The Missing Italian Girl

Bernard Martin Mystery #3

by Barbara Corrado Pope

On a sultry night in June 1897, Pyotr Ivanovich Balenov, a young Russian, and two young women transport a dead man through the narrow streets of a working class neighborhood in northeastern Paris. They throw the body into the canal and the girls flee to the Latin Quarter to hide with one of the Russian’s anarchist “comrades.” They do not realize they, too, are being watched. 


Their subsequent disappearance and the violent acts that follow will set Clarie Martin, a teacher and mother of a toddler, and her husband, magistrate Bernard Martin (last seen in Cezanne's Quarry and The Blood of Lorraine) on a dangerous quest to rescue them from a vicious killer.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, France, Historical Mystery, Mystery Thriller, 19th Century

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Barbara Corrado Pope is the author of three historical novels set in late-19th-century France. Long an admirer of a variety of European mystery writers like Simenon, LeCarre, Pears and Mankell, she strives to meld her love and knowledge of the past with the page-turning styles of these masters. Her first novel, Cezanne’s Quarry, was nominated for an Oregon Book Award; her second, The Blood of Lorraine received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Her third, The Missing Italian Girl, arrives in February 2013.

She has a PhD in the Social and Intellectual History of Europe from Columbia University and has taught history and women’s studies in places as diverse as Hungary, Tuscany, the University of New Mexico, and Harvard Divinity School. Her longest stint was at the University of Oregon, where she was the founding director of women’s studies.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Barbara now resides in Oregon. She is married, the mother of a daughter.

Reviews

[Terri Lynn]

This is a beautifully done historical mystery by a wonderful writer who pays close attention to historical accuracy and just knows how to spin an exciting, elegantly crafted mystery. This is one of the classiest mysteries I have read in a long time.

In June of 1897 in Paris, a young Russian man named Pyotr sneaks out into the dark sultry night, accompanied by two Italian sisters Maura and Angela, to transport and dispose of a man's body. Pyotr is a young idealistic man who promotes fair pay and working conditions. He is an anarchist and nonviolent but the dead man was a cruel person who pretended that he wanted to marry Angela (the girls come from dire poverty) but then held her prisoner and raped and beat her every day. When Pyotr catches him in the act of beating Angela, Pyotr is forced to crack him over the head and it kills the abuser.

After dumping the body, Pyotr must disappear and he sends the sisters (Maura is dressed as a boy) off to the Latin Quarter to stay with two young Russian women who are training to be doctors. The girls are terrified. While dumping the body, a strange man had shown up (Maura had hidden). He had a raspy voice and scarred face and Pyotr had been forced to introduce Angela as his girlfriend. The girls now fear that this man will tell someone about them being there with a wagon at night.

Very bad things begin to happen at this point. Pyotr is killed in an explosion and is accused of planning violence. The Russian girls are arrested as anarchists. And someone is watching Angela and Maura.

These two girls are the daughters of Francesca who is a charwoman at a girl's school. She is a single mom because her husband abandoned the family when the girls were young. The girls had to leave school to work as seamstresses and laundry workers and even so, they live in grinding poverty.

The descriptions Barbara Pope gives of the lives of the poor in this book will distress you and rightly so. My heart broke for these people. I wanted to go into the book and find a way to help and it is a credit to the author that a reader would feel that way because she made me see, hear, feel, and even smell the conditions they lived under and want desperately to help them. She breathed life into these characters and into this story. I also loved how she carried me to the time and place, to Paris in 1897, with her vivid descriptions. She is just an exceptional writer in every way.

Francesca had begged a teacher at the school to help the girls with this problem. Clarie Martin, a teacher with a husband who is a lawyer for the workers and mom of a cute toddler boy, was quite hesitant to get involved. This is a different world for her. But after Angela is murdered, Clarie increasingly becomes involved and appeals for help to famous female journalist Severine who is in no way reluctant to help.

With Maura missing and a strange scar-faced man with a raspy voice threatening Clarie, who will be the next to die? Though this is a Bernard Martin story, he had absolutely nothing to do with solving the crimes and not only refused to help but tried to stop Clarie from helping either. One nice touch here is Clarie's blossoming feminism. She begins to realize that all of the do-gooders like her husband are trying to make things better and right for working men only and have no concern for poor girls or working class women. She begins to question the role of men dominating and controlling women and holding them back. In fact, it is Maura and Severtine, two females, who do the most important work in this book. I love strong female characters like this.

All I can say to the author Barbara Pope is --"More, please!!" I very strongly recommend this book to everyone who loves mysteries and who loves historical fiction with strong female characters.

[Frank]

Detailed and accurate description of end of century Paris conditions and politics, the evolution of women's consciousness, strong and realistic characters. Describes the pressures on progressives trying to build a middle class life in a society rife with class oppression.

