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Aimee Leduc Investigations #9
Murder in the Latin Quarter
When a Haitian woman arrives at the Paris office of Leduc Detective and announces that she is P.I. Aimée Leduc’s sister, Aimée must dig into her father’s past to solve a murder
A virtual orphan since her mother’s desertion and her father’s death, Aimée has always wanted a sister. She is thrilled.
Her partner, René, however, is wary of this stranger. Under French law, even an illegitimate child would be entitled to a portion of her father's estate: the detective agency and apartment that Aimée has inherited. He suspects a scam. But Aimée embraces her newfound sibling and soon finds herself involved in murky Haitian politics and international financial scandals leading to murder in the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank of the Seine, the old university district of Paris.
A virtual orphan since her mother’s desertion and her father’s death, Aimée has always wanted a sister. She is thrilled.
Her partner, René, however, is wary of this stranger. Under French law, even an illegitimate child would be entitled to a portion of her father's estate: the detective agency and apartment that Aimée has inherited. He suspects a scam. But Aimée embraces her newfound sibling and soon finds herself involved in murky Haitian politics and international financial scandals leading to murder in the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank of the Seine, the old university district of Paris.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
166 people are currently reading
787 people want to read
About the author
Cara Black
44 books1,349 followersCara Black frequents a Paris little known outside the beaten tourist track. A Paris she discovers on research trips and interviews with French police, private detectives and café owners. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, a bookseller, and their teenage son. She is a San Francisco Library Laureate and a member of the Paris Sociéte Historique in the Marais. Her nationally bestselling and award nominated Aimée Leduc Investigation series has been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, German and Hebrew. She received the Medaille de la Ville de Paris for services to French culture. She's included in the GREAT WOMEN MYSTERY WRITERS by Elizabeth Lindsay 2nd editon published in the UK. Her first three novels in the series MURDER IN THE MARAIS, MURDER IN BELLEVILLE AN MURDER IN THE SENTIER - nominated for an Anthony Award as Best Novel - were published in the UK in 2008 and MURDER IN THE LATIN QUARTER comes out in the UK in 2010. Several of her books have been chosen as BookSense Picks and INDIE NEXT choice by the Amerian Association of Independent Bookstores. The Washington Post listed MURDER IN THE RUE DE PARADIS in the Best Fiction Choices of 2008. MURDER IN THE LATIN QUARTER is a finalist for Best Novel Award from the NCIBA Northern California Independent Booksellers Association.
She is currently working on the next book in the Aimée Leduc series.
She is currently working on the next book in the Aimée Leduc series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviews
March 17, 2019
I keep reading this series although in this, the ninth, I found myself bored as our heroine snags yet another pair of fishnet stockings and continues to test the patience of her partner. What was especially annoying about this entry was the lack of any final explanation of the entire plot even though there were yawningly wide indications that Aimee had the facts completely wrong. Who was doing what, who was conspiring with whom, what was the final ruling of the IMF or the World Bank. Yeah, we find the murderer but that feels like a complete side issue to what the book has been about.
I will continue with this series because I love the intimate view of Paris but I’m not sure if I can stand to go much longer.
I will continue with this series because I love the intimate view of Paris but I’m not sure if I can stand to go much longer.
June 4, 2013
I have decided to rethink my rating system, having realized that 2 stars is totally underutilized. This book was okay and somewhat enjoyable. I would read another one (perhaps the next one, as this one ended in a cliffhanger). I liked the scene-setting, which is Paris pre-Euro and pre-macaron craze. Which is around the time I last went there, so at least things make sense. Aimee reminded me of a better-dressed, more sentimental Claire Dewitt, or at the very least they share a certain concussed, hungover hot-mess vibe. I did not understand the plot whatsoever, as there was so much going on (Haiti and the Duvaliers, swine, the World Bank, human trafficking, immigration, black magic, cybersecurity, fax machines) that it never came together. I didn't really like the French vocabulary interjected here and there ("non" is completely unnecessary; "flic" is fun if that's really how French people refer to the cops -- I kept wondering if it would be like a French language mystery set in the US in which the cops were constantly referred to as the fuzz). I also wished that Black could convey Aimee's stylishness without naming designers, which was tiresome even if the clothes were allegedly vintage. Overall the book gave off a nice hazy sepia tone, sort of a constant slanted light, that I enjoyed. Wholly unnecessary, offhanded comment about "most people" thinking all Asians look alike -- seriously, just don't.
February 25, 2015
I have been working my way through the Aimee Leduc novels for a little more than a year (there are a lot of them). This one takes place in my favorite part of Paris, the Latin Quarter.
The tale begins when Mireille shows up at Aimee's door; she claims to be Aimee's half-sister, from Haiti. Then, Mireille disappears, leaving Aimee with torn photos of her father and a lot of investigating to do. Pretty soon, Aimee is embroiled in the world of Haitian refugees and even black voodoo.
I remain surprised every single time the "whodunnit" is revealed in these books, which is unusual. I read a great many mysteries and police procedurals, so getting one past me is rare. Cara Black manages to do it every time!
I also love these books because I have walked the streets wherein the incidents occur. It makes it just a little bit more special for me to read them.
The tale begins when Mireille shows up at Aimee's door; she claims to be Aimee's half-sister, from Haiti. Then, Mireille disappears, leaving Aimee with torn photos of her father and a lot of investigating to do. Pretty soon, Aimee is embroiled in the world of Haitian refugees and even black voodoo.
I remain surprised every single time the "whodunnit" is revealed in these books, which is unusual. I read a great many mysteries and police procedurals, so getting one past me is rare. Cara Black manages to do it every time!
I also love these books because I have walked the streets wherein the incidents occur. It makes it just a little bit more special for me to read them.
