Cara Black ratchets up the tension, chapter by chapter, as Aimée runs around Paris in circles in search of some clue to the location of her missing mother ... Murder in Bel-Air may be the best entry yet in this stellar series, and that is really saying something. It remains one of the best murder-mystery series set in a foreign country on the market, and each installment is always required reading on my ever-growing TBR pile.
Aimée Leduc’s nineteenth adventure is one of her best, both because the plot is notably rich, incorporating the complex relationship between France and its former colony, Côte d’Ivoire, and because the ongoing domestic drama in the extended Leduc household has become a thoroughly involving serial novel of its own ... 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.
Readers will enjoy the exciting trip through Paris and the colorful characters who turn up along the way in this latest page-turner from Black that will make readers want to hop the next flight to the City of Light.
As usual, Black takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of Paris, both the well- and less-well-known sections, and Aimée never leaves home without oozing style. Though the momentum falters now and then in the book’s second half, a taut, well-choreographed final confrontation more than compensates. Longtime fans and newcomers alike will have fun.
