Murder At The Porte De Versailles

(Hardback)

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Description

This riveting 20th installment entangles Parisian private investigator Aimee Leduc in a dangerous web of international spycraft and terrorist threats in Paris's 15th arrondissement. November 2001- in the wake of 9/11, Paris is living in a state of fear. For Aimee Leduc, November is bittersweet- the anniversary of her father's death and her daughter's third birthday fall on the same day. A gathering for family and friends is disrupted when a bomb goes off at the police laboratory-and Boris Viard, the partner of Aimee's friend Michou, is found unconscious at the scene of the crime with traces of explosives under his fingernails. Aimee doesn't believe Boris set the bomb. In an effort to prove this, she battles the police and his own lab colleagues, collecting conflicting eyewitness reports. When a member of the French secret service drafts Aimee to help investigate possible links to an Iranian Revolutionary guard and fugitive radicals who bombed Interpol in the 1980s, Aimee uncovers ties to a cold case of her father's. As Aimee scours the streets of the 15th arrondissement trying to learn the truth, she has to ask herself if she should succumb to pressure from Chloe's biological father and move them out to his farm in Brittany. But could Aimee Leduc ever leave Paris

Reviews

Praise for Murder at the Porte de Versailles

A CrimeReads Best Traditional Mystery of 2022
CrimeReads Best New Crime Fiction of March
CrimeReads Most Anticipated Books of 2022

While fans may wonder whats next for the redoubtable Leduc after Paris, its clear from the intricate plotting and tantalizing loose ends that Black has plenty of stories left to tell.
Paula Woods, Los Angeles Times

The 20th Aime Leduc novel, Murder in the Porte de Versailles, is taut, vivid, smart, rich in humanity and addictive momentum. It is set in 2001, only a couple of months after 9/11, and police and international authorities are on high alert. A dear friend of Aimes is found unconscious in an explosions rubble, with evidence indicating that he may have set the bomb. Black races ahead, in alternating scenes with Leduc and crooked cops and everyday people caught beyond their depth.
The Washington Post

Blacks chatty style quickly transports the reader to the banks of the River Seine, and Leduc, as always, is an engaging heroine.
The Financial Times

AParis-infused mystery with many twists and turns, and just enough of a cliffhanger at the end to make sure we come back for the next book.
Reviewing the Evidence

Everyones favorite sophisticated sleuth is back . . . When Aimees friend Boris is accused of setting a bomb off at a police lab, she throws herself into clearing him of the accusation, glad for the distraction, but will her newfound energy lead her into more danger than ever before
CrimeReads

This is the twentieth installment in Cara Blacks consistently well-researched and entertaining Leduc novels . . . Rife with references to both well-known and hidden Paris locales, the always fashionable Aime manages to get herself entangled with French secret police as they draft her into using her connections to assist them . . . Aimes family consists of characters regular readers will be glad to see return, from daughter Chlo to godfather Morbier to lover Melac . . . Come take a tour of La Ville Lumiere with its blue-lit bateaus-mouches, Notre Dame with the inky wash of the Seine, Saint Michels spot-lit fountain, past the dark expanse of the Jardin du Luxembourg.
Deadly Pleasures Magazine

Fans will appreciate this ride-along with Leduc, which focuses on the tense and fearful world following 9/11.
AudioFile

This deep into the series, Aime has acquired a complex backstory. Devotees will sail through . . . Blacks pithy, pacey style enables her to efficiently sketch in background while moving the story forward and creating that all-important ambience. Hanging over the book is the suggestion from the father of her child that Aime and Chlo leave Paris to live with him in the country. Better for Chlo, perhaps, but for Aime Jamais.
Air Mail News

Black's series is at home on bestseller lists and has long been a particular favorite of librarians and library patrons . . . Set in November 2001, the story unwinds against the backdrop of 9/11 and, more personally, the question of whether Aime should move to Brittany with her three-year-old daughter, Chloe, and her biological father. Forget it, Aime: we want you in Paris, not clomping about a farm in Birkenstocks.
Booklist

In bestseller Blacks riveting 20th Aime Leduc investigation, tensions are high in Paris two months after 9/11 . . . Rich with detail about life in Paris, this entry illuminates the complications that friends and family can unwittingly create. Black shows no signs of losing steam.
Publishers Weekly

A bombing at a police lab has all Paris on edge . . . As days pass without an arrest, Aime moves into action. Will she find the bombers before the police arrest Boris and before Melac decides that Paris is just too dangerous a place for his child Black delivers again with a combination of political intrigue and tight detective thrills."
Kirkus Reviews

Praise for the Aime Leduc investigations

Wry, complex, sophisticated, intensely Parisian . . . One of the very best heroines in crime fiction today.
Lee Child

The finest PI series now being written.
Mick Herron, author of the Slough House series

As always, with airfares so high, Black offers armchair travelers a whirlwind trip through the City of Light.
USAToday

Marvelous . . . boasts all of Blacks trademark charms, including deft plotting, sharp dialog and colorful sights and sounds.
Chicago Tribune

Cara Blacks Aime Leduc is a gem: a stylish, brave private detective(and new mom) who zips around Paris on a scooter . . . Beguiling tours of some of Paris little-known corners.
The Seattle Times

Black creates rich, plausible characters, giving them individuality and depth.
San Francisco Gate

Whether read as a crime story with roots in international politics or as the latest chapter in a fascinating family drama, this is a deeply satisfying and entertaining novel.
Booklist, Starred Review

Author Bio

Cara Black is the author of twenty books in the New York Times bestselling Aimee Leduc series as well as the thriller Three Hours in Paris. She has received multiple nominations for the Anthony and Macavity Awards, and her books have been translated into German, Norwegian, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, and Hebrew. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and son and visits Paris frequently.