June 17, 2023
Murder in the Latin Quarter is book 9 in the Aimee Leduc Investigations by Cara Black. PI Aimee Leduc was in her Paris office when a young Haitian woman arrived and announced that she was her sister. This announcement started PI Aimee Leduc to investigate her father's past. Aimee's partner, Rene, understands French law, which includes illegitimate children entitled to her father's estate. Rene believed that the woman was a shame. The readers will continue to follow Pl I Aimee Leduc to find out what happens.
Murder in the Latin Quarter is an exciting read; however, I had trouble engaging with this book's plot because it was too slow. However, I continued to read after a while and became involved with this plot near the end. Murder in the Latin Quarter is well-written and researched by Cara Black, and I enjoyed how Cara Black portrayed her characters and their interaction throughout this book. I like Cara Black's description of the settings of Murder in the Latin Quarter that complemented the book's plot.
The readers of Murder in the Latin Quarter will learn about living in Paris Latin Quarter in 1977. Also, the readers of Murder in the Latin Quarter will know the consequences of scams on a community.
I recommend this book.
Murder in the Latin Quarter is an exciting read; however, I had trouble engaging with this book's plot because it was too slow. However, I continued to read after a while and became involved with this plot near the end. Murder in the Latin Quarter is well-written and researched by Cara Black, and I enjoyed how Cara Black portrayed her characters and their interaction throughout this book. I like Cara Black's description of the settings of Murder in the Latin Quarter that complemented the book's plot.
The readers of Murder in the Latin Quarter will learn about living in Paris Latin Quarter in 1977. Also, the readers of Murder in the Latin Quarter will know the consequences of scams on a community.
I recommend this book.
December 7, 2009
She dives through windows, ripping her pencil skirt and shredding her fishnet stockings; she prowls subterranean Paris in her beaded Schiaparelli jacket and hospital scrubs; she's knocked unconscious and has her Vuitton handbag stolen; she races down cobblestone streets in her Louboutins. Yes, Cara Black fans, Aimée Leduc is back.
This is the ninth of Black's novels about the chic, indomitable Parisian detective, and it has all the elements Black's readers have come to cherish: an engaging protagonist with a likable sidekick (her diminutive partner, René Friant), cops who hinder more than they help, villains with murky motives, grisly crimes, and above all, the unique Parisian atmosphere. This time, the air Aimée breathes is that of the Rive Gauche, the heart of intellectual Paris.
The action of the novel takes place in September 1997, just after the death of Princess Diana, an event with which the Paris constabulary is obsessed – fortunately for Aimée, who uses their distraction to her own advantage. The setup is this: a beautiful young Haitian woman named Mireille shows up, claiming to be the half-sister Aimée didn't know she had. And then she disappears. René is convinced that Mireille is a fraud, out to claim half of Aimée's inheritance, but of course Aimée has to go in pursuit. And inevitably, she winds up discovering a corpse – that of a professor of comparative anatomy who is a famed authority on pigs. Figuring out the connection between the murdered and mutilated swine scholar and the elusive, alleged half-sister will take Aimée the rest of the book.
Black gives substance to her detective stories, as implausible as they may be, by underlying them with real-world references. In this book, the plot centers on a project to supply water to the poorest parts of the horribly impoverished nation of Haiti, a project that involves the World Bank and millions of dollars. But where she's most skillful is at evoking the sights, sounds and scents of the Paris that Black, who lives in San Francisco, clearly cherishes.
Black's dialogue is sometimes a little starchy, with needlessly interjected French words and phrases, oui and non and excusez-moi, as if to remind the reader what language the characters are speaking. And there are a few too many speeches that exist only to provide exposition, as when the murderer fills Aimée in on the back-story of the crime. But Black creates rich, plausible characters, giving them individuality and depth.
She is, for example, not afraid to halt the action so that Aimée can have a Proustian moment: “As she hurried in the dusk across rue Mouffetard, a familiar scent filled the air. Swollen, purple figs nestled in a bed of green leaves at the fruit stall. Fit to burst, like those in her grandmother's garden in the Auvergne. It took her back ... to the smell of her grandmother's tart aux figues, warm from the oven, her father's favorite, and how he always claimed the largest slice. The way his eyes crinkled in a grin.” Touches like that, which betray an intimate understanding of where her characters come from, are what lift Black's fiction above the routine of the genre she practices so well.
This is the ninth of Black's novels about the chic, indomitable Parisian detective, and it has all the elements Black's readers have come to cherish: an engaging protagonist with a likable sidekick (her diminutive partner, René Friant), cops who hinder more than they help, villains with murky motives, grisly crimes, and above all, the unique Parisian atmosphere. This time, the air Aimée breathes is that of the Rive Gauche, the heart of intellectual Paris.
The action of the novel takes place in September 1997, just after the death of Princess Diana, an event with which the Paris constabulary is obsessed – fortunately for Aimée, who uses their distraction to her own advantage. The setup is this: a beautiful young Haitian woman named Mireille shows up, claiming to be the half-sister Aimée didn't know she had. And then she disappears. René is convinced that Mireille is a fraud, out to claim half of Aimée's inheritance, but of course Aimée has to go in pursuit. And inevitably, she winds up discovering a corpse – that of a professor of comparative anatomy who is a famed authority on pigs. Figuring out the connection between the murdered and mutilated swine scholar and the elusive, alleged half-sister will take Aimée the rest of the book.
Black gives substance to her detective stories, as implausible as they may be, by underlying them with real-world references. In this book, the plot centers on a project to supply water to the poorest parts of the horribly impoverished nation of Haiti, a project that involves the World Bank and millions of dollars. But where she's most skillful is at evoking the sights, sounds and scents of the Paris that Black, who lives in San Francisco, clearly cherishes.
Black's dialogue is sometimes a little starchy, with needlessly interjected French words and phrases, oui and non and excusez-moi, as if to remind the reader what language the characters are speaking. And there are a few too many speeches that exist only to provide exposition, as when the murderer fills Aimée in on the back-story of the crime. But Black creates rich, plausible characters, giving them individuality and depth.
