Fun setting in Paris but not particularly profound
920538
I always love to read anything about Paris...who doesn't love to?  So this was a good read but not particularly memorable story about Paris.
1086513
A fun read about life in Paris and studies at the "original".
2219092
Brief summary and review, no spoilers.

This story takes place in Paris, France and the time frame is the present. As the novel starts out an elderly man named Jean Daragane gets a phone call in his apartment. This is an unusual event because Jean is a loner and seldom gets calls. Most of his friends and family are gone - whether by death or by his just having lost contact.

The phone call is from a mysterious man named Gilles Ottolini and he claims he found Jean's address  book with Jean's contact information inside. Jean feels like Gilles sounds vaguely threatening but Jean realizes he seldom talks to people so that may not be the case. Jean doesn't not want Gilles to come to his apartment so they agree to meet the next day at a nearby restaurant.

When Jean meets up with Gilles, Gilles is with an attractive younger woman named Chantal.  Jean is given his address  book back. Gilles tells Jean that he is working on a story about an old murder case and he has some questions about one of the people in Jean's address book. Jean claims he doesn't remember this person and feels confused and he isn't sure he wants to help Gilles with his research.

From then on we are taken on a journey back in time as Jean  tries to remember his past and how that reflects on what is going on now. Who are Gilles and Chantal? Did Jean have some knowledge about the murders?

When Chantal gives Jean a folder with information about the murder and several of the names are people from Jean's past, we explore all these questions. But a big problem is that Jean appears to be an unreliable narrator - is that because of his aging and  faulty memory or something else? What is his journey to his past going to reveal?

I did think that the story itself had intriguing  parts and there are some really interesting observations and passages. I often have problems with books that have been translated - for some reason especially those from French - and that was somewhat at play in this case. At the same time, I was touched by some of the writing and did dog-ear a few  of the pages.

The problem I had was that as traditional as the story started, it rapidly became confusing in part because we are immersed  in the fog of Jean's memory. I started to lose track of not only the  timeframe, but what was happening and what was real and what wasn't.

If you are looking for a traditional mystery with a traditional resolution, you are going to be disappointed in this book. The author - a Nobel Prize winner - is no doubt a skilled  writer  but  this book and the story just wasn't my cuppa and I didn't like being so confused when I finished and set the book down. At the same time, I was impressed with the author's ability to explore memory and recollection and how complex and disorienting that can be.

This is a very short novel - really more of a novella and you will probably be able to finish it in one sitting.
668956
I liked it as I am a bit of an Anglophile and WWI era settings in England and France hold a special appeal for me. It held my interest by having a number of twists and turns, but the ending was rather predictable. It certainly isn't great literature, but if you want an easy read set in that time, it fits the bill.
3794003
The book was an easy read with a fun, flirty plot.  The background, New Orleans, seems to be the best character so far of this series.  I compare reading these books to eating a fun treat.  It's a great way to enjoy an afternoon with this book and when it's over, gives you the feeling of lightness...but it's not substantial.

The writing is good and the plot is put together...fans of this author will see her typical outline so there shouldn't be any surprises on how the plot flows.  Overall, I like the series and recommend the book if you need a quick. light read.
4584760
3.5 stars. I read Golden Dancer a while back and it was a fairly fun romp so reading this second book, I hoped for the same. It actually had a more serious tone than the first, for several reasons. In book one the villains were almost caricatures but this story has a murderer and a real detective trying to solve it. When a dancer from the ballet theater is killed, Andrew meets Valentin, a soon-to-be premier dancer. They end up together as the mystery deepens but there's a conflict that develops when Valentin's rival is killed and Val becomes a suspect. Mac and Trelain, from book one are also characters in this story, with Mac playing a substantial part.

There was much that was good but also things that could have been done better. The dance theater setting felt fairly authentic, as far as the rivalries and behind the scenes politics. Dance terminology wasn't overdone or made too technical. I did question the amount of alcohol Val seemed to consume for a dedicated dancer but that wasn't crucial. There wasn't a lot of police or investigative procedure but what was shown did seem accurate. I can't say that all of the characterization rang true. There were quirks that Andrew had that were never really developed, such as the OCD he was supposed to have. It was presented rather off-handedly with infrequent references to the cause. Not enough information to support the first full sex scene, when the previously reticent, shy, blushing cop was supposed to become super toppy. It just didn't mesh well. I didn't really feel any true emotional connection between Andrew and Valentin, so their conflicts had little impact for me.