Readers should also seek out the first two books in this series.

[Sasha]

First I would like to say I received this book through the goodreads giveaway.
This book took me a little bit to get into.... but once I did I kept wanting to read so I knew all that was happening. I do wish I had read the first two previous books before this one. I will have to put the other two on my to read list.
Once I have read the first two I will have to read this book again. The thought and detail in this book of the time, events, end of the century Paris, the characters are so well written. This book has such wonderful insights. I really enjoyed reading this book and will again. It is one I do think you should read. If you have a bit of troubles in the beginning reading and getting into this book PLEASE give it a chance. It is a wonderful read.

[wade]

I almost gave the book four stars instead of five because the author portrays anarchists and socialists as kindhearted saints which they all were not. Once I overcame this and focused on the writing - it is first rate. The story takes place in late nineteenth century Paris and is about - guess what - a missing Italian girl. The main character besides the girl is an upper class Parisian woman who has to overcome biases against women and the poor to eventual lead to the unraveling of the mystery. The plot is captivating, the settings are well drawn and the characters unique and well developed. This is a must read for those who loves historical mysteries.

[Thurman]

Fascinating story set in 1897 Paris, an unlikely friendship between a progressive school teacher (Charie) and a cleaner (charwoman) at her school, and the cleaner's daughters - who become friends with an anarchist. Nice details on the life of middle class contrasted with that of the cleaner's family, on the fringes of the Dreyfus case - which was about all I knew of Paris in that decade. And the neighborhood, south of Montmartre, where Charie lives is on the same street as the Hotel Perfect (Rue Rodier) where I stayed when I was last in Paris 8 yrs ago.

[Missyjohnson1]

this book made me want to scream. I am really not certain why I even finished it, except that I really hate to start something and not finish. I kept thinking that it would get better. I was so tired of reading about Claire's heaving chest and Luca wearing short pants. AAARRRGGGG. what a feeble attempt to show strength in women. I think that I even ordered this from a recommendation on maybe Oprah's book club website for good summer mystery reads. FAIL

[Ken Fredette]

Although this is a historical novel, it was a mystery from the very beginning. It was a novel which was suppose to be a Bernard Martin mystery, but I believe it was about Clarie Martin as the main character. It is about women's rights in 1897. All the issues are touched on.

[Kate]

A very well-researched and suspenseful story set in Paris of the 1890s, this book features two brave heroines: Maura, a poor Italian 16-yr-old seamstress caught in the fringes of the anarchist movement of the time, and Clarie, a slightly unconventional teacher, mother and wife who works at a Lyceé for girls.

The plot revolves around several murders as well as the conflict between the classes in Paris of the era. Workers, Socialists, and anarchists are all at odds with the gentry, the bourgeousie and the law. Clarie Martin is also conflicted by her desire to be a good wife and mother - and her desire to do the right thing and seek justice for the poor women of Paris. Maura is driven also by a strong desire for justice for her murdered sister and friend, fear of the unknown murderer and the police, and a longing to live a better life than the one she has been dealt in the slums of Paris.

I found the personal struggles of these two women every bit as interesting as the plot to identify and find the murderer before he claims more victims.

[Robert Muller]

I enjoyed the history and the writing but got a bit lost with the character perspective shifting. Also, I was a bit mystified by the ultimate resolution mainly because of the way the police characters presented themselves toward the end. The whole novel seemed to villify these characters, but in the end they were the ones who suddenly solved all the problems and saved the protagonists. I wish I could say this was a result of great character transformation as part of the plot development, but it wasn't--the characters didn't change their essence at all. I think the novel would have been better if the author had focused on the main protagonists, the wife and the girl. Enjoyable but ultimately not that satisfying.

[Georgia Carvalho]

This book was not my cup of tea. It was a lot of effort reading something that is so full of inconsequential details of life in late 19th century Paris, I often lost track of the plot. It is not until about 75% into the book that the plot starts to really move to clarify the mystery, until then it is all about the anarchists, daily life in Paris at the time (from perspectives of different classes, and Clairie hiding her thoughts and intentions from her "authocratic" husband -- who I thought really was behaving quite liberally for a 19th century husband. I think might have enjoyed reading an actual history treatise about life in Paris at the time instead of this excruciatingly slow moving book.

[Maryann]

This was a novel for listening to when driving. It is a fascinating historical novel clearly written with a bit of a woman's studies perspective...exactly the sort of book I adore. I was surprised to discover it is actually number 3 in a series, particularly as I did not feel Bernard Martin was a main character in the novel. I shall have to seek out some of the author's other novels, including the previous ones in this series.

[Sara]

I usually don't care for "historical" mysteries--they generally sound so contrived, but this one is really good probably due to the author's education. It takes place during a period of upheaval in Paris concerning inequality of wealth and of women's rights. The main character teaches at a girl's school and becomes involved with the charwoman's daughters who have to work for nearly nothing and are preyed upon by their employers.

