Murder in Clichy

by Cara Black Narrated by Carine Montbertrand

Overview

Private investigator Aimée Leduc has been introduced to the Cao Dai temple in Paris by her partner, René Friant. He urges her to learn to meditate: she could use a more healthful approach to life. The Vietnamese nun Linh has been helping Aimée to attain her goal, so when she asks Aimée for a favor-to go to the Clichy quartier to exchange an envelope for a package-René prompts Aimée to agree.
But the intended recipient, Thadée Baret, is shot and dies in Aimée's arms before the transaction can be completed, leaving Aimée with a wounded arm, a check for 50,000 francs, and a trove of ancient jade artifacts.
Whoever killed Baret wants the jade. The RG-the French secret service-a group of veterans of the war in Indochina and some wealthy ex-colonials and international corporations seeking oil rights are all implicated. And the nun, Linh, has disappeared.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

A small act of generosity leads to murder in Anthony-nominee Black's beguiling fifth outing for savvy and sensitive Parisian PI Aimee Leduc (after 2003's Murder in the Bastille). Still reeling from injuries sustained in her previous adventure, AimEe agrees to help a middle-aged Vietnamese nun, Linh, by delivering an envelope to Thadee Baret. When Aimee meets Thadee for the drop-off, he hands her a bag of precious jade; soon after, an unseen gunman murders Thadee. Who was Thadee? Why did he give Linh the jade? Who wanted him killed? Once it becomes apparent Aimee is involved in something bigger and more dangerous than at first seemed the case (a government surveillance team threatens her; her partner, Rene, is kidnapped), even more questions arise. Readers may feel in the dark at times, and it's consoling to know that Aimee is often just as baffled. As usual, the author renders the city in dazzling detail. She paints an especially rich portrait of the curious Clichy neighborhood, a district made up of "Aristocrats with de la before their name," and "immigrants with -ski, akela, or khabib at the end of their names." Weaving culture, history and suspense, Black scores again. Agent, Linda Allen. (Mar. 15) Forecast: Blurbs from Val McDermid, Alan Furst, Stuart Kaminsky and Linda Fairstein should help broaden the appeal beyond Francophile mystery fans. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Her eyesight restored, Aimee Leduc investigates an ancient Asian mystery in modern-day Paris. To try to rest her fragile optic nerve, Aimee (Murder in the Bastille, 2003, etc.) studies meditation at a storefront Cao Dai temple, where she meets Linh, a Vietnamese nun new to Paris. Linh begs her to deliver an envelope, but when Aimee tries to meet Thadee Baret in a boulangerie near Place de Clichy, shots ring out, and Aimee has just enough time to snatch the backpack containing several exquisite jade carvings and run before the flics arrive. Spooked, Aimee hides the bag in the office of her lover, ophthalmologist Guy Lambert-but before she can retrieve it, the office is ransacked and the figures taken. Now Guy is angry at Aimee, not only for causing the break-in but for risking her sight again. Even though their relationship may not survive, Aimee can't stop her investigation because someone's kidnapped her partner, Rene Friant, and she knows that finding the jade is the key to finding Rene. Baret's ex-wife Sophie and his daughter Nadege might help her, a thug named Blondel definitely wants to hurt her, and secret agent Fabien Regnier may not be at all what he seems. Although Aimee's imperiled romance sprawls, Black's fifth leaves plenty of room for puzzlement, along with her unique brand of Ambiance de Paris.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170876969
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	07/08/2011
Series:	Aimée Leduc Series , #5
Edition description:	Unabridged

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