The Paris Lawyer

by Sylvie Granotier

As a child, Catherine Monsigny was the only witness to her mother's death. Twenty years later as an ambitious attorney in contemporary Paris, she catches a professional break when her boss assigns her to major felony case in rural France. An immigrant stands accused of poisoning her husband, but her secrets are not the only ones hidden in the scenic rolling hills of Creuse. While preparing the defense, Catherine is reunited with images of own past and a high-intensity search for two murderers ensues. Who can she believe? And what will Catherine do with her past should she discover it?

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, France, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Relationships

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 5, 2010

About the author

AUTHOR, screenwriter and actress Sylvie Granotier loves to weave plots that send shivers up your spine. She was born in Algeria and grew up in Paris and Morocco. She studied literature and theater in Paris, then set off traveling— the United States, Brazil, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, ending with a tour of Europe. She wound up in Paris again, an actress, with a job and some recognition. But she is a writer at heart, and started her publishing career translating Grace Paley’s short story collection Enormous Changes at the Last Minute into French. Fourteen novels and many short stories later, Sylvie Granotier is a major crime fiction author in France.

She has met with continued success, and is translated into German, Italian, Russian and Greek. The Paris Lawyer is her first novel to be translated into English. This legal procedural that doubles as a psychological thriller is full of plot twists that bring us into the heart of French countryside, La Creuse, a place full of nineteenth-century landscapes and dark secrets. Sylvie splits her time between Paris and the Creuse.

Reviews

[Margitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paris, France.

Dr. Claude Monsigny regarded himself as the model father for his model little daughter, Catherine Monsigny. Catherine did not know her mother, Violet, who was brutally murdered as a young women. The gruesome event took place when Violet took her little baby daughter, Catherine, in stroller for a walk, never to return.

He would combine the roles of both parents in raising her and protecting her against anything sinister that might possibly bring more harm to her. He made sure that a personal holocaust of Violet's memory would be executed in ensuring that his baby girl would never again be reminded of that day. In the process all memories of Violet was erased. She did not know where her mother was buried. She did not even know about "Devil’s Wash, the place where Violet loved the rocks, the multiple waterfalls, the dark mystery and the crystalline cheerfulness."

As a young adult, twenty-five-year old Catherine Monsigny was on the brink of her first big murder case in The Creuse region of France as a lawyer. Gaston Villetreix died and his African wife, Myriam (N’Bissi), was accused of murdering him. The case could mean a first big break for Catharine and she was willing to handle the case, even if it meant she would have to go to the village in The Creuse. However, before leaving Paris, she was defending Cedric Devers in an assault and battery case, and she started to get flashbacks about her mother and the day of her murder. It would become more frequent when she arrived in the village, which startled and upset her since her memories were dormant for most of her life.

She was just a baby, way too young, to remember what really happened that day.

Her father never remarried. He never could replace the love he had for his wife. She was the girl he was waiting for his entire life. He instinctively knew that she is the change he has been waiting for, his future raison d’être. He will be the answer to her life’s detour.

The following months would become a trial in more ways than one when she had to deal with two murder cases, her own love interests, as well as address betrayal, deception, secrets, suspicion and strange events. Catherine remains calm. In any case, she has been reared never to raise her voice. Keep control. Stay calm. Emotional responses should be controlled, lest they overflow, heaving up debris like a tidal wave.

But most of all she had to learn the real meaning of love. Was it a hide-all for everything that can go wrong? Or was there really something like unconditional love. She also, for the first time in her life, had to address the suppressed emotions and memories behind her mother's death which kept her jailed behind high emotional walls. Brutal , unexpected death, when it cuts off one life, interrupts others, which are cleanly amputated, left without any follow-up, no conclusion , eternally connected to nothing.

Myriam suggested that love is a luxury enjoyed by those who do not have survival issues.

But despite everything she had to face she(Catharine) wanted to believe that love had other faces and that when her turn arrived, she would be loved better.

You build your house brick by brick, and even before putting on the roof, a catastrophe transforms it into a pile of stones, without you ever knowing who destroyed your universe one day or why.

While reading this murder mystery, and psychological thriller, par excellence the thought came up that this story was the work of a professional, without knowing anything about the author. All strings were nicely tied and secured. The ending was unique. In fact, it was one of the most original I have read in a very long time.

Thriller, suspense, emotional drainer, fast-moving, nail-biting. And finally you will understand what love really means.

Five stars for keeping me glued and awake and beyond thrilled! You will walk away happy, that's guaranteed! Not only because of how the story played out, how the elements were securely blended together, but also because it was so brilliantly written.

Any adult, both genders, can read it.

I will undoubtedly read this author again.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Paris Lawyer by Sylvie Granotier is a Le French publication released in 2012. I received a copy of this book from the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Catherine's mother was murdered when she was child. She was the only witness to the crime. Her father, Doctor Monsigny does what he can to be a good father to her, but mostly the subject of her mother is not broached.

As an adult, Catherine is an attorney. She has just been assigned her first big, high profile, murder case. An African woman has been accused of murdering her French husband with poison.
The crime takes place in the rural community of Cruese.
Creuse is also the area where Catherine's mother was murdered.

As a result, her mother is on Catherine's mind a great deal. While in the area, she wants to see if she can discover something more about her mother. She gets a little help from a local journalist.
Meanwhile, Catherine is beginning to have vivid dreams of her mother and flashbacks of her childhood.

Catherine is also dealing her odd relationship with a former client. She and Cedric have almost an obsessive type of relationship. Hot one minute, cold the next, but they can't seem to stop seeing each other.

As the murder case begins to take shape, Catherine comes into her own as a lawyer. She is steps up to the challenge with confidence.

But her mother's murder continues to haunt her. As she begins to fit together the pieces of what happened to her mother, Catherine climbs up a steep path to a truth that will leave you shocked and horrified.

