - minimum of 3 times this tome alone. Show me, please, instead.
May 16, 2017
All the things that happened within the first 12 hours seemed very contrived and unlikely, so it sort of made the whole plot less enjoyable for me.
October 18, 2017
I always love Aimee. This one was so sad, though. It's a timely read to help understand some of the unrest today.
January 18, 2018
Another solid mix of history intertwined with mystery. Especially liked the voice the author gave to the multiple political perspectives of the characters.
July 27, 2018
I'm liking the series ok enough. I will continue to read them, but I'm not dying to pick up the next one. I'll get to it.
June 1, 2020
I didn’t like this book at all , couldn’t force myself to read more than 30 pages. Don’t recommend it even to my worst enemy . Waste of time and paper
June 27, 2020
An exceptionally intriguing story in an excellent series.
August 29, 2020
I love this series!
May 8, 2021
So far the best one from Cara Black.
February 11, 2022
Too long. I couldn't finish it
Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews