I read and reviewed the two earlier titles in the English translations of this French mystery series last year, so it was an easy call for me to pick this one up, as well.
As I noted in my earlier review, Claude Izner is the pseudonym of two sisters who are second-hand booksellers in Paris and experts on Paris in the nineteenth century. So it only makes sense that the series takes place in fin de siècle Paris and features a pair of antiquarian booksellers as its main characters. Victor Legris is one of these booksellers; the other is his Japanese partner and father-figure Kenji Mori. They are joined in this novel by Joseph Pignot, their faithful assistant (who often runs the store while they are out wandering about), by Victor’s paramour Tasha and by Kenji’s ward Iris.
This series is particularly noteworthy for its careful attention to detail on places in Paris. When the characters travel about, the reader can practically follow along on a good map. And, much to their credit, Minotaur includes a decent line map of the relevant parts of Paris at the front of each installment in the series.
The Montmartre Investigation takes place, as the title suggests, primarily in the Montmartre section of Paris, and prominently features such memorable locales as the Moulin Rouge and Le Chat Noir, both popular nightspots in this period. Victor and Joseph separately (and both rather surreptitiously) investigate a series of grisly murders that appear to be linked. The clue that initially attracts the attention of both men is the delivery of a single red shoe to the bookstore, brought by an eccentric goatherd whose dog found the shoe with a piece of bookstore letterhead folded in the insole.
It is a clear distinction of this series that the authors are able to juxtapose some really gruesome deaths with the incredible silliness of all the main characters. Subplots add to the novel’s texture and advance the development of the relationships among these characters. In The Montmartre Investigation, Victor figures out who Iris really is and moves into an apartment closer to Tasha’s studio, Kenji decides he’s been keeping too many secrets, and Joseph finally realizes his dream of having his name in print with a mystery series published in a local newspaper.
To date, these are the only three titles in this series that have been translated into English. A visit to the French-language Amazon Web site reveals the existence of several more titles. It will be interesting to see how many more Minotaur decides to package for English-only readers.
(Minotaur Books, 2010)
Comments