Her entry begins:
I’m reading the galley of The Alphabet House by Jussi Adler-Olsen, which I snagged via an online contest. See, writers enter contests, too. I’ve been dying to read this book, after inhaling all the Inspector Q series that Adler-Olsen writes but just aren’t translated fast enough. This is a departure, a standalone. From the notes, Adler-Olsen said he drew on the experience growing up, as a doctor’s son, and living on site with his family in mental institutions. The premise is quite unexpected: what happens...[read on]About Murder on the Champ de Mars, from the publisher:
Paris, April 1999: Aimée Leduc has her work cut out for her—running her detective agency and fighting off sleep-deprivation as she tries to be a good single mother to her new bébé. The last thing she has time for now is to take on a personal investigation for a poor manouche (French Gypsy) boy. But he insists his dying mother has an important secret she needs to tell Aimée, something to do with Aimée’s father’s unsolved murder a decade ago. How can she say no?Learn more about the book and author at Cara Black's website.
The dying woman’s secret is even more dangerous than her son realized. When Aimée arrives at the hospital, the boy’s mother has disappeared. She was far too sick to leave on her own—she must have been abducted. What does she know that is so important it is worth killing for? And will Aimée be able to find her before it is too late and the medication keeping her alive runs out?
Set in the seventh arrondissment, the quartier of the Parisian elite, Murder on the Champ de Mars takes us from the highest seats of power in the Ministries and embassies through the city’s private gardens and the homes of France’s oldest aristocratic families. Aimée discovers more connections than she thought possible between the clandestine “Gypsy” world and the moneyed ancien régime, ultimately leading her to the truth behind her father’s death … After all, for Aimée, murder is never far from home.
The Page 69 Test: Murder at the Lanterne Rouge.
My Book, the Movie: Murder at the Lanterne Rouge.
The Page 69 Test: Murder below Montparnasse.
The Page 69 Test: Murder in Pigalle.
My Book, The Movie: Murder in Pigalle.
My Book, The Movie: Murder on the Champ de Mars.
Writers Read: Cara Black.
--Marshal Zeringue