She is, for example, not afraid to halt the action so that Aimée can have a Proustian moment: “As she hurried in the dusk across rue Mouffetard, a familiar scent filled the air. Swollen, purple figs nestled in a bed of green leaves at the fruit stall. Fit to burst, like those in her grandmother's garden in the Auvergne. It took her back ... to the smell of her grandmother's tart aux figues, warm from the oven, her father's favorite, and how he always claimed the largest slice. The way his eyes crinkled in a grin.” Touches like that, which betray an intimate understanding of where her characters come from, are what lift Black's fiction above the routine of the genre she practices so well.
October 29, 2015
I am going to give in to the temptation to note some comparisons between Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and Black's Aimée Leduc. Both are single women in a job that we still mostly associate with tough men. They both like their action and their "bad boys". Neither author lets the narrative slide very far into "harlequin" / bodice-ripping / graphic mode.
I found both entertaining but Aimée Leduc more enduring. Aimée, like another P.I., Warshawski, shares a history that includes a father on the police force, a mother who left our protagonist as a child, and an attitude that "one must do what one can for a client (paying or not) in need."
Even though Murder in the Latin Quarter is well into the series, it could serve as an intro to Aimée, her techno-investigator partner, Rene, and her family history with the Paris police (les flics). Black has a firm grasp on Paris, its sites, Paris couture, its history, its food, its culture, its geography, its characters and they all ring true.
A little about the plot: Several murders with a ritualistic aspect; a woman who claims to have been a victim of people trafficking; a previously unknown half-sister; the difficult relationship between France and its former colony, Haiti; the machinations of the World Bank and IMF; etc. Though it, at times, reads like The Perils of Aimée, Black makes it a satisfying experience.
I found both entertaining but Aimée Leduc more enduring. Aimée, like another P.I., Warshawski, shares a history that includes a father on the police force, a mother who left our protagonist as a child, and an attitude that "one must do what one can for a client (paying or not) in need."
Even though Murder in the Latin Quarter is well into the series, it could serve as an intro to Aimée, her techno-investigator partner, Rene, and her family history with the Paris police (les flics). Black has a firm grasp on Paris, its sites, Paris couture, its history, its food, its culture, its geography, its characters and they all ring true.
A little about the plot: Several murders with a ritualistic aspect; a woman who claims to have been a victim of people trafficking; a previously unknown half-sister; the difficult relationship between France and its former colony, Haiti; the machinations of the World Bank and IMF; etc. Though it, at times, reads like The Perils of Aimée, Black makes it a satisfying experience.
May 20, 2023
A Haitian woman arrives in Aimee's office, claiming to be her long lost half sister. This brings her in conflict with Haitian politics, and murder.
Maybe a little too French for me.
Maybe a little too French for me.
October 17, 2024
A young Haitian woman interrupts Aimee Leduc's busy day claiming she is her half sister by Aimee's father. That's when the merry-go-round starts up as Aimee and Mireille (the sister's name) keep trying to contact each other but are prevented by several murders, some mysterious toughs (mecs) that seem to be pursuing both of them, and various functionaries who tend to be lukewarm or disparaging at best.
Cara Black's Murder in the Latin Quarter is not the best of the Aimee Leduc series, but it is the most hectic. The author even switches points of view -- not too successfully. The action takes place over a week during which Aimee and Mireille barely escape with their lives, encountering each other only during hyperstressed moments.
Still, I like the Aimee Leduc character and her partner Rene, but find that some of the other characters such as Edouard of "Eurodad" and Leonie are not quite up to the mark. It's a good read, but the weakest of the bunch that I have read thus far.
Cara Black's Murder in the Latin Quarter is not the best of the Aimee Leduc series, but it is the most hectic. The author even switches points of view -- not too successfully. The action takes place over a week during which Aimee and Mireille barely escape with their lives, encountering each other only during hyperstressed moments.
Still, I like the Aimee Leduc character and her partner Rene, but find that some of the other characters such as Edouard of "Eurodad" and Leonie are not quite up to the mark. It's a good read, but the weakest of the bunch that I have read thus far.
February 2, 2023
Aimee Ledouc becomes embroiled in the affairs of Haiti and the possibility of a huge fraud involving the IMF and World Bank. Then there is the half Haitian girl who says she is her sister. Before long Aimee is up to lots of nefarious snooping and purporting to be a police Detective. On the side, her business partner Rene is struggling to avoid being involved and trying to keep the business solvent while Aimee is on her Wonder Woman kick.
I am not always entirely convinced by these novels but seem unable to steer away for the next installment if only to find out if Aimee is still surviving. 3 stars.
I am not always entirely convinced by these novels but seem unable to steer away for the next installment if only to find out if Aimee is still surviving. 3 stars.
July 18, 2018
Chère Cara Black, si tu veux utiliser plein de phrases et noms français dans ton livre, fais-toi relire, pitié.
May 29, 2012
Private detective Aimee Leduc has family issues. Her father, a flic (cop) turned private eye died in an explosion several years back but it is her mom she needs to obtain closure from. Her mother decided to leave an 8 year old Aimee and her dad in the 1970's to become a radical revolutionary and Aimee has suffered ever since not knowing what has become of her.
While working at her Paris office, Aimee is stunned when a mulatto from Haiti arrives claiming to be her half sister by her father. She has no real proof but Aimee longs so much for family, that she really wants for her to be her sister.
The woman- Mireille Leduc- disappears but leaves an address at a cafe. Against the advice of her business partner Rene, a dwarf who is in love with Aimee, Aimee goes to the address and comes close to being blamed for the dead man she finds there, a Haitian who died in a ritual attack.