The mystery wasn't bad, with several red-herrings added but it was fairly evident who two of the perpetrators would be. It wasn't so easy to determine their exact roles though, so that was good. There were some plot holes left open that needed to be resolved and one could have been left out altogether. So, good but not great and rounded up to four because Male Ballet Dancer!
3457261
Mid-17th century and Paris, like most developing cities was a crime-filled sewer, where corruption ran rampant. Louis IV, the eventual Sun King, was still a teenager but aware that things needed to improve. Both of his top appointments are murdered and poison appears to be the weapon of choice, especially for the nobility. Tucker peppers her narrative with stories of the herbal growers,  the suppliers and the poisoners. The setting reminded me of London in the Shardlake novels of CJ Sansom, but without the drama Sansom brings to his writing. I did not find this riveting, but several in my book club enjoyed it a lot.
2295122
No..it's not a great story or novel.  Just light hearted family fun set in Paris.
This book was loaned to me by a friend.  I picked it up just to see if it was something I would want to read.  I just delighted in the short little tidbits.  Yes....some are mundane.  But I even liked that "ordinary" look into a life that will  never be ordinary for me.  I loved her casual, no-drama attitude toward her kids failings.  No over-stressed importance here.
It may not be for everyone, but if you want a light, fun read, I recommend this book.  For chics, I'd say.  Can't see guys going for it.
3727589
This book is the latest in the mystery series featuring Hugo Marston in Paris. Hugo is the head of security for the American Embassy in Paris. Because he is American, each of the books involves an American citizen either as victim or suspect. Hugo also serves as the liaison with the French law enforcement authority that would have jurisdiction over the matter. There are continuing characters, but the personal lives of the characters are not much of a focus so you could read the series out of order. You would miss a few references, but the story would still make sense. There are other books in the series that I liked better, but it is a series that we follow and pre-order. Much of the appeal is the Paris setting and the unusual career position with the embassy. The story begins with an American romance writer seeking help because she feels that she is being stalked. She is in residence at a fictional luxurious hotel in Paris while she writes and teaches. The setup is not as interesting as it could be and there is very little suspense. Flashbacks of a separate storyline involving Hugo, his ex-CIA friend and loose cannon Tom, and bank robbers in Texas as interspersed. It all seemed a bit disjointed and contrived, but I can see why our author felt that he needed another plot thread to provide additional complications for Hugo and the main story. Four stars instead of five this time just because it was not up to the higher standards that the other books in the series have set. It may be a bit unfair to judge this book against his other books instead of against other mysteries. There are not a lot of graphic descriptions of gruesome violence or detailed graphic sex scenes.
2171597
As other reviewers have noted, the protagonist is Gabriel who is retired from the Mossad and now restores old art. He is pressed back into service to take out an old nemesis, Tariq. They have each killed relatives of the other so "this time it's personal." Gabriel presses into service a French/Jewish supermodel to go under cover with him. Another reviewer commented on the believability of that development, so I won't dwell on it here. The majority of the story takes place in Paris, although the climax takes place in America. There is sex and violence in the story (it is a spy novel, after all) but I'd say it's PG-13 by modern standards.

Much of the plot is highly derivative (personal as well as political antipathy of the protagonist and the antagonist, use of a gorgeous supermodel as an undercover assistant). The ending is also not very believable, IMHO. Many people seem to like the characters, but I found most of them to be pretty flat and two-dimensional. Stock characters, really. I don't think there is any character development. The protagonist starts out world-weary and alienated, and ends up pretty much the same. Ditto for the supporting characters, too.

But I did enjoy the book and could not put it down as I read the last third or so. I enjoyed reading it, but as I think about it afterward, the flaws (as I see them) stand out more than they did at the time. Kind of like sleeping with someone and really enjoying it at the time, but seeing it differently the next day.
4826968
I don't want to be overly critical of this book because overall I found it enjoyable and entertaining.  The author has a lovely writing style, that is engaging and beautifully descriptive.  She is not boring.  The time period and subject matter are beautifully illustrated by her and I found it very easy to lose myself for an afternoon (and evening) and not want to put it down.

What I did not like were the very 2 dimensional characters.  I realize to some extent that they are supposed to be shallow, but that's not terribly believable.  The heroine also is a bit inconsistent:  she's initially portrayed as a kind of vain and silly pawn of her mother's ambition and then after marriage a sweet paragon of virtue who has philanthropic concerns and thinks about nice things she can do for her husband.  I also found it difficult to understand why she allowed herself to be bullied by her mother in law and others, considering that her fortune was entirely under her control and she'd been raised her whole life to be in charge.

