First Spring in Paris

Blind Sleuth Mysteries #2

by Nick Aaron

In 1946 Daisy and her friend Beatrice decided to move to Paris, because they were fed up with limping London, still crippled and depressed in the aftermath of the war. And indeed, in the spring of that year, Paris was the place to be—isn’t it always? In particular, some very interesting things were going on in Saint-Germain-des-Pré existentialism, free love, and American jazz throbbing through the night in the cellar clubs.

Then one day, just as the two were settling into a new life, a little boy stepped forward in the street and said, “Can you come with me? My mummy is all funny.” And he led them to a garret where they found his mother’s dead body.

A very disturbing murder case was thrown in their path, and one thing leading to another, Daisy Hayes, blind sleuth extraordinaire, had to rise to the challenge as never before.

“As a great admirer of Simenon and his Maigret mysteries, Nick Aaron now introduces the ‘Commissaire Divisionnaire’ Simonetti from the Parisian ‘Brigade Criminelle’. A gentle spoof and a grudging recognition of debt.” — The Weekly Banner

This 63k novel is a stand-alone Blind Sleuth Mystery

An unusual sleuth Daisy Hayes was born in London in 1922. Her father was a bank manager, hoping for a son, but he had to settle for a blind daughter.

Now what do you do when your child is blind since birth and you have the means to do all that is necessary to help her? You hire a private tutor to stimulate her verbal development in the first years of her life, because you realize how vital language will become for her. Then you send her to an exclusive school where everything is done to develop the minds and resourcefulness of blind girls. There they teach them all these fancy techniques of spatial orientation and mind mapping. And before you know it, your darling daughter has developed an exceptional intellect that just seems to draw murder mysteries like a magnet…

In combination with this unusual sleuth, Nick Aaron enlists the techniques of the page-turner to create an enjoyable reading well-written prose, clever plots, and surprising characters. Unputdownable.

Genres: Fiction

222 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2019

About the author

Nick Aaron is Dutch, but he was born in South Africa, where he attended a British-style boarding school, in Pietersburg, Transvaal. Later he lived in Lausanne (Switzerland), in Rotterdam, Luxembourg and Louvain. Currently he works for the European Parliament in Brussels, proofreading legislative texts in all 24 official languages.
Follow Nick on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/Nick-Aaron-1...

Reviews

[Susan Alpert · Rating 4 out of 5]

FIRST SPRING IN PARIS is the latest book in The Blind Sleuth Mysteries series by Nick Aaron. It takes place soon after the end of World War II. It is about Blind Sleuth Daisy Hayes, a young English widow, whose husband was murdered prior to the start of this story. Daisy and her plain and sometimes jealous friend, Beatrice, run into a three-year-old boy in the streets of Paris whose mother was just murdered. The most important clue at the murder scene is a page from the then recent Albert Camus novel, The Outsider. (Today, only a PhD student would be a suspect in such a crime.)

This is a frothy, old-fashioned mystery, with less explicit violence than most current fare. Mr. Aaron tells the story in cinematographic style. There are fun descriptions about existentialist writers and how they inspired the fashions of the times. Mr. Aaron has great love for his accomplished Blind Sleuth, Daisy, who due to her other sharper senses, performs several unimaginable feats in hopes of finding the killer.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daisy and Beatrice Are Paris Bound

Daisy is really tired of ration coupons and the dreariness of London so she convinces Bea to move to Paris. There the find liberating freedom to grow and pursue new experiences. But now there’s a serial killer who seems to be using pages from “The Outsider” to taunt the police. A very complicated and clever story. Recommend Series.

[Becky Ballinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good read.

Another great blind girl story. The plot is somewhat unbelievable but enjoyable just the same. I enjoy the characters immensely even if they behave out of character.

[Mrs Rj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daisy, a blind young widow, and her friend Beatrice decide to escape their dull lives in post war London and travel to Paris. Reading the Albert Camus novel, The Outsider on their trip across the channel sets the stage for their quick immersion into the Parisian life rubbing shoulders with the existentialist philosophers of the day. Until one day a young boy shows them his dead mother. And so the real excitement begins. The story continues as Daisy and Beatrice get drawn deeper and deeper into solving the mystery of the murder.
I did occasionally find the tone of the book made me feel slightly uncomfortable. In trying to set the scene firmly in the era of post war Paris, the author touches on things such as homosexuality, France’s part in the war, in a way that felt a little clumsy.
The novel is well written and has interesting twist on your usual detective stories. I didn’t overly warm to the main characters of Daisy and Beatrice but that didn’t impact on my enjoyment of the book. A great, yet gentle, murder mystery.

[Eirlys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enthralling story

I enjoyed following the adventures of the two friends, especially when in Paris. The characters leapt from the pages with intriguingly vibrant lives. A Good read

[K Mullett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Paris, I love fashion, I love a good old whodunnit, and I love historical fiction, so as you can imagine, I enjoyed this book immensely. First Spring in Paris offered an interesting take on detective fiction by crime-solving through the hyper-developed other senses of a blind person. I have to admit, I'm not sure if I warmed to Daisy, the protagonist, but I liked her trusty sidekick Beatrice.

The tale was nicely written and I was taken back to many a French cafe and cobbled street during the storytelling. A couple of times I felt the narrative on more controversial areas (homosexuality, critique of the French) to be slightly more clumsy than satirical. Sensitive souls may feel a little offended, I guess.

On the whole, I enjoyed it. I haven't yet read the other stories in the Blind Sleuth Mystery Series, but I will now.

[Miss H Balfour · Rating 5 out of 5]

first spring in Paris

A compelling read highly recommend reading the whole series of books some are stand alone stories these do give a different perspective of the characters life

[Elizabeth Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cleverly plotted.
The main character is quite intriguing with how she uses her skills.
An excellent read.