Bertie And The Crime Of Passion
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- 1,99 €
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- 1,99 €
Publisher Description
The third in the delightfully witty crime series set in late 19th century bohemian Paris, following the adventures of Bertie, Prince of Wales.
Bertie is in Paris, a city which holds many attractions for him, not least the actress Sarah Bernhardt. It is the divine Sarah who informs him of a recent murder on the dance floor of the Moulin Rouge as the cabaret reached its climax. Bertie can never resist demonstrating his sleuthing skills and he rashly co-opts Bernhardt as his assistant.
When the French police make an arrest, Bertie is on the point of quitting Paris and abandoning the case. Prompted by Sarah, he discovers new clues and saves an innocent man from the guillotine . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lovesey's third spirited mystery to feature Edward VII, Prince of Wales, as a dogged, often fatuous but ever-successful amateur sleuth (Bertie and the Tinman) finds the royal in Paris in 1891. There, Bertie is discreetly enjoying the City of Light's pleasures and his platonic meetings with reigning actress Sarah Bernhard, when Maurice Letissier, prospective son-in-law of Bertie's old friend Jules d'Agincourt, is shot dead at the Moulin Rouge. Present when the unseen gunman fired were Jules, his wife, his newly betrothed daughter and his younger son, all celebrating the engagement while, along with dozens of other patrons, they watched the frenzied dancing of the notorious La Goulue and her partner, Valentin. Bertie's detecting instincts are aroused, especially as he becomes aware of the victim's libertine ways and of his fiancee's involvement with Glyn Morgan, a penniless, 50-year-old painter. When the Surete arrest Morgan for the crime, Bertie, convinced of his innocence, is spurred to bolder explorations of the city's seamier aspects, producing at last a surprising confession. A lively evocation of fin-de-siecle Paris, a lightly ironic tone and some tidy plotting add up to another easy-to-take confection from this reliable British author.