This book is full of of the familiar- her godfather Morbier, a flic, telling her to stop using her brain and get married and have babies, Rene frustrated by her lack of work towards building their company, Aimee using pretty much anyone she knows in any position to do so, looking for the missing Mireille, going underground into the old Roman baths, getting beaten up, shot, and drugged, and a cast of colorful characters involved in Haiti and its crooked government and poverty programs. Of course, Aimee sleeps with a guy she just met who she thinks might be a killer and rides another man in his own car until he tries to pick her pocket. Oh, and don't forget the nuns and the murdered scientist who is a pig scientist.
You really can't go wrong with this series! I am loving it. This is the 9th book in the series and the 9th I have read. On to number 10!
While working at her Paris office, Aimee is stunned when a mulatto from Haiti arrives claiming to be her half sister by her father. She has no real proof but Aimee longs so much for family, that she really wants for her to be her sister.
The woman- Mireille Leduc- disappears but leaves an address at a cafe. Against the advice of her business partner Rene, a dwarf who is in love with Aimee, Aimee goes to the address and comes close to being blamed for the dead man she finds there, a Haitian who died in a ritual attack.
This book is full of of the familiar- her godfather Morbier, a flic, telling her to stop using her brain and get married and have babies, Rene frustrated by her lack of work towards building their company, Aimee using pretty much anyone she knows in any position to do so, looking for the missing Mireille, going underground into the old Roman baths, getting beaten up, shot, and drugged, and a cast of colorful characters involved in Haiti and its crooked government and poverty programs. Of course, Aimee sleeps with a guy she just met who she thinks might be a killer and rides another man in his own car until he tries to pick her pocket. Oh, and don't forget the nuns and the murdered scientist who is a pig scientist.
You really can't go wrong with this series! I am loving it. This is the 9th book in the series and the 9th I have read. On to number 10!
October 23, 2016
This is a pretty typical Leduc mystery. Which I guess is a good thing if you like the series. It is a pretty formulaic mystery. Black seems to make it about international events, there are big international funding groups, big political movements, and lots of high up political operatives. This has a surprise of a possible sister for Leduc, and that dominates most of the story. The sister is from Haiti and world bank and Haiti politics and World bank are all involved. We have the typical sudden murder and as always Leduc does not stay around and explain what happens, she flees and jumps over fences and scrambles through bushes to avoid the police. This story continues the tradition of having about 15 or 20 people who are thrown in to complicate the story. It must be one of the cardinal rules of Author Black that Aimee has to have sexual intercourse at least one in every story. So she has her heroine stop in the middle of some part of her investigation and spend the night with somebody. It is not that I do not think sex ought to be left out, but it would be a lot better if there were some context to the event. There is the required segment about her mother leaving. There is the required piece about her father's death and the accusations of corruption. And of course, Aimee's partner hides his love for her, and complains about her neglect of the software business she is suppose to be operating. These are enjoyable reading if you can follow the complicated international espionage involved in the stories as you will find the old familiar parts that fill out the story.
June 6, 2012
Cara Black's got a formula and she's sticking to it. There's a murder in a Paris neighborhood, and Aimee Leduc solves it, while the reader learns about the area's history and current denizens, though this episode also delved into France's sordid relationship with Haiti. It seems Black will continue apace with la formule (which includes randomly interjecting French words into dialogue in italics, bah ouaaaais), at least until she runs out of neighborhoods. Coming soon: Aimee Leduc #75: Murder in the Peripherique Offramp!
The book is set in 1997, and that's apparently where Black's computer knowledge ends. Computer security expert Aimee and her sidekick Rene hard drive backup wipe the memory hack hackity hack hack computer computer password firewall, success they cracked the code!
The dialogue remains fairly stilted, and there's too much exposition, but her editor seems to be improving. I noticed fewer typos and plot holes, and we were informed just twice on the same page that Rene, who's a dwarf, wears only bespoke clothing.
After reading several of these books, I think I've deduced why Aimee has such disastrous taste in men (and can never seem to dress herself for the occasion -- a Schiaparelli coat and high heels to go spelunking in the catacombs? OK!) -- brain damage. Girl gets hit on the head and face more often than a pro football player. Then again, I keep reading these books...
The book is set in 1997, and that's apparently where Black's computer knowledge ends. Computer security expert Aimee and her sidekick Rene hard drive backup wipe the memory hack hackity hack hack computer computer password firewall, success they cracked the code!
The dialogue remains fairly stilted, and there's too much exposition, but her editor seems to be improving. I noticed fewer typos and plot holes, and we were informed just twice on the same page that Rene, who's a dwarf, wears only bespoke clothing.
After reading several of these books, I think I've deduced why Aimee has such disastrous taste in men (and can never seem to dress herself for the occasion -- a Schiaparelli coat and high heels to go spelunking in the catacombs? OK!) -- brain damage. Girl gets hit on the head and face more often than a pro football player. Then again, I keep reading these books...
January 20, 2015
Quick note only:
This is the first of the Aimee Leduc mysteries I've read. A fashion-conscious PI at work in Paris -- in this instance in the period immediately after the death of Princess Di -- Aimee goes through a tumble of adventures connected with the appearance on the scene of her hitherto unknown half-sister (or is she?) and a trio of murders the solution to which drags Aimee further than she'd like into murky Haitian politics. There's a heck of a lot going on here, and by the time I got to the end I wasn't sure all of the plot strands had been adequately tied off. All in all, the text seems very noisy; at the end of each session with the book my head felt a-rattle with the din of events. Where the book scores, though, is in its pace: it reads like a rocket, and that momentum carried me past various plot points I might otherwise have frowned at.
