Rating: 
Summary: Hang on tight
Review: "Aimee Leduc felt his presence before she saw him. As if ghosts floated in his wake in the once elegant hall. She paused, pulling her black leather jacket closer against the Parisian winter morning slicing through her building, and reached for her keys." After the first three lines of Murder in the Marais, we know we are in the hands of a gifted story teller, someone we can trust to take us on a roller coaster ride above and below the streets of Paris. Along the way we meet a fascinating cast of characters: Aimee's partner Rene, a computer hacking dwarf, Leah, the button expert, several handsome neo-Nazis, and a wide assortment of men and women who are not what they seem. Aimee is a well-drawn protagonist, bright and tenacious, who will stop at nothing to exorcize the ghosts of a dark Parisian past. Hired to solve a simple encryption problem, Aimee is pulled into a maelstrom of deceit, ambition, and retribution, beginning with the mutilated body of an elderly Jewish woman, her forehead engraved with a swastika. To find the killer, Aimee must search the shadow side of the City of Light, both past and present, acquiring powerful enemies wherever she goes. Themes of love, loss and identity are skillfully woven through the breakneck action of this sensational mystery as Aimee is forced to confront her own ghosts, as well as those of Vichy France. The twists can be dizzying at times, but we are confident that the author will pull all the threads together by the end of the ride. Ms. Black has created a vivid setting, physically and emotionally, with enough sights, sounds and smells to bring the Marais alive. I can't wait to go back
Rating:
Summary: Hang on tight
Review: "Aimee Leduc felt his presence before she saw him. As if ghosts floated in his wake in the once elegant hall. She paused, pulling her black leather jacket closer against the Parisian winter morning slicing through her building, and reached for her keys." After the first three lines of Murder in the Marais, we know we are in the hands of a gifted story teller, someone we can trust to take us on a roller coaster ride above and below the streets of Paris. Along the way we meet a fascinating cast of characters: Aimee's partner Rene, a computer hacking dwarf, Leah, the button expert, several handsome neo-Nazis, and a wide assortment of men and women who are not what they seem. Aimee is a well-drawn protagonist, bright and tenacious, who will stop at nothing to exorcize the ghosts of a dark Parisian past. Hired to solve a simple encryption problem, Aimee is pulled into a maelstrom of deceit, ambition, and retribution, beginning with the mutilated body of an elderly Jewish woman, her forehead engraved with a swastika. To find the killer, Aimee must search the shadow side of the City of Light, both past and present, acquiring powerful enemies wherever she goes. Themes of love, loss and identity are skillfully woven through the breakneck action of this sensational mystery as Aimee is forced to confront her own ghosts, as well as those of Vichy France. The twists can be dizzying at times, but we are confident that the author will pull all the threads together by the end of the ride. Ms. Black has created a vivid setting, physically and emotionally, with enough sights, sounds and smells to bring the Marais alive. I can't wait to go back
Rating: 
Summary: Some room to improve...
Review: "Murder in the Marais" is a good beginning novel. It's descriptive, often intriguing in the construction of the Paris setting and characters. The plot has its moments, and the reader gets caught up in some very intriguing puzzles which inter-weave history, religion, and human passion. But Cara Black has some fine tuning to do before she can become a truely good author. First, simplify a little. There are too many puzzles which are irrelevant, and details which don't add much to the progression of the story--fashionable coats, torn photographs, footprints leading nowhere. There are a clutter of characters, too: many of them enter and exit without making much impression or contribution to the story. And finally, there's the heroine, Aimee. She's truely a superwoman: she can leap buildings, kick the heck out of some pretty strong men, and inspire some wolf whistles even after emerging from a garbage canister. She's good in bed, and great with computers. She carries her assistant, the dwarf, around like he's a rag doll, and she saves Paris from neo-Nazis. By the end of the novel, the reader is truly tired--of the convoluted plot, of the over-populated landscape, and of Aimee. It almost felt as if Cara Black was tired of it all as well: the ending came swiftly, suddenly, and without balancing out the complications of plot. But in spite of those remarks, I will read another novel by this author: there's a great deal of promise in her writing and in her finished product.
Rating:
Summary: engrossing, thoughtful and kept me turning the pages
Review: After I heard the author speak at a reading and explain why she wrote this story , I felt compelled to read this book. Glad I did! She based the tale on her friend's mother's experiences (who was a hidden Jewish adolescent)during the German Occupation of Paris, I found Murder in the Marais, engrossing and heartfelt. The stories of the Occupation in France are seldom told and this one rings true on all levels. I may not know much about computers or orthodox Judaism but I felt the authors research and true-to-life characters took me to Occupied Paris. The precise period details even down to the ration cards and what Metro car the Jews could ride on struck me as first rate research. I also love strong female detectives and love the fact Aimée wears heels (she's half-French after all), has a vulnerable side yet is thorougly modern and spunky and does computer security. Paris is a strong character in this book and I loved it....recommended if you love Paris and strong female detectives.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed -- with some reservations
Review: Aimee is an interesting character and I look forward to seeing more of her. In later books, though, I hope Aimee will come to realize that her Glock 9mm does not have a safety -- and that her 1990s adversaries will think twice before arming themselves with either antique Lugers or (!) Nazi daggers. Still, worth the read!
