The Hanged Man's Tale
An Inspector Mazarelle Mystery
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
In the shadowy back alleys and opulent homes of Paris, hard-nosed police inspector Paul Mazarelle of The Paris Directive sets out on the trail of a serial killer.
A murdered man is discovered dangling inside the tunnels of a Paris canal--the only clue, the tarot card in his pockets: the Hanged Man. When an innocent suspect is railroaded into prison for the homicide, Mazarelle sets off on the hunt for the real killer.
For the charming, hot-tempered, impulsive Frenchman--now back from the provinces and leading his own homicide unit out of Paris’s famed Quai des Orfevres--it’s an investigation that takes him far from the comforts of Beaujolais and bouillabaisse, and plunges him into an underworld of ruthless white supremacists looking for scapegoats in Paris’s growing immigrant community, corrupt cops eager to cover up a shady side business, and a conspiracy of secrets that threaten his own life.
Meanwhile, Claire Girard, an irresistible and ambitious journalist at a popular tabloid, is wrapped up in the same story. On the trail of the Tarot Card killer, Mazarelle finds himself blindsided by their growing attraction. And when his team’s case collides with Girard's latest scoop, and the body count keeps rising, Mazarelle himself becomes a prime suspect who must clear his own name. Gerald Jay’s latest Mazarelle adventure is a riveting, fast-paced thriller about a classic French detective making his way through the dangerous streets of a very modern world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the start of Jay's excellent sequel to 2011's The Paris Directive, completed by his wife, son, and grandson after his death in 2020, the Paris authorities are on high alert during the 2002 Bastille Day parade, whose theme is Franco-American friendship in the wake of 9/11. While President Jacques Chirac is riding in an open car on the Champs Élysées, Police Commandant Paul Mazarelle foils an assassin trying to shoot Chirac. A few days later, the body of PI Alain Berthaud is found hanging upside down in a Paris canal tunnel with a tarot card in his jacket bearing the sign of the Hanged Man. Mazarelle investigates, and other similar murders, with the victim strangled and a tarot card of the Hanged Man left behind, follow. When he hears rumors of a major probe of police corruption, Mazarelle begins to think the case is more complex than it initially seemed. Eventually, he looks into the possibility of a link to the assassination attempt on Chirac. Combining rational twists with sophisticated characterizations, Jay (the pseudonym of Gerald Jay Goldberg) and his collaborators never sacrifice plausibility for plot surprises. News that Jay's family plans to continue the series will please the author's fans.