This is the first of the Aimee Leduc mysteries I've read. A fashion-conscious PI at work in Paris -- in this instance in the period immediately after the death of Princess Di -- Aimee goes through a tumble of adventures connected with the appearance on the scene of her hitherto unknown half-sister (or is she?) and a trio of murders the solution to which drags Aimee further than she'd like into murky Haitian politics. There's a heck of a lot going on here, and by the time I got to the end I wasn't sure all of the plot strands had been adequately tied off. All in all, the text seems very noisy; at the end of each session with the book my head felt a-rattle with the din of events. Where the book scores, though, is in its pace: it reads like a rocket, and that momentum carried me past various plot points I might otherwise have frowned at.
June 9, 2009
An Aimee Leduc mystery--the first one I've read. A quick read with a little too much fashion detail, but an interesting story.
October 11, 2018
Needs editing
June 11, 2019
Murder in the Latin Quarter is one of a series of mysteries by Cara Black, set in Paris, featuring Aimée Leduc, a private detective specializing in computer security. Aimée is always fashionably dressed in designer clothes, and capable of great physical feats, even in high heels. Black began the series in the 1990s, and she keeps the setting in the 1990s. This particular book takes place in 1997, shortly after Princess Diana’s death, which becomes significant because the police department is so focused on investigating what happened to Diana that they cannot help Aimée solve the crime. Not even her mentor, Commissaire Morbier, can be of much assistance.
At the beginning of the novel, a Haitian woman, Mireille, comes to Aimée’s office and claims to be her half-sister, the daughter of Aimée’s father and a Haitian woman with whom he had an affair before he met Aimée’s mother. The only evidence she has is some old photographs of Aimée’s father, but Aimée wants to believe her, because she has always wanted to have a sister. Aimée’s father was killed in a bombing, and her American mother, a 1970s political activist, abandoned her when she was a child, and so Aimée has no family. But Mireille disappears just when she is about to tell Aimée more about why she thinks she might be her sister, and leaves behind an address in the Latin Quarter, Paris’ medieval university district.
When Aimée goes to the address Mireille gave her, she finds the dead body of a Haitian scientist, a professor at the university, whose murder was made to resemble a voodoo ritual. Mireille has disappeared again, and now she is the prime suspect. The professor had given Mireille refuge in Paris, after she was taken from Haiti by human traffickers who stole her papers. Mireille was seen quarreling with the professor shortly before his death. But Aimée is certain she is innocent. Two witnesses who could have cleared Mireille are murdered one after the other, just when they’re about to talk to Aimée, and their deaths are made to seem like an accident and a suicide. With no witnesses, Aimée has no evidence to clear her supposed sister, and, to make matters worse, the police are beginning to suspect Aimée as an accomplice. She is determined to get to the bottom of the matter as soon as possible. Her investigations uncover a scandal involving an organization, supposedly a charity giving aid to Haiti, but which may be involved in financial shenanigans and in supplying contaminated water to Haiti. The murdered professor, it seems, uncovered evidence of water pollution and placed his findings in an envelope he gave to Mireille, which disappeared along with her. Now Aimée needs to find the envelope and prove that the professor’s discovery led to his death.
Meanwhile, Aimée’s business partner, René Friant, an expert in martial arts in spite of his diminutive size, is suspicious of Mireille’s claim to be Aimée’s half-sister. A sibling would have a claim to part of Aimée’s inheritance from her father, including her apartment and the detective agency, and René thinks Mireille is scheming to get the inheritance. Aimée decides to get her and Mireille’s DNA tested to prove whether or not Mireille is her sister. René struggles with his own attraction to Aimée, of which she is as yet unaware, even after years of being partners in the agency. She is attracted to bad boys, and her romances usually end in tragedy or heartbreak.
Murder in the Latin Quarter is a very exciting, suspenseful mystery, with Aimée seeking to uncover not only a crime, but the secrets of her own past. As always in this series, Cara Black brings Paris vividly to life for the reader. Each book is set in a different neighborhood, and very often the settings are not the areas where tourists usually go. The Latin Quarter comes to life with its twisting side streets, not much changed from its medieval origins, and Black vividly conveys the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the district, with its student hangouts and cafés. Cara Black always makes you want to go to Paris. Not to give away what happens, but this book ends with a cliffhanger that makes the reader wonder what is in store for Aimée in her next adventure.
At the beginning of the novel, a Haitian woman, Mireille, comes to Aimée’s office and claims to be her half-sister, the daughter of Aimée’s father and a Haitian woman with whom he had an affair before he met Aimée’s mother. The only evidence she has is some old photographs of Aimée’s father, but Aimée wants to believe her, because she has always wanted to have a sister. Aimée’s father was killed in a bombing, and her American mother, a 1970s political activist, abandoned her when she was a child, and so Aimée has no family. But Mireille disappears just when she is about to tell Aimée more about why she thinks she might be her sister, and leaves behind an address in the Latin Quarter, Paris’ medieval university district.
When Aimée goes to the address Mireille gave her, she finds the dead body of a Haitian scientist, a professor at the university, whose murder was made to resemble a voodoo ritual. Mireille has disappeared again, and now she is the prime suspect. The professor had given Mireille refuge in Paris, after she was taken from Haiti by human traffickers who stole her papers. Mireille was seen quarreling with the professor shortly before his death. But Aimée is certain she is innocent. Two witnesses who could have cleared Mireille are murdered one after the other, just when they’re about to talk to Aimée, and their deaths are made to seem like an accident and a suicide. With no witnesses, Aimée has no evidence to clear her supposed sister, and, to make matters worse, the police are beginning to suspect Aimée as an accomplice. She is determined to get to the bottom of the matter as soon as possible. Her investigations uncover a scandal involving an organization, supposedly a charity giving aid to Haiti, but which may be involved in financial shenanigans and in supplying contaminated water to Haiti. The murdered professor, it seems, uncovered evidence of water pollution and placed his findings in an envelope he gave to Mireille, which disappeared along with her. Now Aimée needs to find the envelope and prove that the professor’s discovery led to his death.
