Rating: 
Summary: Slam-bam action in Paris
Review: A woman, a stranger, calls on detective Aimee Leduc with a strange story. She was Aimee's cellmate and can tell Aimee of her long-lost mother--but she demands money for her information. When Aimee shows up with the money, she finds the woman has been murdered. Desperate to find word of her mother, Aimee plunges into an investigation of the revolutionary terrorists of the 1970s--a circle that included her mother. Aimee's search takes her through the depths of the Sentier district of Paris--still home to the remnants of the 1970s radical movement, socialist intellectuals, prostitutes, sweatshops, and the police. Walking a narrow line between law and unlawfulness, Aimee discovers evidence that something is being hidden--something beyond the memories of aging radicals. Author Cara Black keeps Aimee in constant motion, rushing from one scene to the next, calling in favors from an intriguing variety of friends, toying with romance as she fights her craving for cigarettes. Aimee gains sympathy as she searches for her mother and tries to clear her father's name from the hints that he had become a dirty cop. Although Black is an American author, her Paris feels terribly authentic. I would, however, have liked to see a little more cleverness on the part of Aimee. Her constant rushing about sometimes seemed to come at the cost of a bit of reflection--reflection which would have given Aimee insights into what she was doing and the reader a chance to internalize the action. The slam-bam action occasionally felt more like a movie script than a novel.
Rating: 
Summary: A murder mystery I can't stop thinking about
Review: After reading Cara Black's "Murder in the Marais", an Anthony Award-nominated mystery, and her haunting "Murder in Belleville," I eagerly awaited her 3rd book, "Murder in the Sentier". In this, her latest book, the sites were even more vivid, a picturesque area of seedy and historic interest. Now we find it a dot.com and sweatshop area by day and a flesh trade area by night. This book is more personal then the previous ones. I was gripped by Aimee's strong portrayal, a satisfying story of action and humanity. It ranged from glimpses of the very timely past of terrorism of the 9170's to the different levels of Parisian society today. It is one of the best things I've ever read. Her heroine, Aimee, is smart and vulnerable. She touched my heart in her seach for her long-gone mother. I really enjoyed her other books, but after reading this one, I can't wait for her next one!
Rating:
Summary: A murder mystery I can't stop thinking about
Review: After reading Cara Black's "Murder in the Marais", an Anthony Award-nominated mystery, and her haunting "Murder in Belleville," I eagerly awaited her 3rd book, "Murder in the Sentier". In this, her latest book, the sites were even more vivid, a picturesque area of seedy and historic interest. Now we find it a dot.com and sweatshop area by day and a flesh trade area by night. This book is more personal then the previous ones. I was gripped by Aimee's strong portrayal, a satisfying story of action and humanity. It ranged from glimpses of the very timely past of terrorism of the 9170's to the different levels of Parisian society today. It is one of the best things I've ever read. Her heroine, Aimee, is smart and vulnerable. She touched my heart in her seach for her long-gone mother. I really enjoyed her other books, but after reading this one, I can't wait for her next one!
Rating:
Summary: Loved this book ! Go to an undiscovered area of Paris
Review: After reading Murder in the Sentier I felt I'd been to Paris...without the airfare and baggage hassle. I know Paris, but this was an unexplored quartier, one I'd never visited and the sights, sounds and cobblestones enthralled me.
Aimée Leduc, who's pulled from computer forensics when a 70's German ex-radical offers her info about her long-lost mother, for a price is a great character. Not only would I like her dog, I'd like her apartment! Her quirkiness and smarts pulled me in.
There's a lot on many levels in this book and for French afficianodas or anyone who likes a good read I HIGHLY recommend this. I want more.
And now I'm going to find the first two in the series and read them!
Rating:
Summary: Aimeeeeee Leduc does it again!!
Review: Aimee Leduc is drawn into the Sentier, home of Paris's Rag and Shag trades, now its Silicon Valley. A former terrorist just released from prison appears tries to sell information to Aimee--about her mother who disappeared when she was eight. When that woman is murdered, Aimee takes up the search for the mother and her terrorist past. Was Aimee's father a dirty cop? Is Mom still alive? Uses flashbacks of an old terrorist who returns to reveal info. The plot is a bit too jumpy--someone has information and the phone goes dead a few too many times. But the story is secondary to the atmosphere of the crumbling cobble stones and centuries old apartments--and Aimee's delightful escapes into tattoo parlors and haute couture.