The author does an incredible job of leading the reader through two murder cases. Catherine is an independent woman that professionally has it together. But, on a personal note, Catherine has an unusual relationship with her father. His insistence on keeping the past in the past has left Catherine feeling like she can't find peace or closure until she has heard more about her mother and about the day she was murdered.

As the author slowly released information to the reader, a real sinister quality takes hold. Catherine is going along with her work, that being her top priority, but with a sneaky suspicion that her lover is not all her appears to be. We begin to worry about who this man is and what are his intentions.
There is thick fog, but at times it clears and we get a glimpse of the truth. Yet, I still remained in denial, because the truth was not something I was ready to accept.
However, in the long run, we know that Catherine had to face facts and as a result she will now be able to move forward with her life as she never would have if the truth had never been revealed.
Catherine is a survivor and she will come through with a clearer picture of herself and finally some peace.
A very atmospheric mystery, the locations vividly described, the characters well drawn and the book was just impossible to put down. The best mystery I've read in a long time.
As always Anne did a great job with the translation from French to English.
A+

[Shomeret · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from Net Galley. The central character is a lawyer who has been assigned her first homicide case. She is defending a woman of color charged with the murder of her husband. It was an inter-racial marriage in a rural French community where all outsiders tend to be viewed with suspicion, but I anticipated that racism would play a role in the way that the accused woman is viewed. I thought that this book would grapple with some interesting issues.

I will say that Granotier has created multi-layered characters with complexity. Complex characterization doesn't necessarily make for sympathetic characters. There were only two characters in this book that I found sympathetic and neither of them was the protagonist, Catherine Monsigny. She didn't understand her client because of her own racism. It's true that all defense lawyers in France are hampered by France's legal presumption of guilt until proven innocent. Catherine Monsigny also has a tendency to leap to unwarranted conclusions which doesn't serve her well either as a lawyer or as an "investigator". I put this in quotes because she doesn't really investigate. She stumbles on evidence, but never examines it fully or investigates further. I feel that she displays poor judgement in both her professional and personal life. I would normally make allowances for her inexperience, but she doesn't seem to learn from mistakes. The plot strand dealing with a mystery in Catherine's past didn't raise my estimation of her acumen at all.

I don’t recommend this book for mystery fans. Catherine’s shortcomings irritated me. In fact, my opinion of her worsened over the course of the novel.

For my complete review which includes some interesting facts about French lawyers and the history of France, see my May blog entry "The Paris Lawyer: When Inexperience Tries My Patience" at http://www.maskedpersona.blogspot.com

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is always a pleasure to come across publishers who are bringing works from different cultures to the English-reading world, particularly when there is such a strong sense of place in the books I've been lucky enough to read from Le French Book (http://lefrenchbook.com/). THE PARIS LAWYER has a particular French sensibility, combined with a clever take on lawyer based crime fiction.

The Parisian Lawyer is Catherine Monsigny, a young lawyer whose earliest memories are fleeting glimpses of the day that her mother was murdered. Her debut criminal trial involves an enigmatic immigrant, accused of murder, a defence harder to build because this person seems to have come from nowhere. Called out of Paris to assist her client, the case triggers Monsigny to confront her own history. Along the way she develops a relationship with a strange man who may have an ulterior motive for his pursuit of her.

One of the most interesting aspects of THE PARIS LAWYER is how what starts of as a slightly meandering, low key sort of a story, builds into something that becomes extremely involving. It's almost sneaky how the combination of an isolated location, a man with a secret and a central character with a confronting past, all combine as Monsigny's investigation into her own background and the defence of the murder accused, twist and turn together. The story deftly balances the idea of a lawyer, trial based book; with many of the aspects of a psychological thriller.

Whilst much of the standard formula of a psychological thriller is twisted on its head early in the book, and Monsigny's reveals her insecurity, there is a further twist that may or may not work for many readers. At some point in the search for the murderer of her mother, Monsigny becomes even more preoccupied with what the mother she never had a chance to know was really like, and hence who she is herself. At that point the book becomes increasingly less about the who and more about the why. What is driving many of the central characters, why they do what they do, and who they really are. For this reader it added an extra layer, and there was absolutely no reason not to follow where the author was leading.

The only other problem is likely to be in the way that many of the plot elements are left unresolved at the end of the book. Not necessarily a bad thing, unless that lack has no apparent reason. Be it to allow the reader some thinking material, or because everything in life is not automatically wrapped up neatly, unresolved elements aren't automatically an issue as far as this reader is concerned. Unfortunately here, some of the elements left hanging at the end of THE PARIS LAWYER didn't leave a question to consider, instead they contributed to the feeling of a bit of a mad scramble to the end.

Fortunately these minor problems did not lessen any enjoyment of THE PARIS LAWYER at all. It is a refreshing, different, challenging approach to some standard and not so standard crime fiction norms.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...

[eyes.2c · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason the colour green of her childhood, of the grass, of emerald eyes, of Cedric Dever's grey green eyes was amongst my first impressions.
The colour green comes to represent the descent from softness and joy into the harsh and uncompromising reality of lost ways, of childhood nightmares, of fear and loss.
Catherine Monsigny's past is shadowed even from herself.
A rising young lawyer looking to make her mark, she takes on a murder case that unwittingly returns her to that lost time. Somehow her current case and the one just prior will merge and cross lines that terrify, intrigue and release forgotten childhood memories.
Catherine's fears of not knowing her way, of having to mark her route for the simplistic of journeys harken back to her childhood trauma.
What does the village of Creuse have to do with her past, her now and her future?
As the story unfolds the complexities woven throughout reflect the layers that unfold as Catherine's story is revealed.
Her pro bono case opens up more than she was prepared for.
There does seem to be an underlying hint that she responds to the attentions of older men.
As an aside French women and their motor scooters continue to fascinate me.
I did not see the ending coming until it did.
A tragic psychological mystery illuminated by the probing inner puzzlements of Catherine. It kept me guessing!

A NetGalley ARC

[Wanda Hartzenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please note that this book has been translated!

