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Summary: ANOTHER EXCITING TRIP THROUGH PARIS
Review: After reading Cara Black's Murder in the Marais, I eagerly awaited the publication of this novel. It did not disappoint. As in her first adventure, the protagonist Aimee Leduc takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through a Paris rich in atmospheric detail. This is a nail-biting tale written by a natural story teller whose research is impeccable. I'm looking forward to the next in the series, Murder in the Sentier.
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Summary: Brings modern day Paris alive!
Review: Everything in this book made Paris come alive...the writing, the textured society and vibrant ethnic population in the Belleville quartier. Fascinating story line and Aimée the computer security detective is so hip, real and vulnerable at the same time. I love Paris and 'visiting' an off the beaten track area....April in Paris, like Aimée says, isn't like the song. But wonderful and sad and beautiful in it's own way.
A truly memorable trip with her and her partner, René Friant.
I wish I had discovered this series earlier, but now I have three more books to relish! All I can say is have the author write faster!
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Summary: Aimee Leduc's new adventure is even more exciting
Review: Fans who fell in love with Cara Black's first novel, Murder in the Marais, will love Murder in Belleville even more. Paris is just as beautifully and accurately conveyed; but this time the writing is even tighter and the plot moves faster. In Murder in the Marais, the plot revolved around the slaying of an old Jewish woman who had survived wartime Paris. In Belleville, Aimee must sort out how a cabinet minister may be involved with Arab militants and mysterious pearls. Aimee is even more compelling here than in her first book--strong and smart, cynical and passionate, a lonely knight and seeker of truth. If you love Paris, if you love a good, taut mystery, this book is for you.
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Summary: Hard read.....
Review: I did not enjoy MURDER IN BELLEVILLE as much as MURDER IN THE MARAIS. BELLEVILLE kept me reading until I reached its disappointing conclusion (like the optomistic kid looking for the pony in the room full of merde), but I had a difficulty keeping track of the convoluted storyline. There are too many Algerian factions. There are too many characters who keep coming and going. There are too many crises. The map in the paperback version did nothing to help me identify the many scenes of action. Perhaps the map in the hardcover is better, but I would not waste money on the hard cover. If you are going to the beach and plan to doze off while you read, this is not the book for you. If you are looking for good historical fiction this is not the book for you. Although aspects of BELLEVILLE are reminiscent of LeCarre's novels of international intrigue, Black's tale is not as good. Aimee Leduc, the female protagonist encounters more danger in a single day than the average agent encounters in a year. The nature of her close calls boggle the imagination. My goodness --she stuggles out of the arms of a hit man who shoots her in the back, into the arms of a Siberian bear, down a feed chute, and is almost trampled by an elephant in the space of two pages. Black appears to understand the Algerian and North African populations living in Paris. She describes their many faceted misogynist culture in interesting detail and links her storyline to real events such as the standoff in the Christian church by the "sans papiers" (illegal aliens) in the 1990s. I probably would have had more sympathy for their plight if I had read the book before Sept. 11. Now, it's difficult for me to feel any sympathy for those who break the law.
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Summary: Go to Paris with Aimee Leduc, and go to another level.
Review: I enjoyed Ms. Black's first book "Murder in the Marais" so much, that I took the book to Paris with me a year later just so I could reminisce in situe. I was very excited when her next book "Murder in Belleville" appeared. I was not dissappointed. The fast moving plot, surrounding the murder of the mistress of a cabinet minister in a car bombing, and a North African underground network, takes place in Belleville, a working class neighborhood of Paris with a vibrant immagrant population. The reader is taken deep into places we, as perhaps mere tourists, may never go, and back again. For me the real appeal of Cara Black's writing is her vivid characterization both of the main characters and the small walk-on parts, and the gritty visual impressions of the surroundings that are always being woven in. It's a kind of crunchy, textured realism that is very particularly observed, and evokes strong pictures in my mind's eye. Ms. Black builds up layers of sights and sounds and emotions, just in a fleeting moment. Take for example the painterly quality of this chapter opening: "Twighlight dimmed the Belleville sky, canceling the magenta and orange slashes left from the fading sunset. Aimee sniffed the algai accompanying the biting wind blowing from Canal Saint Martin. The breath of spring she'd felt the otherday had disappeared. Passengers erupted from the Metro like particles from a jet stream, eratic and windblown". The fast, urgent pace of this story, and my fondness for Aimee had me feeling attached to her every move. If a morning went by without my knowing how Aimee filled the time, I found myself wondering and projecting. Had she taken Miles Davis, her bichon-frisse dog out? Had she remembered to re-charge her cell-phone? Probably not. Aimee is no-nonsense character, cynical but full of integrity, brave and tenacious, yet full of vulnerability. I wanted to get behind her armour, caused by childhood hurts and the loss of her father and help her heal her sad heart. She has trouble with relationships, and comes unglued by the attractive but fickle Yves, a love-interest that carries over from "Murder in the Marais". It's the way she can't help herself and falls back in with him, then kicks herself afterwards, that makes Aimee so endearing to me. She's human. Okay, so I'm a big fan, in a nutshell. The plot was complicated, but fascinating. It was like taking another, more gnarly, anxiety-ridden trip to Paris,(without the kids)and being next to Aimee and her adventures. I hope things go better for her in the next book??
