Murder in Clichy
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
A botched assignment leaves Parisian P.I. Aimée Leduc in possession of a cache of priceless Vietnamese jade. The jade’s history is steeped in colonial bloodshed—and someone is willing to spill even more blood to get it back
Private investigator Aimée Leduc has been introduced to the Cao Dai temple in Paris by her partner, René Friant. He urges her to learn to meditate: she could use a more healthful approach to life. The Vietnamese nun Linh has been helping Aimée to attain her goal, so when she asks Aimée for a favor—to go to the Clichy quartier to exchange an envelope for a package—René prompts Aimée to agree. But the intended recipient, Thadée Baret, is shot and dies in Aimée’s arms before the transaction can be completed, leaving Aimée with a wounded arm, a check for 50,000 francs, and a trove of ancient jade artifacts.
Whoever killed Baret wants the jade. The RG—the French secret service—a group of veterans of the war in Indochina and some wealthy ex-colonials and international corporations seeking oil rights are all implicated. And the nun, Linh, has disappeared.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A small act of generosity leads to murder in Anthony-nominee Black's beguiling fifth outing for savvy and sensitive Parisian PI Aim e Leduc (after 2003's Murder in the Bastille). Still reeling from injuries sustained in her previous adventure, Aim e agrees to help a middle-aged Vietnamese nun, Linh, by delivering an envelope to Thad e Baret. When Aim e meets Thad e for the drop-off, he hands her a bag of precious jade; soon after, an unseen gunman murders Thad e. Who was Thad e? Why did he give Linh the jade? Who wanted him killed? Once it becomes apparent Aim e is involved in something bigger and more dangerous than at first seemed the case (a government surveillance team threatens her; her partner, Ren , is kidnapped), even more questions arise. Readers may feel in the dark at times, and it's consoling to know that Aim e is often just as baffled. As usual, the author renders the city in dazzling detail. She paints an especially rich portrait of the curious Clichy neighborhood, a district made up of "Aristocrats with de la before their name," and "immigrants with -ski, akela, or khabib at the end of their names." Weaving culture, history and suspense, Black scores again.