This should not be an issue apart from the fact that the translation caused;

Action too far removed from object of interest! That is the summation of this books writing.
The method of writing was new and it made me uncomfortable. That said as the book progressed I found that the author chose this form of narrative to give the reader an insider view of the true horror of the happenings. Making every thought known and turning the mundane and extraordinary into an existential crisis worked out to enhance the true horror of the happenings of the story.

This said it made me feel alienated from all the characters even the main protagonist who I was supposed to be rooting for!

The story itself is a very good one. World building like the narrative takes on an foreign feel which works very well within the story.

I honestly wish I could have read the book in the language it was written. I am sure my 4* review would be a 5* if I could. After all is said and done I could not wait to see how the story will play out and I was not disappointed.

WaAr

http://www.amazon.com/The-Paris-Lawye...

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Paris Lawyer is an interesting legal thriller with 2 storylines happening at the same time. Young Paris lawyer Catherine Monsigny is defending her first case. An immigrant marries a much older man, and when he dies, questions are asked by the man's family. At the same time, Catherine is dealing with thoughts of her mother's death, which happened when Catherine was just a toddler. Vague memories of the event seem to be surfacing.

It doesn't help that Catherine's case is taking her to the town where her mother was murdered. Or that her relationship with her father is strained by an event that he won't talk about with her. Or even that one of the men in her life may have a connection to her mother.

And the case has it's own twists and turns that cause Catherine to question herself as a lawyer.

If that all sound interesting, it is. It's a fairly standard type of courtroom thriller, made more interesting by the setting and characters.

[Patricia Metoyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the plot, however the writing style was difficult to follow. There were so many characters it was difficult to keep up. I believe the writer was trying to get you to get inside the mind of the main character so you could relate to why she behaved the way that she did. Although I found it difficult to read, every time I put it down, I wanted to pick the book up again to see what happened next.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A story of suspense in Paris, France, that revolves around a young lawyer eager to make her mark. I received this book from the publisher for an honest review. God help them, that’s what they’re getting.

The Paris Lawyer has won the Grand Prix Sang d'encre. I guess if it’s anything like most books I’ve read that received a literary honor, it makes sense that I can’t make sense of it.

My Take
In all honesty, I’ve only read 20% of the story on my Kindle. I simply can’t read any more as the writing is so stiff and leaps back and forth in time and from topic to topic so much that my eyeballs are rolling around in my head. In fact, it reads like a screenplay with directions to the actors as well as the stage manager.

I think there’s a possibility of this being an interesting story, but it’s so convoluted and jumpy---think of a jumping bean on a hot plate---that between this and the eyeball rolling, I am getting a headache trying to figure out what’s going on.

I’ve tried to figure out the point of view from which the story is being written, but not being able to make sense of what’s happening and the jumpiness makes this impossible. Another negative for me is all the tell. I’m being told what emotions to feel, but I’m not feeling anything. I’m more confused about bad food that tasting it. There’s a love scene that defies excitement, and while it is the most wooden love scene, I don’t mean in the stiff sense.

”In fact, she lies down on the bed and politely waits for him to lie down next to her, for him to undo the buttons on her shirt one by one, to explore her skin with the palm of his hand,”

…oh yeah, I’m excited…yawn…

Catherine asks Devers why he didn’t wear a suit and his response is to comment on her being a woman. Annnd, this is a relevant question, how? What am I missing?

“The very tone of his question says he’s taking up the challenge. Women are his preferred prey. … Catherine’s reflex is to lash out. “Studs don’t turn me on. All I’m interested in is supporting women’s causes. Yep, I’m a feminist bitch. Come on.”

Hmmm, actually the sentences make more sense taken out of context… Although I don’t really understand why she’s lashing out. Is this normal client-attorney interaction? Is this a standard interaction for French attorney-client interactions? I feel like a chunk is missing. Nor do I understand how the prosecutor-judge duo are bad news for her client. It doesn’t make sense that just because they don’t like clients who stay together no matter what, that they’d object to a man who doesn’t want to start up with someone he doesn’t want to be with.

It does go into a more expected scene with Catherine assessing her client, and I love what she tells Devers about his current state of mind and Granotier’s assessment of the so-called victim.

Um, what does Granotier mean that the volunteers retrieve treasures brought to the office? I can’t tell if she’s being sarcastic or why the volunteers would take them home. Do they bring them back again? Or maybe it’s at night that the volunteers scrounge the streets looking for furniture discards?

Okay, Catherine says goodbye to Daniel and suddenly pulls a door shut and activates a time switch which lasts two seconds. Umm, she’s gone to the bathroom? She’s in an elevator that the landlord doesn’t want to waste electricity on? And then we suddenly leap to, I’m guessing, a memory of her dad as a poor orphan? She’s all over the place like a frantic pingpong ball. We leap from Catherine thinking about Devers to Stephanie (??) wanting to know about a flabby lawyer and the gym and then we leap over to karaoke and a New Year’s party. Jesus, I’m getting a headache trying to make enough sense to write this.

Oh, well, now we’re into suck-up mode talking about Maître Renaud, *eye roll*.

Some of the confusion is due to a poor translation. Of course, that’s merely my perspective. Perhaps it makes sense to people accustomed to living in Paris or used to translations from French, which isn’t me. Or maybe it’s just pretentious mode…I dunno.

”She is totally thrown off by space, another handicap stemming from the primal scene.”

What a jerk father! He’s forbidden any mention or mementos of her mother, and then on her graduation day when she’s planning to go out and celebrate with her friends, he suddenly says she can ask him anything she wants about her mother. But only for that day. He’s also a hypocrite, demanding that Catherine do what he cannot.

Interesting bit of advice for anyone about ensuring your dominance. And I like the bit about “a freely consented relationship, rather than the arranged marriage that commonly exists between an attorney and a client”. Another good question Catherine raises about her submissive client, how she could find “the determination needed to commit murder”.

