- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Soho Crime (July 1 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1569473242
- ISBN-13: 978-1569473245
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13.5 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 340 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,856,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
PI Aimee Leduc is in the dark not only figuratively but literally after a mysterious attack leaves her blinded at the start of her fourth absorbing Paris mystery (after 2002's Murder in the Sentier). Aimee and her partner, computer expert Ren‚ Friant, face dual dilemmas as a client's recalcitrance to comply with a court request coincides with Aimee's misfortune. The diminutive Ren‚ must become the eyes of the team while Aimee makes do as best she can with her other senses. Meanwhile, with her attacker still on the loose and the police off on a wrong scent chasing a serial killer, Aimee remains a vulnerable target. Black loads her plot with Eastern European thugs, aggressive developers and other familiar villains, but she compensates the reader with the rich ambiance of Paris as well as a realistic and moving account of Aimee's coming to terms with her new condition. Some readers may be annoyed by the use of French words and phrases not obvious from context, but for the rest of us these authentic touches will be as welcome as the fresh butter on our morning croissant.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
"Cara Black books are good companions, and Murder in the Bastille especially so. Fine characters, good suspense, but, best of all, they are transcendentally, seductively, irresistibly French. If you can’t go, these will do fine. Or, better, go and bring them with you."—Alan Furst
"Charming. . . . Aimée is one of those blithe spirits who can walk you through the city’s historical streets and byways with their eyes closed."—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
"Paris is one of my favorite cities in all the world; Black’s books are a fine way to revisit it."—New Orleans Times-Picayune
"Black’s fourth is her best yet, with complex, appealing characters, a crisp, well-paced mystery, and a setting like no other."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Aimée Leduc is all dressed up in her new Chinese silk jacket, supposedly an "exclusive," for dinner with a difficult client at an elegant restaurant in the Bastille district. She is chagrined to see that the woman seated at the very next table is wearing an identical jacket. When the woman leaves her cell phone on the table, Aimée follows her to return it and is attacked in the shadowy Passage Boule Blanche. When she regains consciousness, Aimée finds that she is blind. Nevertheless, she is told she is lucky; the woman she was following was found in the next passage, murdered.
Aimée is determined to identify her attacker. Was he actually a serial killer targeting showy blondes as the police insist? Was he really after the other woman? Or was Aimée his intended victim?
Cara Black lives in San Francisco with her husband, a bookseller, and her son. She is the author of Murder in Belleville and Murder in the Marais, published by Soho Press. Murder in the Sentier was a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller and has been nominated for an Anthony Award for Best Novel. For more information, visit <a href="http://carablack.com/" target="_blank">www.carablack.com</a>
"Charming. . . . Aimée is one of those blithe spirits who can walk you through the city’s historical streets and byways with their eyes closed."—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
"Paris is one of my favorite cities in all the world; Black’s books are a fine way to revisit it."—New Orleans Times-Picayune
"Black’s fourth is her best yet, with complex, appealing characters, a crisp, well-paced mystery, and a setting like no other."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Aimée Leduc is all dressed up in her new Chinese silk jacket, supposedly an "exclusive," for dinner with a difficult client at an elegant restaurant in the Bastille district. She is chagrined to see that the woman seated at the very next table is wearing an identical jacket. When the woman leaves her cell phone on the table, Aimée follows her to return it and is attacked in the shadowy Passage Boule Blanche. When she regains consciousness, Aimée finds that she is blind. Nevertheless, she is told she is lucky; the woman she was following was found in the next passage, murdered.
Aimée is determined to identify her attacker. Was he actually a serial killer targeting showy blondes as the police insist? Was he really after the other woman? Or was Aimée his intended victim?
