Murder in Paris: The gripping wartime mystery series

by Christina Koning

Paris, 1945. Frederick Rowlands arrives in a city riven by the political turmoil following the Liberation at the behest of MI5 agent, Iris Barnes. A young woman calling herself Clara Metzner has just been released from Ravensbrück concentration camp - and Rowlands, who last met her in Berlin in 1933, has been given the task of confirming whether she is who she says she is. This is far from easy, not only because of Rowlands' blindness, but because Clara's experiences have changed her almost out of recognition. But her evidence may be vital in assisting Iris to track down suspected collaborators in the upper echelons of French society.


Then Clara - or the girl who is claiming to be her - is found dead, in circumstances that point to murder. Thrown into the unfamiliar world of Parisian high society, Rowlands must track down the killer, and prevent further deaths - including his own.

336 pages, Hardcover

Published November 20, 2025

About the author

This author also writes under the name A.C. Koning

Reviews

[Kelly Hollingworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book ten in the Blind Detective series but book one for me. I really enjoyed the setting of Paris towards the end of the Second World War - the cafes, the brasseries, the visit to the famous Moulin Rouge. Frederick Rowlands is asked to Paris by MI6 agent Iris Barnes. Barnes is investigating Clara Metzner who Rowlands met 12 years ago. But the former lovely, energetic, mischievous young woman Rowlands knew is now spiritless and emaciated due to being in Ravensbruck concentration camp, assuming this woman is who she says she is. Rowlands needs to use his sensory skills to help solve the mystery.

I enjoyed the angle of a visually impaired detective, using his senses of smell, touch and sound - determining someone’s height by listening to the direction of their voice. This enhanced what was already an interesting storyline for me. I read a great deal of books around this period in history but this was a refreshing approach. I liked the pace, the characters and the cover and will definitely be looking out for those first nine books in the series.

[Scilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's almost the end of WWII. The Germans have left Paris, and Frederick Rolands (a blind man who works with British spies) arrives in Paris from Dieppe. Miss Barnes meets him and takes his arm to lead him through the crowds. They go to Hotel Cecil which is the headquarters of her outfit. They climb five flights of stairs to the small room he has been assigned. His job will be to identify a young woman, Clare Metzner, who he had known in Germany several years before. When he sees the woman in a prison, he isn't possitive she is who she claims. The next morning the girl is dead. There was another woman who looked very much like Clare named Amelie. Then, Clare's brother arrives in Paris. He has received a letter from his sister to meet her in Montmartre.

The end of the book is very exciting, but I don't want to give anything away. I thank Allison& Busby for the ARC so that I could read this book before publication.