I really wanted to find a character to connect with and feel emotional for, but there really isn't one worth liking and that's unfortunate because the author has built a perfect setting for something deeper.

I give it 3.5 stars - it's worth reading but not a book that will stay with me.
2309209
When Molly Pargeter sees the ad for a summer rental in Tuscany, she leaps at the chance; the ad seems tailor-made for her and her family, as it specifically requests visitors with three children, preferably daughters, and with parents in their 40s.  Sure enough, the villa is lovely, but the owner seems to be a tad eccentric and the year-round English ex-pats seem a bit too exclusionary for Mollys tastes.  Still, three weeks in Tuscany, who could ask for anything more?  Well, perhaps a mystery or two to solve. This is a light-hearted romp through a particular type of English tourist life in the 1980s, complete with a Mr. Fixit, a sudden death and a bunch of crusty eccentric characters.  Nothing earth-shattering, but quite good fun to read; mildly recommended.
4336877
Nice, quick read. I'm Kind of interested in most-things-Paris anyway so, that alone kept my interest afloat. But, take away the Parisian element and you're left with a okay coming of age story with a very slight twist at the end.
3744027
1) Plot (3 stars) - In 1920's Europe, a group of American ex-pats who are bored with Paris decide to go watch the bullfights in Spain, a trip which tears them apart.  It's a fine plot, but I felt much of it was devoted to sitting around some caf or bar or hotel drinking and having the same conversations, not really getting anywhere or solving anything.  Maybe that was the point, but it didn't make for a very engaging plot.

2) Characters (3 stars) - Jake is the tired, observant narrator, watching the restlessness and boredom of American ex-pats.  Brett is the beautiful woman he and all the other boys fight over.  The characters were nice in that they were rough and real (despite the stilted 1920s expressions), but I didn't find them especially different or interesting.

3) Theme (3 stars) - Unfortunately, the only moral I could pull out of this was a negative one--that without individual purpose, or a family to be part of, life is pretty sad and meaningless.  And booze doesn't help either.

4) Voice (3 stars) - Hemingway has an easy to read style, but I must admit I was a little disappointed.  He is lauded for his economy of language, but there seemed to be lots of places where there were unnecessary details or repeated thoughts.

5) Setting (4 stars) - Paris and Spain in the 1920s.  The cafes, the hotels, the bullfights.  I definitely felt like I was in another time and place.  But I wasn't completely transported there because the details were sparse.

6) Overall (3 stars) - I finished it, but I don't think I'd recommend it.  Maybe it was revolutionary in its day, but for me it felt a bit empty.
242636
3.5 stars

As the story opens, Annabel Hinchly-Smythe - whose income relies on selling gossipy tidbits to columnist Xanthippe - has money troubles.  So when  multi-millionaire Arthur Arbuthbot mistakes Annabel for an interior decorater she agrees to re-do his apartment. Annabel knows nothing about decorating but - with books from the library and assistance from artist Kelda - she feels she can get the job done.

When Annabel arrives to assess Arbuthnot's apartment she meets his cat Sally, a sweet tabby that he's taken a shine to. Annabel also meets an array of Arbuthbot's employees and relatives, some of whom want her gone and others who want to offer decorating advice. Before long Arbuthnot is found insensate (or worse) in his office but his greedy relatives manage to delay the announcement of his death while they get their ducks in row. It seems Arbuthnot left his fortune to Sally (the cat) and everyone is scheming to either  become Sally's guardian or to bump Sally off so the estate will be redistributed.

Fearing for Sally's welfare Annabel sneaks her out and takes her home. Sally's disappearance leads to plenty of humorous shenanigans where each interested party shows up with a tabby, claiming to have 'found Sally'. Annabel is compelled to rescue some more cats and the kitties add a lot of fun to the story. Before long another suspicious death occurs in Arbuthnot's apartment and Annabel starts to fear for her life.

The book has an array of engaging characters including Arbuthnot's secretary - a nasty, would-be cat killer, his pushy aunt who married a seemingly dim younger man, his needy nephew and his girlfriend, a bad-tempered doorman who's lost his legs, a couple of relentless journalists looking for a scoop, a smart lawyer, a savvy veterinarian, and more.

There's not much investigating in this cozy mystery but it's a fun story that I'd recommend to fans of the genre.
3200557
Author Pryor's series hero Hugo Marston, chief of security for the American Embassy in Paris, makes his second appearance in this novel. If you read the first one ( The Bookseller ), you know what's in store. I didn't. Some of the author's stylistic decisions left me cold. Add to this a genre that's never been my favorite and you'll understand my rating. As they say, your mileage may vary.