[Kerry]

I wish I’d read the two previous books before starting this one. They are now on my to read list and then I plan to reread this one. The description of end of century Paris is detailed. The characters are interesting and endear themselves to you through their struggles. An interesting insight into the oppression of women. Overall, a good read.

[Gail]

I received this free as a Good Reads Giveaway.It was an interesting story set in Paris. I enjoyed the story,the characters and the Paris setting. It is a good read.

[Kristen]

The time, place and characters were written beautifully.

[Judy]

Trapped in the customs, laws and mores of 1897 Paris, all the characters are confined by their societal status. Clarie, "wife" and school teacher, and her magistrate husband Bernard Martin both have to uphold the dictates of their class and professions. As such they lead privileged, though scripted and constricted lives. When their world interfaces with the lives of two Italian sisters, Angela and Maura, and their mother, who are all bound by poverty to work as seamstresses and charwoman in abusive and oppressive conditions, the Martins learn how tenuous is their hold on their status and reputation.

The sisters befriend Pyotr, a young Russian who helps Angela escape from a brutal relationship, but he must disappear. He sends them to live with two Russian women, but even there they are not safe, because this community is at the mercy of police informers and mentally unbalanced hangers-on with their own grievances. When Angela is murdered, and the Russian is killed and falsely accused of an anarchist bombing, Maura is left on her own.

A bleak world, indeed. Maura is rescued by the kindness of Nico, a rag picker whose life is vividly portrayed and is a hero of the story; as is the radical journalist Severine, who in her own way, rescues Clarie from own inhibitions. She bursts in as a ray of hope, light and a different perspective. When a timid Clarie worries about jeopardizing her husband's new job, Severina interrupts with the dismissive, "Oh husbands!" and throws up her hands. When Clarie protests, Severina says, "My dear, it is not men I object to. It's when they become husbands with all the laws and customs on their side. That's when one has to learn how to deal with them and their presumption of authority."

This one-sided presumption of authority which is baked into the society of the time is the crux of the story.

[Elizabeth]

I didn't realize this was the 3rd book in a series but it was fine to read as a stand alone book. Story was well written, taking place in turn of the century Paris when everyone thinks they see anarchists around every corner. When two sisters go missing, and one later turns up dead, a teacher teams up with a woman investigative journalist to find the other missing sister.

[Patrice Fischer]

Not exactly what I was expecting, but worthwhile nonetheless. It's more an example of intense examination of women's lives in turn-of-the-century Paris.
Not plotted as a whodunit, but rather as a what's-going-on-here. As such, a nice change of pace from whodunits.

[Mallory]

Did not finish.

[Sandra]

Disappointed in #3. I gave #1 and #2 5 stars. This one has too much detail or it could have been my thoughts when reading. Overall, the series is very good.

[Elizabeth Higginbotham]

The third in the series and very exciting. Claire moves to the center stage as Bernard has a lesser role, but the family dynamics are still clear. A glace into Paris in 1897, that makes me want to know more about the history. The class issues are important, both for social order and identity. The poverty of immigrants even in that era raises questions about now. Again were are looking at the status of women--across various classes and also coming into their own consciousness about their ability to hold on to themselves as they enter professionals and marriages.
Great read and very informative.

[C]

If it had been an historical fiction I would have loved it. But part way in I discovered that it was the third in a series of mysteries. And a not very good one at that! The background descriptions about life in Paris were well done. The overall story was boring and predictable. The mysterious part put me to sleep at night. The author did a good job of bringing most of the characters to life; their actions were the dull part. Moving on to something exciting.

[Kate Durant]

This is one of those books where the author is so focused on character development and historical accuracy, she forgets she is writing a story. Get to the point already. I joke that I have a 400 page limit on books- this one was way too long at 310. It had a good premises - I took it home, but no hook- or if it was there, it was lost.

[Julie Durovchic]

Another great story with rich historical detail and wonderful characters. Even though the events in this mystery take place over a 100 years ago many of the troubles still effect us today and the way it is presented make it all the more intrguing.

[Heather]

I received this free from good reads first reads. It was slow, to slow for me to finish it.

[Kristin Fairbanks]

Slow read, got more interesting about 2/3 of the way through but never found it to be a page turner or one I couldn't put down. Good story overall.

[Mary]

Three and a half stars - because it has some historical facts

[Susan Springer]

The third of the Bernard Martin mysteries where his wife, Clarie Martin, becomes involved in the disappearance of the charwoman's daughters and the underworld of anarchists in Paris.

[Maria]

Does not live up to the first two titles ... but read it if you must, but some spark is lacking.

[Eli]

Good description of the time and place, but not much mystery or plot development