Meanwhile, Aimée’s business partner, René Friant, an expert in martial arts in spite of his diminutive size, is suspicious of Mireille’s claim to be Aimée’s half-sister. A sibling would have a claim to part of Aimée’s inheritance from her father, including her apartment and the detective agency, and René thinks Mireille is scheming to get the inheritance. Aimée decides to get her and Mireille’s DNA tested to prove whether or not Mireille is her sister. René struggles with his own attraction to Aimée, of which she is as yet unaware, even after years of being partners in the agency. She is attracted to bad boys, and her romances usually end in tragedy or heartbreak.
Murder in the Latin Quarter is a very exciting, suspenseful mystery, with Aimée seeking to uncover not only a crime, but the secrets of her own past. As always in this series, Cara Black brings Paris vividly to life for the reader. Each book is set in a different neighborhood, and very often the settings are not the areas where tourists usually go. The Latin Quarter comes to life with its twisting side streets, not much changed from its medieval origins, and Black vividly conveys the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the district, with its student hangouts and cafés. Cara Black always makes you want to go to Paris. Not to give away what happens, but this book ends with a cliffhanger that makes the reader wonder what is in store for Aimée in her next adventure.
July 9, 2020
The very best of the Aimee Leduc series from someone who is a Cara Black fan and has read most of her episodes. For those who know Kinsey Milhone, Sue Grafton's private detective character in her Alphabet Mystery series, will be impressed with the similarities. Both raised by single parent . Kinsey lost both parents from an automobile accident; Aimee's American mother abandoned her at age nine. Both were introduced to criminal justice by their police officer fathers. Though based in Paris, Aimee appears to have similar skill set to Kinsey-she can jimy a lock with or without her lock picking tools, hot wire a truck engine on the spot and outrun and/or outsmart every "bad guy" on the block. All of which she aptly demonstates in this story passioned by a Haitian woman (Mireille) who appears at her office claiming to be her sister with little evidence to support other than a murky photo supposedly showing her mother with Aimee's dad. She is in trouble, nonetheless, and requires her help which she cannot resist empowered by the idea of having a long-wanted sister.
She cannot meet with her at the moment due to her approaching punctual appointment but commits to a meeting at a nearby coffee shop in a few only to learn she had come and left. A body is uncovered on her way out as she investigates a back exit and she becomes suspect number one due to her licensed scooter at the scene.
Aimee is in pursuit of her "lost" client, if you will, who she hereafter refers to as her flesh and blood. In the process, she learns that Mireille has been asked to hold a certain document by a fellow Haitian researcher Benoit the victim. The reader is given the history of buildings and update on culture as the PI carries out her investigation. It was fascinating to learn that Madame Curie remains at the Pantheon with other notables (ie Voltaire etc. )came 60 years after her death. Likewise we learn sexual discrimination still alive as author introduces us to be a female lab researcher colleague to murder victim Benoit who complains she has worked at the lab for 10 years and still carries a contract unlike her male peers who all were granted tenure is less time.
For someone who can hardly keep her business afloat, it is surprising how freely she gives out francs throughout her daily activities. She drops 75 for a full body ex foliation at the Turkish baths when she determines her friend Matine has not yet arrived and she has minutes to spare. She generously rewards those who provide information along her way or act according to her instruction such as the copier lady which may well explain her ending up at the bar of her friend Vincent requesting and obtaining a one hundred franc loan. I think it a riot that she conveniently has changes of clothes throughout the city be it the agnes b. dress of her friend Martine or Vincent's waitress's spare set of jeans and midriff bare top all of which come to her rescue in her time of need.
For those who appreciate French culture and look forward to a history of Paris and her people, you will not be disappointed. There are French words and phrases interspersed throughout which I found enticing having been a student of French at one point in time but some may find this distracting. The story and character were propelling keeping my interest throughout-a most enjoyable book.
She cannot meet with her at the moment due to her approaching punctual appointment but commits to a meeting at a nearby coffee shop in a few only to learn she had come and left. A body is uncovered on her way out as she investigates a back exit and she becomes suspect number one due to her licensed scooter at the scene.
Aimee is in pursuit of her "lost" client, if you will, who she hereafter refers to as her flesh and blood. In the process, she learns that Mireille has been asked to hold a certain document by a fellow Haitian researcher Benoit the victim. The reader is given the history of buildings and update on culture as the PI carries out her investigation. It was fascinating to learn that Madame Curie remains at the Pantheon with other notables (ie Voltaire etc. )came 60 years after her death. Likewise we learn sexual discrimination still alive as author introduces us to be a female lab researcher colleague to murder victim Benoit who complains she has worked at the lab for 10 years and still carries a contract unlike her male peers who all were granted tenure is less time.
For someone who can hardly keep her business afloat, it is surprising how freely she gives out francs throughout her daily activities. She drops 75 for a full body ex foliation at the Turkish baths when she determines her friend Matine has not yet arrived and she has minutes to spare. She generously rewards those who provide information along her way or act according to her instruction such as the copier lady which may well explain her ending up at the bar of her friend Vincent requesting and obtaining a one hundred franc loan. I think it a riot that she conveniently has changes of clothes throughout the city be it the agnes b. dress of her friend Martine or Vincent's waitress's spare set of jeans and midriff bare top all of which come to her rescue in her time of need.