Oh, crack me up! Catherine is busy branding herself…

Huh, as easy as it is to get inside the farmhouse, I’d have grave doubts about only one person having access to the poison.

And it simply keeps going like this…

The Story
It’s a major coup for Catherine when Maître Renaud gives her the murder case, and it’s his suggestion that Catherine head out into the provinces to learn more about this marriage.

Once there, she meets a variety of people, including a very helpful reporter and a teller of stories, who tells Catherine the story of Gaston’s parentage.

The Characters (for 20% in)
Maître Catherine Monsigny is a cynical young lawyer anxious to make a good impression and win her first major case. Maître Renaud is the lead lawyer in the law firm where Catherine works. Sophie is the receptionist. Stephanie??? Catherine’s dad is retired and, while he’s a loving dad, he’s also a selfish man following the murder of his beloved wife, Violet.

In Saint-Jean-les-Bois
Myriam Villetreix, formerly N’Bissi, a Gabonese orphan, is something of a mail order bride who has been arrested for the murder of Gaston Villetreix, her 60-something-year-old husband. The Villetreix cousins claim he was murdered. Tania is her second cousin-sort-of-roommate? Roland Perret is the presiding judge. Louis Bernier is a reporter for La Montagne. Olivier is a young storyteller who feels responsible for some reason. Camille, the papa, was a gentle man and a drinker; it sounds like a necessity being married to the wealthy and nasty Huguette.

Cedric Devers is a client charged with assault and battery on Monique Lemaire. I began to get the impression that he killed Catherine’s mother all those years ago???

Tstse is the nickname for a fellow lawyer known for his monotonous, never-ending sentences. Daniel is the eternally optimistic association chairman for Rights For All.

The Cover
The cover is a red violet collage of the Eiffel Tower, balloons, a vineyard, and what looks like a town on a mountain.

The title is about Catherine Monsigny, The Paris Lawyer, heading out into the sticks and backwoods of life, murder, and memories.

[Cactus · Rating 1 out of 5]

En bref, c'est l'histoire d'une avocate débutante qui plaide aux assises pour la première fois et qui se perd entre son passé et son, éventuel, présent.
J'ai failli abandonner la lecture au bout de cent pages mais je me suis accrochée ne serait ce que pour ensuite pouvoir écrire ce que j'en pense.
Ce n'est pas un thriller et on devine la fin dès le début.
C'est un peu comme un pâté en croûte. Ferme au début et à la fin mais mou au centre.
Si vous aimez les "flash back" en plein milieu d'un chapitre, sans annonce ni police préventives et à tout bout de champ au point de vous faire perdre le fil du récit, alors , ce livre est fait pour vous.
Sinon, fuyez!
Ils rendent la lecture insupportable.
L'éditeur a t'il relu le manuscrit avant son impression ?
J'en doute.

[Aline · Rating 3 out of 5]

C'est est assez prévisible malgré une bonne histoire. Pas assez de suspense, de tension. Catherine est trop naïve, trop soumise à ses pulsions, trop enfermée dans ce qu'elle croit savoir, un peu fade. Comme chaque personnage, sauf celui du père qui aurait mérité d'être plus fouillé.
Un bon livre sans plus.

[Nancy Pinter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story

I found this book difficult to read. The story was good enough to keep me reading it until the end. The translation may be why it didn’t read smoothly.

[Joelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Assez bien plus

[Margaret Traylor]

The Paris Lawyer, written by Sylvie Granotier and translated into English by Anne Trager, recounts the debut criminal trial of a young Parisian attorney preoccupied by her mother’s murder. When a major case calls Catherine Monsigny to Creuse, an inexplicable memory and a twenty-year old photo take on new significance. As she builds a defense for a seemingly originless immigrant accused of murder, Catherine investigates the history of her own family. In the meantime, she acquires a lover with whom she feels a strange connection. Cedric Devers knows more about Catherine than he leads her to believe, though, and is careful to remain close to her as she works through the circumstances surrounding both murders.

The Paris Lawyer’s parallel investigations are equally deeply engaging. The twists are unrelenting, driven by the comfortably familiar structure (an isolated village, a charming man with a secret) and the unique way by which Granotier navigates Catherine’s psychology. Memories weave in and out of the present action and the narration frequently flows uninterrupted from Catherine’s thoughts into those of her client, lover, and father. Everyone knows more about each other than they do about themselves, and the central character knows least of all. The most disingenuous suspects are granted sympathy, even as the reader can see them successfully pull the wool over Catherine’s eyes. The psychological forays emphasize the lawyer’s insecurities and prejudices, lending believability and fullness to her character. Catherine’s burgeoning maturity is as much a cause to keep reading as any of the mysteries she explores.

Catherine matures largely through the quest about her past, the central theme of The Paris Lawyer. Over the course of the narrative, identifying a murderer becomes secondary to larger questions around formation of and agency over identity. While Catherine is preoccupied with the identity of her mother’s killer, she also desperately wants to know what kind of person her mother was and seeks to better define herself. By the climax, we perhaps care a little less about who was responsible for which death and more about who the major characters actually are; not what they do, but why. It’s a satisfying layer of story-telling that ensures the reader will continue to consider the events of the novel long after it is completed and grants what could simply be an enjoyable beach-read heft.

Inevitably, some larger questions are attempted at the cost of smaller issues, leaving a couple of otherwise well developed plot lines hanging. We’re still unsure about the outcome of the trial after it comes to an end, as a late discovery on that front is subsumed by Catherine’s personal investigation. Meanwhile, a few village characters that seemed to be set up for something significant make no impact at the very end of the story. While the book wouldn’t be nearly as thoughtful or intriguing if every question raised were answered, enough material is dropped so that the climax comes across slightly rushed and is the only point at which the pace of the story outstrips the pace of the reader. Granotier’s style that blends present time with memory so seamlessly makes for confusing action sequences. She successfully builds tension through scenes in which there is no violent culmination, only the threat of it, so when real violence finally happens, it doesn’t succeed in being as hair-raising as any of the near-miss incidents before it.

