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Anne Cartier #5
Fatal Carnival
January 1788. Anne Cartier and her husband Paul, Provost of the Paris Highway Patrol, are spending the winter in Nice, at the home of a wealthy English couple, Thomas and Beverly Parker. Anne hopes that the milder climate and enforced break from work will cure her husband's chronic cough. But when news reaches them of the escape from Toulon naval prison of convict Jean Lebrun, imprisoned 20 years earlier for the apparent murder of his master, Paul cannot resist the temptation to investigate. Together with his adjutant Georges, still based in Paris, he makes enquiries that lead the team to believe that Lebrun was innocent, and unjustly condemned. Anne, meanwhile, has been drawn against her will into the unsavoury affairs of the expatriate community of Nice ? a motley collection of characters all with their own reasons for being there?
213 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2006
About the author
Charles O'Brien
29 books18 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
The Columbia University educated historian embarked on his mystery writing career in 1988, six years before he retired from the WIU history department. O'Brien's wife Elvy, an art historian, had moved to Williamstown, VA, after accepting a position with the J. Paul Getty Trust, then at the Clark Art Institute. That began a series of long commutes for O'Brien.
"I wanted to make use of time on board (trains and planes) and in airports. Many of my fellow passengers were reading crime novels. I thought why not exploit my fund of historical settings and write a historical mystery," O'Brien explained. "The idea of 'Mute Witness' blossomed in the air between Albany and Chicago."
When O'Brien retired in 1994 after 22 years of teaching at Western, he began to seriously study the art of writing fiction with colleague Tama Baldwin of the WIU English faculty.
The Columbia University educated historian embarked on his mystery writing career in 1988, six years before he retired from the WIU history department. O'Brien's wife Elvy, an art historian, had moved to Williamstown, VA, after accepting a position with the J. Paul Getty Trust, then at the Clark Art Institute. That began a series of long commutes for O'Brien.
"I wanted to make use of time on board (trains and planes) and in airports. Many of my fellow passengers were reading crime novels. I thought why not exploit my fund of historical settings and write a historical mystery," O'Brien explained. "The idea of 'Mute Witness' blossomed in the air between Albany and Chicago."
When O'Brien retired in 1994 after 22 years of teaching at Western, he began to seriously study the art of writing fiction with colleague Tama Baldwin of the WIU English faculty.
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May 5, 2011
Anne Cartier continues to be a very enjoyable protagonist, this time dealing with the murder of an English visitor to the beautiful seaside town of Nice, where she is spending the winter with her husband in hopes of recovering his health. It's a fascinating picture of historical times that rings truthful, & the mystery is, as always, a very good one.
Displaying 1 of 1 review