Rating:
Summary: Flashback to World War II Paris
Review: Aimee Leduc, a private investigator specializing in corporate security, is approached by a rabbi to decipher a fifty year old encrypted photograph and place it in the hands of Lili Stein. When she arrives at Lili's apartment in the Marais, the old Jewish quarter of Paris, she finds a corpse on whose forehead is carved a swastika. Fifty years ago, the probable appointee for Prime Minister was about to sign a treaty with Germany that would severely restrict immigration, reminiscent of the Vicy laws. With the help of her partner, a dwarf with extraordinary computer hacking skills, Aimee is determined to solve this horrendous crime. More murders follow. Her search for the killer leads her to a German war veteran involved in the 1940's with a Jewish girl he was supposed to send to her death. Action is aplenty with Aimee, and the occupation of Paris is detailed in this first of a series. Although the reading of Black's novel is easier than one by Janes on the Paris Occupation, it lacks the realism of the latter's mysteries. However, for those of you who are strong female fans or dwarf fans or WWII aficionados, Murder in the Marais is a must.
Rating:
Summary: An exciting new detective debuts in beautifully drawn Paris
Review: Aimee Leduc, the young computer-whiz detective in this terrific first novel, is a compelling creation: brave, confident, smart and street smart, great with a keyboard and a gun. Leduc finds herself engulfed in a murky world of frightened Parisian Jews, old Nazis, and violent young neoNazis as she tries to find out who killed an elderly Jewish woman in the Marais district of Paris. Black's portrait of Paris--both present-day and wartime--is rich and accurate: Paris was and is precisely like this. Her plot is deliciously complex and grips you tight. The characters in Murder in the Marais, even those we meet only momentarily, are well drawn. And most fascinating of all is Aimee Leduc herself, a young woman we grow more and more fascinated by as the plot unfolds. Leduc, who witnessed her policeman father's murder by terrorists, grapples with her private turmoil, but remains proud and capable. I enjoyed her complexity: defending friends, hacking into Interpol, seducing a handsome thug, downing a vicious attacker, and, of course, escaping danger dressed in the latest Issey Miyake. By the satisfying end of Murder in the Marais, I found myself hooked on Aimee Leduc, and I very eagerly await more adventures of this terrific new detective.
Rating: 
Summary: You can smell the sewers!
Review: Cara Black's first novel is an accomplished effort, however, it is not without its faults. Her descriptive powers are good, when it comes to the 'feel' of the Marais. I used to live in Paris, just north of the area she described, so the book brought back familiar sights and smells (!) to my imagination. Aimée Leduc is a good character - strong, independent and obviously a fighter, although some of her exploits are a little hard to believe. Members of the supporting cast are generally good - I liked René, her assistant, and Morbier, the shady police detective, whose motives are never clear. Certain elements about the story are not so strong - Black needs to think about the continuity of the story - I am not the only one to re-read several sections because the story makes unexplained jumps. I do not want to be fussy, but only 750FF ($120) per day (even in 1993) for a top computer security detective AND her 'legendary' assistant? It is not surprising that her agency has serious financial problems! I hope to see the next novel sometime soon, as I am sure that the minor problems of continuity in the first can be rectified. I am not sure what Leduc will do, having saved the world from Nazism in her first adventure!
Rating:
Summary: Franco-American detective
Review: First a confession, I love Paris. This is why I bought this book. And Paris is here. However, France is not. Cara Black has a little trouble describing the French political system. Prime Ministers are not appointed to five year terms. They can be dismissed at any time by the President. Also, she refers to the cops from the Bureau de Recherche et Investigation as feds. In the United States, we have feds meaning federal police, usually the FBI but sometimes Secret Service or Border Patrol or US Marshals. France is a highly centralized political system. It is definitely not federal. Ergo, the BRI cops are not feds. It's small points like this that interfered with my enjoyment of this book. The plot, as described elsewhere, involves the murder of an elderly Jewish woman in the Marais and the involvement of skinhead neo-Nazis as well as leftover real Nazis. We get a mix of present and past with a murder from the past having something to do with this latest murder. The story meanders for 250 pages and then, bang, we get another murder, a shootout on the Place de Vosges, a murder made to look like a suicide, two illegal entries, drugs, etc. in the last 100 pages. Suddenly, we move from city speed to light speed. The story also violates a rule of mysteries by having a second story told from the point of view of a second character. That's acceptable except that it proves to be almost unnecessary. The plot point could have been covered without the extraneous and ultimately meaningless subplot involving an old Nazi coming back to Paris and his memories. As others have said, I wanted to like this story but....I'll give Cara Black another chance, if only to visit another part of Paris.
Rating:
Summary: Franco-American detective
Review: First a confession, I love Paris. This is why I bought this book. And Paris is here. However, France is not. Cara Black has a little trouble describing the French political system. Prime Ministers are not appointed to five year terms. They can be dismissed at any time by the President. Also, she refers to the cops from the Bureau de Recherche et Investigation as feds. In the United States, we have feds meaning federal police, usually the FBI but sometimes Secret Service or Border Patrol or US Marshals. France is a highly centralized political system. It is definitely not federal. Ergo, the BRI cops are not feds. It's small points like this that interfered with my enjoyment of this book. The plot, as described elsewhere, involves the murder of an elderly Jewish woman in the Marais and the involvement of skinhead neo-Nazis as well as leftover real Nazis. We get a mix of present and past with a murder from the past having something to do with this latest murder. The story meanders for 250 pages and then, bang, we get another murder, a shootout on the Place de Vosges, a murder made to look like a suicide, two illegal entries, drugs, etc. in the last 100 pages. Suddenly, we move from city speed to light speed. The story also violates a rule of mysteries by having a second story told from the point of view of a second character. That's acceptable except that it proves to be almost unnecessary. The plot point could have been covered without the extraneous and ultimately meaningless subplot involving an old Nazi coming back to Paris and his memories. As others have said, I wanted to like this story but....I'll give Cara Black another chance, if only to visit another part of Paris.
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