These shortcomings are slight, however, compared to the achievement of the narrative as a whole. A mystery with depth, The Paris Lawyer manages to avoid clichés and subvert expectations right until the end. Perhaps its most notable feat is its ability to elevate the genre without losing the inherent appeal of crime fiction. We receive clues, watch them slide into place, then manifest themselves into revelations we could never have guessed ourselves. Granotier’s conclusion is deeply satisfying, which is fortunate as it is unlikely any reader will want to put down the book before they reach it.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Description
As a child, Catherine Monsigny was the only witness to her mother's death. 20 years later as an ambitious attorney in contemporary Paris, she catches a professional break when her boss assigns her to major felony case in rural France. An immigrant stands accused of poisoning her husband, but her secrets are not the only ones hidden in the scenic rolling hills of Creuse. While preparing the defense, Catherine is reunited with images of own past and a high-intensity search for two murderers ensues. Who can she believe? And what will Catherine do with her past should she discover it?
*** Rating 3
Review
A psychological thriller based in Paris and Creuse, rural France. Having recently returned from a short visit to France, I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to read Sylvie Granotier’s novel. The village life as described is spot on; doors left unlocked and inquisitive neighbours.
Catherine Monsigny is a young and relatively immature lawyer who is given the accused murderer, Miriam Villetrieux to defend. As the story unfolds, more and more of her prejudices become apparent and she has to battle through them in order to perform her duties as a lawyer. She is not a great judge of character and has a tendency to liaise with the “wrong men”, probably as a result of her estranged relationship with her Father.
Miriam, a dark skinned woman was married to Gaston Villetrieux; a fairly well off, older man. Following his exhumation, it was found that he had been poisoned. Miriam has had a troubled childhood, orphaned at a young age, and bought to France by unscrupulous employers. But all is not as it seems and Catherine steps outside her remit to try and find out the source of her concerns.
There are two ongoing plots entwining throughout the book, with the past intermingling with the present. Catherine wants to find out more about her Mother and her Mother’s murder; which she witnessed as a young infant whilst strapped into her pushchair. Her Father, a retired doctor, is very reticent about the past thus causing a very strained relationship with Catherine. As Catherine visits Creuse in order to meet with her client, Miriam, details about the past start to surface and memories of her Mother come to light.
Initially, I found Sylvie Granotier’s style quite difficult to follow, with the present and the past colliding without any notice of which decade you were in. However, not wanting to give up on what promised to be a good read, I continued. The Paris Lawyer is slow paced but the menacing undertones start to make themselves known. Indeed, I wouldn’t have just locked the door of the cottage; I would have had a chair jammed against the bedroom door too. Red roses don’t have the same appeal either. The later chapters gather pace and I found these a more entertaining read. I thought Granotier portrayed the character of the mysterious Cedric Devers, an ex-client and lover of Catherine with carefully exposing and revealing layer by layer of his personality.
I felt the concluding chapters could have been a bit clearer in tying up the loose ends of the story but apart from the difficult start I quite enjoyed The Paris Lawyer.
I was given a copy of The Paris Lawyer by NetGalley, thank you.

[Gaele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an incredibly compelling story that maintains that peculiar sensibility that is utterly French yet eludes description. While most of the more procedurally focused stories I have read flow between police and criminal, Granotier mixes it up and gives us young lawyer Catherine Monsigny enmeshed in two different storylines of past and present.

Lush descriptions place readers in the city of Paris or in the small village in the hills of central France. It is easy to relate to the small town feel: curious neighbors, unlocked doors and a bit of suspicion about anyone different, Parisian or immigrant.

Catherine is brought forward to defend Miriam Villetrieux for the poisoning death of her husband Gaston. As an African immigrant, orphaned at a young age and brought to Paris for a position with rather dubious employers, her life has been a difficult one until she married the well-off and older Gaston. Where I expected to see far more covert and even overt racism displayed toward Miriam, I was surprised to see evidence of Catherine’s difficulty in overcoming her own racial bias and tendency to jump to conclusions.

Catherine often seemed more immature than her position and education would warrant, her rush to conclusion without fully investigating people or situations was troubling, especially as she seems to lack that essential quality of ‘people sense’, and is a horrible judge of character. I think there are two huge issues for her: the strained relationship with her father over his refusal to discuss her mother or her mother’s death, and her education and lawyer speaks tend to become her separation and protection from situations that are emotionally difficult. I saw her as lacking in self-confidence which she covers over with a more stilted and often overly complex speech that bleeds into her personal narrative because it is safe and comfortable. I felt for her, even if I didn’t particularly empathize with her.

Other characters were as well-crafted and complex, with varying degrees of success and import to the plot. While the book did require very careful reading as the present and past often collide with little notice. But, as the more menacing undertones start to reveal themselves the pacing changes and the distinction between past and present is more apparent and easier to follow. Bringing all of the threads to one final conclusion, Granotier has pulled layers from the characters to expose their secrets and flaws up to the last pages, and created a story that was well worth the time to read.

I received an eBook copy from the publisher for purpose of honest review for France Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

[Vicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Paris Lawyer of the title is young and eager to make a name for herself. Catherine Monsigny has landed a job in a relatively large and prestigious firm. She is ambitious, and is in fact lobbying her boss so that she might be allowed to take on a murder case that might mean increased notice of her in the press. The risk though, is that the Parisian press might not be bothered to leave Paris to go watch Catherine in action. She daydreams about influencing reporters and even uses her charms to connect with a reporter who may be useful.

But her biggest issue seems to be internal. Vivid memories...are they real?...come into her mind more frequently, and seemingly unbidden. Though just a toddler in a stroller at the time, she apparently was present and nearby when her mother was brutally beaten to death out in a quiet rural area. The killer was never found. She isn't sure if what she remembers, just impressions really, actually happened or just represents the longings to know more about her mom. Her rigid father refuses to talk to her about her mother, trying to keep her mentally healthy by avoiding any details about such a horrifying part of Catherine's history. They don't have a bad relationship, but it is strained.

