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Murder in the Latin Quarter: An Aimée Leduc Investigation    by Cara Black Amazon.com order for
Murder in the Latin Quarter
by Cara Black
Order:  USA  Can
Soho, 2009 (2009)
Hardcover, e-Book

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* * *   Reviewed by Tim Davis

Readers fond of being thoroughly entertained by crime, detective, and mystery novels who wonder which publishing house has one of the best records for producing the best entertainments need look no further than Soho Press. And, as reinforcement for that observation, here is Cara Black's Murder in the Latin Quarter, the latest installment in the popular distaff detective series from Soho Crime.

When this newest Aimée Leduc investigation begins, a mixed-race Haitian woman named Mireille who claims to be the daughter of a Haitian woman and Aimée's deceased father confronts the Parisian private investigator. Puzzled at first, Aimee nevertheless finds herself intrigued by Mireille's claim - and baffled by Mireille's singular appearances and disappearances - and Aimée is further drawn into her presumptive sister's story by other complications: cold-blooded murder, political shenanigans, financial duplicity, and international complications.

Aimée's diminutive partner at Leduc Investigations, Rene Friant, however, remains stubbornly skeptical about Mireille's claims, and he works energetically to keep Aimée focused on the investigative team's more substantial and more lucrative cases. Undeterred, even by escalating danger, Aimée sees something more than a newly found sibling in Mireille: she sees the possibility of finally explaining away Aimée's mother's vanishing act decades earlier and Aimée's father's recent death in a horrible explosion.

Overflowing with vivid details showcasing the Parisian settings, and populated by colorful characters involved in a tautly plotted quest adventure, the sundry aspects of Murder in the Latin Quarter add up to an attention-grabbing P.I. mystery dominated by a plucky protagonist who is positively charming, seductively manipulative, and wildly resourceful. Fans of Aimée Leduc's eight previous outings (courtesy of American author Cara Black) will not be disappointed.

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