Murder in Paris

On a train to Paris, Catherine West is thrust into the company of the reserved English lawyer Geoffrey Macadam by the meddling Mrs. Hugh Tyler Pope, and the encounter only heightens her unease. Catherine has fled Boston after a broken engagement and is already troubled by a mysterious letter from Hermione Cushing warning her about her cousin Mme. Bender, whose grief, illness, and erratic behavior may conceal a deeper domestic danger. Geoffrey answers her questions with guarded precision, and his reaction to Hermione's name convinces Catherine that Paris holds secrets more serious than she imagined. Once in the city, Catherine's excitement at Paris's lights and landmarks is tempered by anxiety when the expected servant Eduardo fails to appear and she must rely on Geoffrey's quiet practical help. His concern is not misplaced: he fears she is walking into a situation involving a possibly unstable woman, a suspicious maid, and hidden family tensions. Later, Geoffrey leads Catherine into the smoky, sordid world of a Montparnasse nightclub, where they probe a shallow young woman for clues about the sinister Blom, whose cold, calculating manner and financial motives point toward fraud, corruption, and a mystery that may be far more dangerous than Catherine first believed. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.