Perhaps because of the way her dad raised her, she is more a user of men. She is sexually active but not seeking love or a long term relationship. That might be changing, though, as she gets caught up with a casual client who has been accused of shoving a woman who continued to pursue him after a one night stand. Catherine gets him acquitted, but can't quit thinking about his eyes. But before long he is pursuing her, and it seems more than a little creepy.

And the discomfort factor only intensifies when she goes to the rural area to meet the client that might move her career to the next level. The client is an illegal immigrant who is accused of killing the older man who had advertised for a wife. they had indeed married and lived together several years until he died of an apparent heart attack. When her husband's relatives, who stand to inherit, if the foreign wife is found guilty, have accused her of poisoning him for his money. Her client's apathy frustrates her, but the really odd part is how familiar this place seems to Catherine. Could it be she has somehow returned to the area where her mother was killed? The more she pursues the client's case the more she wants to pursue her own mother's killer.

Ms. Trager has done such a smooth translation that the book flows quite naturally in English.Unexpected twists and turns keep the reader guessing until the closing pages. A good mystery, and there is also lots to be learned about the differences in French and American justice systems.

[L.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given the genre and the setting, this should have been the perfect book for me. I am addicted to legal thrillers, and when the story takes place in familiar territory (Europe, rather than the US – sorry, no offence!), then my interest is piqued and expectations are high.

Admittedly, at the outset, I struggled with the writer’s style. The constant switching from actual events to memories of the past had me more than a little confused. At times I had to re-read sections just to confirm which character was involved, but the more I read on, the easier it became to understand the writer’s tone. I enjoyed the concurrence of the two storylines, as they joined forces to give the reader a greater insight into the main character, Catherine Monsigny, exploring her strengths and weaknesses to create a whole. Her relationship with her father did strike me as forced and uncomfortable, and his attitude towards her is rather possessive and even obsessive, all of which is explained at the end with an intriguing plot twist (although I had my suspicions, so maybe not as unexpected as you might imagine)

Whilst the two plots come to some sort of conclusion, both reveal some interesting and surprising twists which kept me reading to the end, keen to see if my own deductions were correct. However, a few loose ends are left unresolved, seemingly dropped from the story and no longer considered of any relevance.

Originally written in French and having received great accolades and literary awards in France, it highlights perhaps a difference in both writing style and reader expectation for those of us reading the translated version. Maybe we have become accustomed to certain writing styles, particularly in the English-speaking world, so it was refreshing to have these preconceptions challenged. Although the tone is unusual and confusing to my mind, once understood, the overall effect is to create a suspenseful story. The settings are beautifully described, with great flair and an obvious passion for the landscape and ambience of rural France. The characters are not the nicest bunch of people, each of them flawed to some extent, and most definitely quite aloof.

Perhaps this won’t be to everyone’s taste, but if you are interested in challenging your own views on this genre, then you will no doubt enjoy it. Just don’t expect the usual high-gloss and moralistic outcomes that so many legal thrillers dish out. Take the plunge and, as they say in France, “Vive la difference!”

[Cynthia Rodrigues · Rating 5 out of 5]

For Full and detailed review, rush to http://cynthology.blogspot.com/2014/0...

The Paris Lawyer by Sylvie Granotier is a book to be savoured, for its plot, its character development, and above all, for the richness of its language.

Catherine Monsigny is a young lawyer, who is beginning to make a name for herself. Despite being self-assured, she suffers from issues of abandonment from the loss of her mother, who was murdered while out on a walk, with little Catherine in a stroller. Her heartbroken father tries to raise Catherine up to have a normal life. So he issues a blanket ban on any mention of her mother’s name, and discourages any conversations on the subject. Catherine grows up without any memories of her mother, except the fragmented memory of her last day.

The defence of a woman, Maryam N’Bisse from Gabon, who has been charged with the murder of her husband, Gaston, leads Catherine back to Creuse, the site of the greatest tragedy of her life. Her attempts to probe into the murder of Gaston and be assured of the innocence of Maryam lead her, unknowingly and inexorably, to the resolution of the mystery of her mother’s death.

The writing is strong and nonprosaic, completely different from what one might expect of a legal thriller. Using her writing to critique male attitudes as much as to make a comment on society, Sylvie reveals her penchant for sarcasm and her ironical voice.

Catherine is the strongest character in the novel. But she is no classic paragon of virtues. She is untidy and prone to disorder in her personal spaces, and she has a hopeless crush on her old boss, besides suffering abandonment issues on account of her mother’s death and her father’s unwillingness to confront the past.

At first it seems as if there is no one single case to hold the plot together. And then one becomes aware that Catherine herself is the plot. The murder mystery of Gaston runs parallel to the unsolved murder of her own mother, which she must solve.

Like an onion, Sylvie peels the story apart, bit by bit, to reveal greater complexities. As the story progresses, the stage is set, and the supportive father watches helpless as his daughter is hurtled by destiny to an unbelievable denouement, even as she must choose between two men who are incapable of doing well by the women they love.
This is one book I’d like to read again.

(I got a copy of this book through Netgalley. I read it on Kindle.)

[Lynda Birch · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this story Sylvie Granotier introduces us to Catherine Monsigny a young, ambitious lawyer and a rising star at a major Parisian law firm. Catherine finds herself with a major felony case and sees an opportunity for her career to take off. She has to defend a black woman accused of murdering her rich husband in a pastoral village setting on the outskirts of Paris. The journey to the village to meet her client and investigate the case becomes a journey of self-discovery for the young lawyer.

Always close to the surface of Catherine’s mind, is the unsolved murder of her mother that happened when Catherine was a toddler; she often finds herself in a whirlwind of questions, memories or dreams related to this traumatic event. Unfortunately, she has a father unwilling to provide any answers that might help ease her mind. As Catherine attempts to uncover her past, she is unknowingly being manipulated in the present and complicating her future. Happening in parallel is the story of her client, a woman who quite deftly hides her past and ingeniously manipulates the present to ensure she has a future.