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Summary: Cara, learn to write and get an editor
Review: I give this book one star only because it takes place in Paris, I live in Paris, and I love mysteries that take place in Paris. Cara Black knows the city well, or at least she has a good "plan" of the city, because she mentions a street name or Metro station in almost every paragraph. So the book is not quite dreadful, but it's close. Cara Black writes like a rank amateur, throwing in cliche after cliche, and treating the reader like an idiot. Ms. Black, we can TELL when Aimee Leduc is scared, or confused or whatever; you don't have to tell us at every turn. And Soho seems to have decided an editor was too expensive. Or at least it seems no editor did more than a browse. (Or perhaps they just gave up on poor Cara.) I hate to think what a hash she's made of "Murder in the Sentier." Paris, you deserve better. P.S. For readers who want to read an author who paints a rich portrait of his city (Edinburgh) and has a great character, check out Ian Rankin and his Rebus mysteries. Now HERE's a writer!
Rating: 
Summary: Very good but not great
Review: I loved Murder in the Marais. That said, while I enjoyed Cara Black's new, second book featuring Aimee Leduc, I didn't love it. Certainly, it rolls along at a good clip. But my primary problem, aside from a too-large cast of characters, was a fair absence of emotion on Aimee's part about the things that happen to some of the characters. Aimee's feelings in this tale seem to be focused primarily on herself, and, as a result, there's an absence of impact on the reader when terrible things happen. There are some fine moments, particularly one scene involving a cellphone conversation with the four-year-old daughter of Aimee's "employer." But this is a story about serious events and the lack of the heroine's feelings for the people involved in these events does a disservice to the overall narrative. It is none the less an entertaining, if somewhat difficult, book and I would recommend that newcomers to Black's work read Murder In the Marais first. She manages to set the Paris scene wonderfully well; its smells, its sights, the feel of the place. And for that alone I give the author high marks.
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Summary: Paris in the spring...gritty and compelling
Review: I loved this book...offbeat and showing a gritty, intriguing part of Paris that I would never have known about. The historical research by the author amazed me, but it never intruded on the story thanks to the skillful weaving and multiple storylines. The breadth of characters make it a book I want to read again. And again. The author takes the reader to a complex and layered Belleville, the old working class quartier of Paris where Edith Piaf sang on the streets which is now home to North Africans, Islamic fundamentalists and Algerian Nationalists. This was written before 9/11 but how prophetic.
I highly recommend this!
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Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: I wanted to like Cara Black's books. I really did. I love Paris, I love mysteries, and these sounded perfect. I made a big mistake and bought four of her books in one swoop, basing my purchase on reviews. I read the first while in Paris, and in a good enough mood. Now I'm back home, reading the second, and thinking "Uh oh..."
I do love revisiting the city of my dreams, but not with cliched gumshoe Aimee or her creator. First of all, the writing is disjointed and confusing. She chops up events randomly, introduces too many extraneous characters without giving them any buildup or grounding in the story (so you end up thinking "who the hell cares about this person. In fact, who is this person?"). Second, she annoyingly gives many characters "real life" names. I kept thinking "Aren't any of the other characters at any point going to say 'Her name is Eugenie Grandet, like the Balzac character?" or "Martine Sitbon, like the designer?"...but they never do. Stop it, Ms. Black! There are many good fictitious names to chose from and as a writer you should be creative enough to pluck some from thin air, and not the pages of the classics or fashion magazines.
I might read the next installment, because
a) I purchased the dang thing and
b) hope springs eternal
but if I start seeing any more second-rate Philip Marlowe dialog and nonsensical situations, I'm putting them right back out on Amazon.
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Summary: Go to Paris with Aimee Leduc, and go to another level.
Review: In April 1994 Paris Computer Security specialist Aimee Leduc tried to explain to Anais that she did not perform spousal investigations. However, her friend's sister, wife of a French government minister, sounds desperate over the cell phone; Aimee reluctantly agreed to meet her as soon as she finishes delivering a network security system. Apparently Anais learned that her spouse was having an affair with someone named Sylvie in the Belleville section of town. Anais decides to confront the mistress just as Aimee arrives. A bomb explodes, killing Sylvie. Aimee makes some quick inquiries of the local, mostly Arab immigrant community, and learns that Sylvie is known here as Eugenie Grandet, allegedly a member of a North African radical group. As Aimee continues to investigate, the group and French government officials agree that they want her to stop what she is doing; though they go about achieving their requests quite differently. MURDER IN BELLEVILLE is an exciting private investigation novel that hooks the reader from start to finish. The story line works not just because of the action, but because of the depth provided by the secondary cast, especially the residents of Belleville. Aimee retains the strength of character she displayed in her debut (see MURDER IN THE MARAIS) and repeat players (her partner and a police officer) augment the reader's understanding of her. Cara Black shows she is not a one-book wonder as her talent surfaces once again with a powerful who-done-it. Harriet Klausner
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