The Assassin in the Marais

by Claude Izner

Overview

The fourth title in Claude Izner's bestselling Victor Legris mystery series, set in belle-epoque Paris

The clock of the Église Trinité had just struck eight o'clock in the morning when, without warning, an ear-splitting explosion ripped through the district. A building on rue de Clichy rocked on its foundations, and within seconds its staircase had collapsed from top to bottom and its windows had shattered.

His body vibrated with the shock of the blast and he thought only: Apocalypse. The street began to dance before his eyes. The dust pricked his nostrils, but what invaded him was something other than its bitter odour, something that seemed to emerge as a long-suppressed memory of a past experience. It was the echo of what had happened long ago. A sign.


Paris, Spring 1892. Intrepid bookseller Victor Legris stumbles upon a new case to investigate when his business partner Kenji Mori's apartment is burgled. Curiously, the only item stolen is a decorative goblet of little value. But on learning that two people who were connected to the goblet have been murdered, Victor becomes convinced of its secret significance. He launches himself into the investigation, which takes him through the underbelly of Paris, in hot pursuit of the goblet as it is thrown in the garbage, picked up by a rag collector, and resold by several antique merchants, all the while leaving more dead bodies in its wake. How quickly can Victor recover the goblet and end the killing spree, in a city beset with terrorist activity by anarchists? Equal parts action, character, and atmosphere, The Assassin in the Marais is Victor's most challenging case yet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781429973670
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/27/2011
Series:	Victor Legris Mysteries , #4
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	325
Sales rank:	358,947
File size:	477 KB

About the Author

CLAUDE IZNER is the pseudonym of two sisters, Liliane Korb and Laurence Lefevre. Both are second-hand booksellers on the banks of the Seine and experts on nineteenth century Paris.

Read an Excerpt

Assassin in the Marais, The
Plan of Victor Legris's ParisEt tu coules toujours, Seine, et tout en rampant, Tu traînes dans Paris ton corps de vieux serpent, De vieux serpent boueux, emportant vers tes havres Tes cargaisons de bois, de houille et de cadavers!Paul Verlaine (Poèmes saturniens, 'Caprices') 
 
And the Seine flows, crawls, drags itself Always the muddy serpent of Paris Bearing towards Le Havre its cargoes Of wood, of coal - and corpsesTranslated by C.K. Stead 
Le Marché des Enfants-Rouges was to be found behind a gate at 39 Rue de Bretagne. It opened in 1628 and took its name from the children's home nearby, which was founded by Marguerite de Navarre, housing orphans who wore red uniforms.All the characters in The Marais Assassin are imaginary with the exception of Paul Verlaine, Paul Fort, Jean Moréas, Albert Gaudry, Eugène Dubois, Ravachol, Alphonse Bertillon, Trimouillat, Ma Gueule, Cazals, Caubel de la Ville Ingan and, of course, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.We would like to thank all the team at 10/18 for their kindness and support.THE ASSASSIN IN THE MARAIS. Copyright © 2004 by Éditions 10/18, Département d'Univers Poche. English translation copyright © 2009 by Gallic Books. All rights reserved.

Editorial Reviews

Set in Paris in 1892, the fourth Victor Legris mystery (after 2010's The Montmartre Investigation) from the pseudonymous Izner (sisters Liliane Korb and Laurence Lefèvre) fails to make the most of the plot's potential. As Paris is beset by anarchist bombings, Victor, a bookseller, has an apparently unrelated crime to investigate—a break-in at the apartment of his fellow bookseller, Kenji Mori. Oddly, the only objects missing are two books and a goblet made from a monkey's skullcap. A zoologist, Antoine du Houssoye, tries to get in touch with Kenji after the theft, at the direction of a woman who was fatally shot a week earlier, but before the two men can connect, du Houssoye is also murdered. The inquiry into the multiple murders never really picks up steam, and the search for the missing goblet fails to maintain suspense. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly