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According to the novel, the Sentier district is located in France in what used to be a glamorous neighborhood. After many years of disrepair it is now home to several dive joints, the rag trade, and Paris's Silicon Valley. Computer security expert Aimee Leduc is about to start an interesting week. Ý When Aimee was eight years old her mother disappeared completely from her life. Her father refuses to discuss his wife's exit with his daughter and by then it is too late when he becomes victim of a terrorist attack. Aimee has never recovered from that alienation and she has made it her life's mission to learn the truth about her family. Today she will learn something new from a stranger who alleges that she shared a past with Aimee's mother. They both spent time in prison and they became cellmates in the mid '70s. She is willing to share everything she knows about Sydney Leduc for the price of fifty thousand francs. Ý At first Aimee is skeptical about Jutta Hald's story until she is shown a journal that was written by her mother. Jutta refuses to hand over the journal until she is paid. She also claims that Sydney sent something to her daughter that belongs to Jutta and that she wants it back. Aimee is clueless about what it could be but agree to meet her at the Sentier with the money. As she is ready to meet her mother's cellmate with her payment she finds Jutta has been murdered in pure daylight and that the journal is now missing. Before the police (or "flics", as they are known) can question her she runs for her life and starts her adventure. During the course of her investigation Aimee will learn about a '70s radical group that shared a connection with Sydney. Its members are being decimated one by one by a ruthless villain who is trying to find the hidden location of some loot stolen over twenty years ago. He believes that Aimee is the key to find the treasure. Ý Cara Black gives us an incredible story that takes place in an area of Paris that everyone is not completely familiar with. The characters are well developed to the point that we get to see them for the human beings they are supposed to portray. There is an unusual assortment of supporting characters in this novel ranging from an albino Jew, a Senegalese musician, and the tortured son of tragic celebrity families. Each one of them provides a unique perspective to the plot by providing a colorful flavor to the storyline without demeaning or ridiculing himself. Murder in the Sentier is a good story for someone who wants to take a break from the classical whodunit as well as with police procedurals. Some readers might be turned off by the use of the French language in some of the scenes that might require one to use a dictionary. No matter its little peccadilloes it might have to some people it is an entertaining read.
Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, September 2002
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