As we meet the many characters in this story who provide insight into both the murder of Catherine’s mother and the case of the murdered husband, we witness different types and different aspects of love and relationships. There is the passion of lovers, the love of husband and wife, and the love, devotion and loyalty between parent and child. We also see happy marriages, marriages of convenience, the fallout from divorce, and the ramifications of lovers betrayed.

As there is a lot going on in Catherine’s mind and life, there is also a lot going on in the story line. Some readers will find the back and forth between past and present, dream and reality, a little confusing (the reason for the 4 out of 5)but it reflects the main character and makes this book so much more than just another procedural thriller. Some readers may not like that the ending to the Paris Lawyer, isn’t neatly wrapped up and tied with a bow. However, you are left with a feeling of closure for the past and a sense of hope for the future.

[Isabelle | Nine Tale Vixen · Rating 1 out of 5]

(In hindsight, I definitely was not ready to read this book when I did. The following review, which I wrote at the time, probably reflects that.)

Hated the narrator - indecisive, overconfident, judgmental, misogynistic victim-shamer. Plus the plot seemed to meander and drag.

[Roxann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is about a young Paris lawyer, Catherine Monsigny, who is defending her first case. An immigrant marries a much older man, and years later he dies. His family begins to ask questions about his death. As Catherine deals with this case she begins to have thoughts of her mother’s death. It happened when she was a toddler. Her mother was killed feet from where Catherine had been left in her stroller. She has a strained relationship with her father and finds out one of the men in her life also had a relationship with her mother.
The book describes Paris, village life and the French judicial system which is different from the US’s system. Both cases have twists and turns, but in the end both are solved.
The plot sounds interesting and I would give the book 4 stars just for that, but I had problems with the writing style and the main characters.
The style of writing is very different from what I am accustomed to. The writing makes it difficult to get into the book. I continued reading the book and the style became easier to read but it was still difficult to follow at times. I did not like leaving the present in the middle of a paragraph to ‘go to what Catherine was thinking about-usually her past or present male friend. At one point I thought the interpreter (translated from French) had missed a paragraph or two. My other problem was the characters. When I read a book I try to like or identify with the written characters. I didn’t really like any of the characters in the book. Catherine really has ‘problems’. She can’t remember her mother’s murder and doesn’t get along with her father-which is ok because he’s not a loveable father figure. Learning about her mother-well her mother seemed to be concerned about her own happiness, the former client of Catherine’s who is now her lover, but seems as if he is a stalker, etc. I had no real sympathy for any of the characters.
( I received this book through First Reads.) If you are truly a lover of mysteries/thrillers this isn’t the best.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really appealed being a murder mystery and a legal thriller so many thanks to netgalley for sending me a copy.

As the blurb suggests we are reading about 2 murder mysteries; the protagonist's Catherine's mother and an immigrant's husband. From the first few chapters I found it quite slow, repetitive and just hard to get to grips with. I persevered as I felt there was a good story to tell but it didn't grab me and I often felt confused and a bit mixed up, this may be more to do with the translation than the actual original story.

The timeline drifts back and forth between Catherine's memories of her mother and her murder interspersed with Catherine's present day investigation. I normally like books like this with a dual time aspect but in this book I don't think it added anything, it just added confusion and I did feel that Catherine kind of stumbled across her mother's fate quite by accident and wasn't really down to any detective skills.

Catherine's complicated personal relationships with her father, Cedric and Olivier is a tangled web but I didn't feel any compassion or feeling for any of these characters. They all seemed to have their own agenda and out for themselves except maybe Olivier - another potential love interest for Catherine who seemed quite decent and genuine.

As it's a translated version there are some minor typo's and grammatical issues which don't help.

I'm normally a fan of murder mysteries as you know but I think there are better ones out there than this. If you can persevere with it it has a really good twist thriller-ish ending but it's a shame that it hadn't really built up all the way through. If you read The Detective's Daughter by Lesley Thompson you might like this. Unfortunately it left me a bit cold and will be easily forgettable.

[Annalisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hm......well, the setting of the book is interesting. Set partly in Paris, and partly in rural France, especially if you have ever visited France, it's fun to read about France from the French perspective. You do get a feel for what life is like from the perspective of a young French career woman. The insights into the French judicial system, which is rather different from the American system, are also engaging. Two major problems I had with this book: (1) the style in which it's written, and (2) the characters. First, the style. The writing makes it a bit difficult to get into the book. Once I got used to the tone of the author's voice, it became at least somewhat easier to read, but still remained something that was a bit distracting from the actual story-telling. The second problem: Really not a single one of the characters is likable. There, I said it. Right out of the gate, the young female lawyer, who is the main character, sleeps with her former client, a man she helped to avoid sexual assault charges. What?!?! And now she's sleeping with him? Not only a dumb personal decision, but also incredibly questionable ethics, for an American attorney anyway. He's not likable, her other client is not likable, her father's not likable, her mother's not likable, the various other people she meets while preparing her case for her other client are either not likable or are minor enough characters that the reader (mercifully) can't really hold a grudge against them.

The ending (who did it) you will see before you get to the end of the book, but that's OK. By the time you're finished, you will be rather glad to leave this cast of characters to whatever their future holds for them.

[SueK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclosure - A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.
First, let me say, I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. It seems I was offered this book because I'd given a favorable rating to Gone Girl, and there have been some comparisons between the two books. I was afraid I was going to find myself aggravated but compelled to keep going. No aggravation here.

I am always drawn in by well-written detail, whether that be landscape, food, or clothing. This book had just the right amount, without getting wordy and bogged down. I found characters I could care for, a vista I could visualize, and an intriguing father/daughter relationship to muddle in my brain, even when I was away from the book. It also read in a way that I could easily place young women I know in the main character's place, so it must have been believable.