For those who appreciate French culture and look forward to a history of Paris and her people, you will not be disappointed. There are French words and phrases interspersed throughout which I found enticing having been a student of French at one point in time but some may find this distracting. The story and character were propelling keeping my interest throughout-a most enjoyable book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 4, 2017
Audiobook review with spoilers. I would sum this up as 'a hot mess'. This is the only book I have read from this series and it's the last. I have an extreme dislike of characters who are seemingly intelligent doing stupid things just to move the plot along. I would assume that a woman, Aimee Leduc, who owns her own investigative business must have some shred of intelligence. This character is criminally stupid. First off, a stranger walks into her business while she is having an important meeting and claims to be her sister who she has never heard of. So she decides to forget about the legitimate client and tear off all over Paris trying to find her missing 'possible sister' and rescue her because no one else is capable of finding her. Then she almost gets her partner killed while traipsing through catacombs. Does this slow her down? No. She decides to go traipsing through catacombs again this time without proper attire or equipment because she is the only one who can do it and it can't wait until she has help. So, she borrows some hospital scrubs (to put over her designer dress) and a helmet and a lantern and off she goes. At one point she puts out her lantern because the catacombs are policed. Apparently she can see in the dark because she is wandering about in the absolute dark and even eludes the police.
There are 3 murders that take place and only our intrepid Aimee can find the killer. She does this by going around and accusing everyone under the sun of the murders until the actual murderer tries to kill her. Did I mention that she is always getting beat up on.
There are more things to dislike. A friend tells Aimee that she should have a DNA test and not believe the first person who comes along claiming to be a relative. This would seem prudent as France has laws that all of the children have to split an inheritance and since Aimee's father has passed she inherited all his assets. This new sis would put that in jeopardy, big time, though it doesn't seem to faze Aimee. So, back to the DNA, Mireille (the unknown sis) just happened to leave her hairbrush at Aimee's house. How convenient, except that to get DNA the hair has to be pulled out by the root. Somehow the DNA is recovered. This is a small thing, but irritating.
The book is littered with French words that seem to be thrown in randomly maybe to remind us the story takes place in Paris This seems to have thrown off the narrator who wavers in and out of a French accent all in the same sentence. All of the names and place names are pronounced with a French accent as are the random French words. This makes the narration incredibly distracting. Pick a voice and stick with it! The narrator even mispronounced brioche.
There are more irritating plot points but I'm tired of even thinking about this one.
There are 3 murders that take place and only our intrepid Aimee can find the killer. She does this by going around and accusing everyone under the sun of the murders until the actual murderer tries to kill her. Did I mention that she is always getting beat up on.
There are more things to dislike. A friend tells Aimee that she should have a DNA test and not believe the first person who comes along claiming to be a relative. This would seem prudent as France has laws that all of the children have to split an inheritance and since Aimee's father has passed she inherited all his assets. This new sis would put that in jeopardy, big time, though it doesn't seem to faze Aimee. So, back to the DNA, Mireille (the unknown sis) just happened to leave her hairbrush at Aimee's house. How convenient, except that to get DNA the hair has to be pulled out by the root. Somehow the DNA is recovered. This is a small thing, but irritating.
The book is littered with French words that seem to be thrown in randomly maybe to remind us the story takes place in Paris This seems to have thrown off the narrator who wavers in and out of a French accent all in the same sentence. All of the names and place names are pronounced with a French accent as are the random French words. This makes the narration incredibly distracting. Pick a voice and stick with it! The narrator even mispronounced brioche.
There are more irritating plot points but I'm tired of even thinking about this one.
April 25, 2020
I've been trying to tidy up my shelves and my tbr pile, no small feat, lemmie tell you. I grabbed this off my overflowing mystery shelf this week, thinking that it would make a good escape.
First thing I notice- there is a bookmark, my bookmark, stuck in it. And a bookmark I don't remember seeing for a long time. Not a good sign. Means I started it, put it down, and then shelved it, unfinished, some time in the past. Hmm.
But I'm on a tbr mission! So I flipped back to the beginning and began anew.
Hmm. I found this book to be the sort that I'd read a chapter and then put it down, frustrated and a bit bored, and wanting to do something else. It's a frustrating story, and I found our heroine to be a frustrating heroine. She's the worst kind of private detective- one who feels that only she can possibly understand what is going on, and the very good advise she gets from everyone else (partner, police, etc) is all ignored and treated as stupid. Only Aimee can see what really needs to be done, and if she needs to lie, steal evidence from a crime scene or ignore the computer security work that her detective agency is supposed to be doing, well then so be it.
Also annoying in this book is the way the story screams at us how stylish she is. I don't have a problem with a feminine detective. I actually prefer a lady detective who isn't just afraid to be feminine (like Phryne Fisher, say), but there is so much brand name dropping here that it grates. Yes, we get it, Aimee is stylish, though it pushes all credulity that she's managed to find so much vintage designer clothes at flea markets, in good enough to wear condition, in her size.
I've got more Aimee Leduc on my shelves, picked up here and there from used bookshops and library sales. I'll give them a shot, but I feel this is a series not destined to stay on my shelves.
First thing I notice- there is a bookmark, my bookmark, stuck in it. And a bookmark I don't remember seeing for a long time. Not a good sign. Means I started it, put it down, and then shelved it, unfinished, some time in the past. Hmm.
But I'm on a tbr mission! So I flipped back to the beginning and began anew.
Hmm. I found this book to be the sort that I'd read a chapter and then put it down, frustrated and a bit bored, and wanting to do something else. It's a frustrating story, and I found our heroine to be a frustrating heroine. She's the worst kind of private detective- one who feels that only she can possibly understand what is going on, and the very good advise she gets from everyone else (partner, police, etc) is all ignored and treated as stupid. Only Aimee can see what really needs to be done, and if she needs to lie, steal evidence from a crime scene or ignore the computer security work that her detective agency is supposed to be doing, well then so be it.
Also annoying in this book is the way the story screams at us how stylish she is. I don't have a problem with a feminine detective. I actually prefer a lady detective who isn't just afraid to be feminine (like Phryne Fisher, say), but there is so much brand name dropping here that it grates. Yes, we get it, Aimee is stylish, though it pushes all credulity that she's managed to find so much vintage designer clothes at flea markets, in good enough to wear condition, in her size.