Rating:
Summary: Read it for the atmosphere
Review: Aimee Leduc is drawn into the Sentier, home of Paris's Rag and Shag trades, now its Silicon Valley. A former terrorist just released from prison appears tries to sell information to Aimee--about her mother who disappeared when she was eight. When that woman is murdered, Aimee takes up the search for the mother and her terrorist past. Was Aimee's father a dirty cop? Is Mom still alive? Uses flashbacks of an old terrorist who returns to reveal info. The plot is a bit too jumpy--someone has information and the phone goes dead a few too many times. But the story is secondary to the atmosphere of the crumbling cobble stones and centuries old apartments--and Aimee's delightful escapes into tattoo parlors and haute couture.
Rating:
Summary: I didn't want it to end...
Review: and that's the truth. This is the best Cara Black mystery I have read yet. The plot and the details of Paris were so interesting I hated to have to put the book down to do something else (like eat or sleep). I'll add some personal reasons why this book appealed to me, since there are a lot of rave reviews already. First, I have spent time in many parts of Paris, but never the Sentier. I had just finished Sarah Turnbull's Almost French, a nonfiction book about an Australian who comes to live in the Sentier. While it gave me an overview, Black supplies historical and cultural details of the neighborhood that now make me feel I have been up and down every street. The book also comes with a map of the area so that readers can easily follow along.
The German terrorists Black bases the story on were real. The Baader-Meinhof gang came to trial in 1975 and I was in Germany at the time. I still have the issue of Der Spiegel magazine that features the indictment on the cover. Much of the detail she uses about the fictional gang members is actually true. "Ulrike" would be Ulrike Maria Meinhof, a journalist turned terrorist. She actually did have a family, with twin daughters, that she abandoned. She was not a young student, however, but a woman over 40. She and others really were found hanged in their cells, and whether it was suicide or homicide has never been proven. "Marcus" is Andreas Bernd Baader, and he was in fact supported by Jean-Paul Sartre and other well known persons. For information on the real story, I recommend www.baader-meinhof.com. This site is in English.
Here is my one criticism: if an author is not fluent in a language (German), it is better not to use it or to have a German-speaker proof it. Spelling and grammatical errors aside, there are two things non-German-speaking Americans dont always know. One is that all nouns are always capitalized. I had to convince one of my bosses of this (in publishing) because he thought it looked "weird". Most importantly, English and German do NOT translate literally into each other, and one has to be very careful with idioms. A word in English can have five or six different meanings, while in German there may be five or six different words, one for each meaning. Please, Ms Black, dont get in over your head. It's not hard to make sure of the correct way of saying things, in any language you have your characters use. If you cant do it, use English. Readers will assume that a Russian is thinking in Russian, und so weiter.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting and evocative
Review: Another tightly written, tightly woven wonder! Right from the start, Aimee's on a tightrope. Looking for information on her father, information on her long lost mother knocks on her door instead, in the nasty image of Jutta, a woman only willing to part with information for francs. She agrees to meet Jutta with the cash, and when Aimee gets there, Jutta is murdered, and the little information Aimee was given that morning is the only lead she has. But she has to go on with it -- she has to know about her mother. Readers not only get to see Aimee as we never have before, we get to see a working class area of Paris through the eyes of a Parisian like no other. Historical fact gives context to the present day in a totally non-romantic manner, making the story more real and poignant, and still keeping the quick pace a typical Parisian requires. Another must read from Cara Black!
Rating:
Summary: Murder in the Sentier
Review: Another tightly written, tightly woven wonder! Right from the start, Aimee's on a tightrope. Looking for information on her father, information on her long lost mother knocks on her door instead, in the nasty image of Jutta, a woman only willing to part with information for francs. She agrees to meet Jutta with the cash, and when Aimee gets there, Jutta is murdered, and the little information Aimee was given that morning is the only lead she has. But she has to go on with it -- she has to know about her mother. Readers not only get to see Aimee as we never have before, we get to see a working class area of Paris through the eyes of a Parisian like no other. Historical fact gives context to the present day in a totally non-romantic manner, making the story more real and poignant, and still keeping the quick pace a typical Parisian requires. Another must read from Cara Black!
Rating:
Summary: Aimeeeeee Leduc does it again!!
Review: Great follow up on her other novels by Cara Black... Great fun.
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