I was concerned about reading a book translated from French. I was afraid there would be some quirk in the narrative that would ruin the rhythm of the story, but I was wrong. (You know how some books, even those originally written in English, can bring you up short by tossing in too many foreign language phrases? That did NOT happen with this book.) Enjoyable.

Edited to add: Please don't judge this book by the length of time it took me to read it. I have a lot going on in my personal life right now, leaving little time to read for pleasure. That was one of the great things about this book - I could put it down for a day or two, pick it up again, and know where I was in the story. I didn't have to go back and get my bearings again.

[Randee Baty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Paris Lawyer is the story of Catherine, a young and rising lawyer who is taking on her first murder trial. She's been in the courtroom a number of times but this is the most important case of her career. An undocumented Gabonese woman married a older French farmer and when he died of arsenic poisoning, the wife is the first suspect.

Catherine has a huge mystery in her own life because her mother was murdered when Catherine was a baby and the murderer has never been found. This was obviously the most influential event in Catherine's life and has driven much of how she has grown up. Her father has consistently refused to talk about her mother and what happened so it has remained a deep dark mystery.

What made this book a bit difficult for me was that so much of it is taken up with what is going on in Catherine's head. I don't mind a psychological mystery but I do need something to happen in the book. I kept wanting to say, "Get on with it!" There is little action until the very end and by that time I knew who the murderer was. I do think there are readers who will love this book and it was very well written. It was just written for a slightly different audience than me.

The Paris Lawyer is a French mystery translated into English. It is an award winner in France and I can say that it is obvious that it is a French mystery written by a French author for a French audience. I love almost anything French. I am a confirmed francophile. But this book had a bit too much of a foreign feel for me as an American reader to thoroughly be comfortable with it.

I received this book from Netgalley.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Parisian Lawyer. Catherine Monsigny is an ambitious young lawyer who lobbies for a high profile case involving the marriage of a young black immigrant to a much older Frenchman. Tucked away in a tiny, tight-knit village, the man's death is initially assumed to be natural, but when a bottle of cyanide is discovered in the kitchen, the young woman is accused of murder. Whether the small village is racist or xenophobic, the trial is sure to cause attention, and Catherine hopes it will be a boost to her career.

In the meantime, Catherine has taken a lover, and between the lover and preparation for the trial, she finds herself frequently drifting into thoughts of her mother and of her mother's murder. Neither the pace nor the plot move steadily forward, but move from memory and thought and back to actual events in past and present.

Catherine is not a particularly admirable character, but the information we are provided over the course of the novel allows the reader to gain insight into the events that have shaped her.

The book is well-written, but maintains a distance. This is perhaps the best way to present the various situations since forming a sense of relationship with any of the characters is impossible. We see too much, know too much, and while understanding, and occasionally sympathizing....liking any of the characters is difficult.

Psychological suspense.

NetGalley/Le French Book Pub. (Anne Trager, trans.)

Legal Thriller. 2012. Print version: 316 pages.

[Susan Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes
Review

Catherine, a young and very able lawyer has an exciting legal future in front of her. That is she can survive the effects of her past. Her mother was murdered as she sat nearby in her stroller. Fragments of that day surface from time to time where she is not sure how much is fact and how much is fantasy. Her father has blotted out memories of her mother which increases her feelings of abandonment. There is a distance between father and daughter but both the distance between the two and the memories of that defining moment of her life threaten to flood her as she defends two clients in separate cases. The one where we first meet Catherine is in Paris and it involves a man who becomes her lover but is so much more. The second is a woman who is accused of murdering her husband in a small town in the French countryside. It turns out this is where the family lived when her mother was murdered allowing her to glue together pieces from information gleaned in the neighbourhood.
Without giving too much away, let me say, I did figure out two of the three twists including the true murderer of her mother. It did not spoil the book for me. In fact, I read through quickly so that I could confirm my suspicions.
The characters were well written and while perhaps not likeable, they were interesting. The story was well paced and stayed on target rather than meandering. As this is a translation, I am not sure how the French book might differ. It is a good read for the summertime read.

[Julian Froment · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book. It was a relatively quick and easy read.

I liked the protagonist and found the story interesting. The character development and the back stories of the major players were well handled, with sufficient detail retained to leave some uncertainty about characters motives. I liked the fact that the author led me off in one direction and had me convinced early on of how the story would end, only to find that I was wrong in my assumptions.

One thing that I did not like about this book were the numerous dream sequences, or half remembered events from the past. I had trouble telling sometimes which parts were actually happening, which were real, and which harked back to times gone by.

There was a reasonable pace to the book, although I did find that the dream sequences interrupted progress at times.

I thought that the way the main story and primary sub plot were treated was excellent. I liked how they weaved in and out and took over precedence from one other, with what I had considered sub plot ultimately becoming the main thrust of the novel for me.

The conclusion to the story was surprising and I loved that I had not seen it coming too early on.

I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys an easy to read thriller, mixed with a little romance. A clever plot, well executed. A most enjoyable read.

This review is based on a complimentary copy.

[Krista (CubicleBlindness Reviews) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't pretend to be a very smart person when it comes to understanding laws, and procedures in general. But I have found that I do enjoy reading most thriller and crime books that have become popular today.

When given the opportunity to read this particular book I jumped at the opportunity because I have not read any that have been from other countries and thought that the interpretation of things might lead to an interesting read.

From the very beginning I had a hard time connecting to the story. I got the gist of the story lines and the interweaving of emotional ties our main character has with the defendant and the complications with her past, her new lover and her father. But it was the language that was used, some paragraphs I had to read over several times to try to understand what was being said with all the complicated wording.

The plot and the characters were very fun, but I personally had a hard time really delving into the story and losing myself in what was happening because of the language used to portray the complexities of the stories. I can't say that it's bad because it is exactly as I would think a lawyer thinks especially when caught up in the middle of a murder trial and doing so much research.