The setup: near Jim Morrison's grave in Pre Lachaise cemetery, someone kills the son of an American senator and a young Egyptian woman who's not what she initially seems. This someone also makes off with half the bones of Jane Avril, one of Toulouse-Lautrec's favorite dancers at the Moulin Rouge. Our Hero is sucked into the investigation. Needless to say, it becomes far more complicated than anyone at first imagines.

The prose is clean and reasonably unfussy. Pryor's descriptions set the scenes nicely and show a practical knowledge of and affection for the byways of Paris. He drizzles in enough observed detail to make us feel like the characters are in some reasonably authentic version of the City of Lights without beating us over the head with the Eiffel Tower. The story's pace is brisk and the plot points fall efficiently (if a bit conveniently); I finished this in two shortish sessions.

Hugo is one of those honorable, upright, square-jawed heroes who'd be played by the young Gregory Peck or Van Johnson in the 1940s movie. He's a bit of a throwback, in other words. This also implies that, like in some of those 1940s crime flicks, the supporting characters are rather more interesting than the hero, though not necessarily less typey. There's the Plucky Girl Reporter (Myrna Loy, playing French), the Stalwart Local Cop (Claude Rains), the Roguish Secret Agent Sidekick (Joseph Cotton, or Fred MacMurray in his bad-boy phase), and the Avuncular Worldly Boss (Leo G. Carroll, perhaps?).

Why all the 1940s references? Perhaps because I kept seeing this play out in black-and-white on my mental movie screen. While ostensibly set in the present day, it has a lost-in-time quality, especially in the first half. The dialog is heavy with the kind of snappy banter that doesn't happen in the real world (most all the protagonists are equally quick with a bon mot) but was common in 1930s and 1940s films. The characters exist in a world in which Hugo having to pay for his buddy's prostitute is an amusing episode and not the immediate precursor of him losing his security clearance and undergoing an IG investigation; one in which smart men in smart suits can settle the affairs of man and state over a pastis in a caf in the middle of the day. I kept waiting for Hugo to slip on his snap-brim fedora and to carry a Luger instead of a Glock. Incidental talk about terrorism and rendition ends up sounding anachronistic.

Did I mention this is also a serial-killer yarn? Yes, it is, which I was only dimly aware of going into this. Serial-killer stories are not among my faves; I've never found complete nutters to be especially interesting. The villain in this story is definitely a complete nutter and has some rather unpleasant hobbies. If you like this sort of tale, you'll likely find much to like in The Scarab (Our Villain), and if not, you may share my reaction. You may also be a bit put off by the juxtaposition of Our Heroes' witty banter and Our Villain's slicing-and-dicing; in places it seemed like a marriage of The Thin Man and The Silence of the Lambs.

Don't get me wrong; The Crypt Thief isn't a bad book. I think what we have here is a mismatch between story and reader; I got something other than what I thought was on offer, and as such couldn't forgive it ills I might otherwise let pass in something more to my liking. If you like serial-killer stories served up with less blood and set in places other than Los Angeles and New York City, you could do worse than this one. This might even be a four-star read for you. For me, however, it's a strong three stars, and I think I'll wait for the film adaptation to show up on TCM.
2712634
This is a fun romp on the fringe of well-off society in England and Scotland.

A young lady has been abducted by an older man who wishes to take her to Gretna Green and marry her, having compromised her name. The girl's older sister, still unwed after five seasons, might be thought to be envious when she chases off in pursuit, but we're assured that she's only thinking of the girl's happiness.  She goes to a tavern and finds a Scotsman she knows who, being acquainted with the roads north, might help her.

The story is a bit flimsy and calamities occur, and I can't see any well-raised young woman going off on such a chase without her maid. She couldn't even shop without a maid. So we'll just have to see it as a romantic fantasy. I also see no reason why someone injured as described in a coach accident would be unconscious for several days. There is adult behaviour and a scene reminiscent of Gulliver's Travels when a host refuses to let the travellers continue their journey.

Sadly the spell fell apart for me when a character is reminded of a chipmunk.  These are American mammals and while it's just possible a picture or stuffed version would have made its way to a London exhibition, we need a line explaining why an English lady would ever have heard of one let alone seen one. A hare is the obvious animal if we're looking for something toothy in front; she'd have eaten jugged hare and probably seen someone with a hare lip. Even a rabbit would do; Cook would have them hanging in the pantry.

So overall the story in the series about Scots sisters who sew ladies' unmentionables from fine fabrics to restore the clan's fortunes, is fun but lacking the depth of research we'd expect from this author.