Cara Black lives in San Francisco with her husband, a bookseller, and her son. She is the author of Murder in Belleville and Murder in the Marais, published by Soho Press. Murder in the Sentier was a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller and has been nominated for an Anthony Award for Best Novel. For more information, visit <a href="http://carablack.com/" target="_blank">www.carablack.com</a>
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great characters and ambiance,
By A Customer
This review is from: Murder in the Bastille (Paperback)
Black just keeps getting better and better, and "Murder in the Bastille" is her best Aimee Leduc mystery yet. Aimee's blindness has given her a depth that only comes throught trial and experience and Black has adroitly handled her heroine's inner growth. The independence that Aimee has shown in the previous books here takes on an edgy sadness that fills in her character and really brings her to life. Her partner, Rene, too, comes into his own in this 4th book of the series.The plot of "Bastille" is smooth and the considerable action connects readily. As always, Paris itself is a character, and the dark dreams and gritty contemporary reality of the city are as rich and delicious as an espress on a rainy day. Escape to Paris as easily as opening the cover.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Aimee Leduc Storms the Bastille,
By James Paris "Tarnmoor" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Murder in the Bastille (Hardcover)
This is my first Aimee Leduc novel, and I am happy to say that it came as a pleasant surprise. On my previous visit to Paris (in 1999), I was startled to see tough paratroopers armed with automatic rifles at the Chatelet-Les Halles metro station patrolling the platforms and corridors. Paris is no longer the city of Maurice Chevalier, or even Georges Simenon: What we have here is a rougher and edgier city with a compact tourist core surrounded by miles of slumlike banlieus along the edges.Cara Black's flics barely have the time to deal with murder, when other events like terror-driven explosions and a horrible TGV accident in the station. Rumanian thugs in cheap exercise suits abound, selling their muscle to developers and with an eye on the main chance, whatever it may be. The Bastille area, site of a notorious castle/prison torn down in 1789, is now dominated by the huge Opera Bastille. The local neighborhood, however, is being forcibly torn down and redeveloped. In walks private investigator Aimee Leduc. In the first few pages of MURDER IN THE BASTILLE, she is brutally attacked in an alley and blinded as a result of a damaged artery. For most of the novel, she can see nothing around her. The onus for the investigation falls on her dwarfish partner Rene, with occasional help en passant from overburdened police officers who knew her father on the force. I look forward to reading the other novels in the series.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Darkness Intrudes During a Kind Act,
By Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 112,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (#1 HALL OF FAME)
This review is from: Murder in the Bastille (Hardcover)
"But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'" -- 1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV)Can you think of another recent mystery series based in Paris that provides such rich detail about a neighborhood, its history, its current inhabitants, the lives of those on society's margins, and intriguing looks at a quartier's underground quirks? Anyone who has read more than two books in the series is bound to have found that combination to be intriguing. I suspect that some people discover Cara Black in the mistaken belief that she provides for Paris what Donna Leon does for Venice. Mais, non! Ms. Leon takes you into the places that tourists would like to go while Ms. Black takes you to places that many tourists probably pray they will never see. There's also an intriguing choice of detectives by Cara Black that breaks the mold. Her heroine, Aimee Leduc, doesn't want to be an investigator. She just wants to wear vintage designer clothes bought for little, to have exciting times with handsome "bad" boys, and to earn enough money as a computer security consultant at Leduc Detective to keep her home and business. Her pain is not understanding what happened to her mother and father, an intriguing thread that ties the series together. Rene Friant, her partner, is a genius at hacking into computer systems and is an expert in martial arts despite being a dwarf who walks in pain. Now, if you like offbeat, this series has it. I felt that with this book, the novels took a definite turn for the better. As the dust jacket copy reveals, the book opens with an apparent coincidence, Aimee and another woman in the same restaurant wearing identical outfits. When Aimee searches for her look-alike, she's attacked and loses her sight. The other woman is found murdered. The police connect the two events to a series of murders . . . but Aimee isn't so sure that's the right answer. Who did it? You'll find that the police are more obtuse than usual, which can make the story a little annoying. The ultimate motive is well hidden and adds a chilling element to a dark story. There's also a romantic element that will appeal to those who like a bit of sexual attraction in their murder mysteries. Have more fun in the Bastille than the prisoners did during the Ancien Regime there!
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