I've got more Aimee Leduc on my shelves, picked up here and there from used bookshops and library sales. I'll give them a shot, but I feel this is a series not destined to stay on my shelves.
August 24, 2025
I was very reluctant to give this book a 3....I wanted to give it a 2.
This is an Aimée Leduc (Private Investigator) novel. It starts out that a Haitian woman arrives at her office and states that she is her half sister (totally unknown to Leduc) and then promptly disappears. This starts a rapid race with murders, bonks on the head, chase scenes, etc.
The book is set in Paris, in the Latin Quarter, in 1997, days after the death of Princess Diane. The story had a lot of potential. There was a good story line and I loved where it was set - Paris - the Latin Quarter. The author had done her research and provides a lot of information on Haiti, history of Paris and the buildings.
Why I struggled - it was just too unrealistic fast paced. The character is too much of a "Wonder Woman". If the book had been over a period of three weeks, with one chase scene, an interview conducted under devious means, fine - but not one such thing after another. Each day had 45 hours it seemed!!!!
This is an Aimée Leduc (Private Investigator) novel. It starts out that a Haitian woman arrives at her office and states that she is her half sister (totally unknown to Leduc) and then promptly disappears. This starts a rapid race with murders, bonks on the head, chase scenes, etc.
The book is set in Paris, in the Latin Quarter, in 1997, days after the death of Princess Diane. The story had a lot of potential. There was a good story line and I loved where it was set - Paris - the Latin Quarter. The author had done her research and provides a lot of information on Haiti, history of Paris and the buildings.
Why I struggled - it was just too unrealistic fast paced. The character is too much of a "Wonder Woman". If the book had been over a period of three weeks, with one chase scene, an interview conducted under devious means, fine - but not one such thing after another. Each day had 45 hours it seemed!!!!
March 31, 2020
I didn’t start with the first book so maybe others got annoyed before now but Aimée’s complete disregard for anything but that related to her finding answers RIGHT THIS MINUTE, including lying to instigate a city-wide APB to find a truck because what she’s doing is (in her single-minded opinion) more important than anything else going on, is really starting to grate on my nerves. Plus, her wardrobe is completely ridiculous for what she’s doing. As someone who, for nine books in, seems to be running around la cité, you’d think she’d find more comfortable shoes and clothes. It’s fine to have the couture wardrobe, but invest in some runners and jeans for hitting the street. She also seems quite cavalier with money, considering the repeated comments about trying to keep her actual bill-paying business (that she regularly ignores) afloat.
That said, the books are still entertaining enough that I’ll keep going.
That said, the books are still entertaining enough that I’ll keep going.
May 4, 2021
Imagine you are sitting in your office, just doing paperwork. Then someone walks in and your whole view of your parents and their lives changes in one minute. A young Haitian woman walks into Aimee's office. She asks for help to find someone, and it is Aimee's dad. When Aimee announces that he is dead and that she, his daughter, has taken over the business, the woman tells her an interesting story. Not only does she need help, but she is Aimee's half sister! Is this possible? Aimee agrees to help her find out the information, while she is struggling with what to think. some red herrings were thrown out. But in the end, the story made sense, and I feel like each book I read, I learn a little bit more about the Parisian mentality.
April 23, 2018
Fun to read if you want something that ranges over the length and breadth of the Latin quarter in Paris. A bit of a mashup as far as Haitian voodoo and rather strange introduction to Haitian grant politics. Also, very dark in places as they range through the sewers of Paris and Aimee LeDuc, the detective, keeps taking risks that seem rather implausible. But at the end one has to admire her guts and her author's ability to keep showing us different parts of Paris.
May 12, 2021
I thoroughly enjoy this series. The heroine is feisty, loveable and smart. The plot moves quickly and the mystery keeps you in suspense until the ending. J'adore the armchair travel to Paris. Each book a new neighbourhood to explore along with Aimee. I keep one finger on the page and the other on the map tracing her route. My mind gets pulled into the latest political issue; here the plight of Haitian immigrants.
I'm savoring this series like French pastry.
I'm savoring this series like French pastry.
February 25, 2024
A Haitian woman shows up at her detective agency claiming to be Aimee's half sister, then promptly disappears. To track her down, Aimee must get to the bottom of an international financial aid scandal and solve three murders. The plot is convoluted and full of holes, but there is plenty of action and great descriptions of life in the Latin Quarter. Much of the action takes place in the extensive network of catacombs that lie beneath Paris.
November 19, 2017
Aimee Leduc investigations and author, Cara Black, are new to me, but the setting of her story is familiar. The action takes place through out the Latin quarter in Paris "sister". Murder, international politics, Haiti, industry, research, monetary funds add up to revelations, near death experiences and more murder. Loved revisiting this part of Paris and enjoyed her brief history lessons.
March 23, 2019
Needlessly complicated and confusing plot for such shallow and clueless characters. The plot was mainly continued through the author obviously withholding information. The author also randomly dumped historical or cultural information, most likely from research, which wasn’t helpful to the plot or character development.
November 11, 2019
Haitian encounters
Another great mystery by Cara Black. I enjoy the Paris settings in familiar places. This one fills the role for humanitarian acts for Haitian people and contaminated water supplies. Character Aimee gets herself in so many tight situations. As a reader, I anticipate the end results. Thanks to the author for another wonderful story.
Another great mystery by Cara Black. I enjoy the Paris settings in familiar places. This one fills the role for humanitarian acts for Haitian people and contaminated water supplies. Character Aimee gets herself in so many tight situations. As a reader, I anticipate the end results. Thanks to the author for another wonderful story.
November 19, 2019
I like her books. But they take me a long time to read. I get lost in details a lot and I can't always see what is happening in the action scenes. But then the ending comes all out and it seems clearer and I want to keep going in the series. This book in particular left you with a big cliffhanger. It just takes me a lot to get into the next one.
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