Customer Reviews

Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis (Aimee Leduc Investigations, No. 7)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

MURDER ON THE ILE SAINT-LOUIS is an Aimée Leduc book. This time out, we see a softer side of Aimée, as she is prompted by a phone call from a frantic woman to come down to the courtyard of her building. Not knowing what to expect, Aimée slips on her kitten heels and grabs her gun. Instead of trouble, she finds a tiny baby girl wrapped in a denim jacket. Okay, for Aimée, that is trouble. Uncertain what else to do, Aimée enlists all of her friends to help her care for the baby until the mother returns for her.

Of course, Aimée doesn't sit idly by and wait for this to happen. Instead, she tries to find out how the mysterious caller knows her, how she came to select the unlikely Aimée as the child's protector, and to determine what is keeping the mother from returning to claim her infant. Along the way there is a healthy dose of Parisian history, a few more dead bodies, and some lovely couture frocks acquired at bargain basement prices.

Of the Aimée Leduc books I have read, MURDER ON THE ILE SAINT-LOUIS is my favorite. It has the same wonderful descriptions of the architecture and the historical stories that I enjoy so much, but it has a kinder, gentler Aimée, too. In this book, she must make the safety of the baby her primary concern and she tones down her often reckless and thoughtless behavior. A more considerate main character involves me more in the story because she is easier for me to relate to.

Favorite character? René, Aimée's business partner and emergency baby sitter. In this book, his unfulfilled wishes are there for all to see as he cares for the baby. Did I guess it? Some of it. Will I read another? Yes.

I liked this book -- for two reasons, mainly. First, I enjoyed hearing more about Aimée Leduc and how her character is developing. She and her colleague René become (as they inevitably do in each story) involved in the lives of others, and in this story a lovely little baby falls into their care. It is fun to see how they respond. Second, I love hearing all the details of the nooks and crannies of Paris -- the sewers, the estate houses... These are all things I might not be privy to seeing when I visit Paris, and it is fun to picture these things.

This is my second favorite mystery in the Aimee Leduc series. In this book, we learn a bit more about Aimee and we see her vulnerable side a bit more. This also happens to be a neighborhood in Paris that I truly love because I was fortunate enough to live on this island for a few weeks.

Once again, Cara Black does a great job of giving us all great details. These descriptions make me want to know more about all of the main characters every time. I like that these books are all set in the late 90's which means that our technology is ahead of the characters in the book. They had no Yahoo or Google, just yer.

I am a blatant francophile and I frequently visit Paris. When I need a Paris fix I turn to Cara Black. Murder on the Ile Saint Louis was my first introduction to Aimee Leduc Investigations. Cara Black transported me to Paris beginning with the street map. The character of Aimee Luduc is real and believable to me. She isn't 'cutsie' or 'blase'. I also like the way all the characters are untroduced as plausible pieces in the story line. Cara Black provides a geographical background and complex story line that is enjoyable.

What could be a better read? The fascinating life of a computer detective involuntarily involved in a predicament and that draws you in to it and compells you to keep turning pages until the final solution to the puzzle is reached. I have admiration and respect for an author who researches her subject to such a great extent. On my next trip to Paris I will visit Ile St Louis with more interest. Thank you Cara Black

Mystery novels historically have had as much to do with the place as the characters and the plots. Cara Black's latest Aimee Leduc novel proves this with its evocative descriptions and historical references about the Ile St-Louis, certainly one of my favorite areas of Paris. The plot here has a few too many contemporary (2007) references for a novel set 10 years earlier, but otherwise Aimee's life remains involving and evolving. I loved it.

"And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, 'This is one of the Hebrews' children.'" -- Exodus 2:6

As the book begins, Aimee receives a telephone call from an unknown woman that leads Aimee to an unattended baby girl in a courtyard. Naturally, Aimee picks up the baby and takes her home. Aimee assumes that the mother will soon return and avoid calling the French social services people. Her attachment to "Stella" soon grows.

Few can see an abandoned baby and not want to help. I'm fortunate that way because one of my grandmothers was adopted after being a foundling.

Cara Black draws on that rich emotional context to craft this story about Aimee Leduc's fictional neighborhood on the Ile Saint-Louis in Paris. It's well done.

This complication also means that Aimee has to provide and to arrange for child care during her investigations. She's almost like a regular working mother here. These details add another connection to reality that makes the story more appealing.

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.

The weakness of this story is found in an improbable plot development around petroleum exploration and production and danger to the environment. It's too bad. A better plot device would have worked just as well in supporting the main theme of finding Stella's mother (an echo of Aimee's own search for her missing mother).

This novel (my first in this series) starts with a bang, and goes on at high speed right to the end.

The setting is superb: the description of Paris from top to bottom, from cast-off Polish (and French) aristocrats to the homeless and sewer dwellers.

And the characters are equally superb: from Aimee to Renee to Stella to Jules to Helene to Radziwill to Jean Caplan. All are three-dimensional, and have intricate back-stories that Black conveys at a touch.

The prose is clean and efficient, sometimes poetic without ever being pretentious.

And the plot? Intricate, puzzling, always interesting, always unexpected, and--amazing--emotionally satisfying.

Some critics here at Amazon, whose religion is apparently capitalism, complain that Aimee or the author is a socialist. Not true, of course, as anyone who read the book will plainly see.

Too bad.

Cara Black takes her detective heroine, Amy LeDuc, to another Parisian neighborhood, the toney and historic Ile St. Louis, to resolve a series of murders that appear connected to criminal behavior by a major corporation. As in most of the books in this series, more than half of the enjoyment is in the author's detailed descriptions of the city's landmarks, architecture, cuisine and social behaviors. The story line in "St. Louis" is above average for this series and the characters still appeal, though the heroine's continuing bad judgment in men is aggravating--when is the author going to allow for a less steep learning curve? Overall, a good read, particularly for those folks seriously in love with Paris.

They don't get any better than this in this genre - her plotting, the details about Paris, the need to know what happens next, and fairly good dialogue all make this a really great read.

Cara Black makes you see and feel Paris as if you went their daily. Aimee is a very 'real' person, and this book shows her deep concern for others, no matter their age or station in life. I hope there will be many more books in this series