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In the first of a new Hugo Marston series by Mark Pryor, the bouquinistes of Paris (bookstall owers along the Seine) are under attack. Someone is killing or replacing them, but why? As head of security at the US Embassy in Paris, Hugo Marston is witness to his own friend, Max, being abducted from his bookstall, but unable to prevent it. In this well crafted, intriguing murder mystery, readers are led on a chase through the streets of Paris, and the bodies soon begin piling up. The Parisian police refuse to see a conspiracy, and the head of the booksellers' union isn't talking. Still, Marston is undeterred in his quest to find out what happened to his friend. When his oldest friend Tom (a semi-retired Central Intelligence Agency operative) comes to town, they begin to work the case privately. Marston soon learns of Max's history in the Holocaust and his role thereafter as a Nazi hunter. He also runs into an exceedingly charming journalist covering the Paris drug wars. Soon the two stories collide, but not without a good deal of mystery and bonhomie among the security types. Danger comes knocking at Marston's own door after he begins snooping around, and more bouquinistes (apparently those reluctant to forego their stalls and livelihoods) turn up floating in the Seine. Hugo's private life takes some strange turns, and suddenly he is in the mix of the hunt for Nazi collaborators. The novel all goes swimmingly until nearly the end. There is a genuine affability about the characters that populate the side of justice (and less for those perpetrating evil plans), but one of the characters is killed off in the most unlikely of circumstances, marring the wrap-up of the story. Still, there is much to like overall. The scenes of Paris are enjoyable and not overdone. The author doesn't need to impress his readers with facts about Paris, merely uses the City of Light as a great setting for his storytelling. The characters are distinctive, with just enough roughness around the edges to make them believable, and the villains are duly eerie enough to cast a dark shadow when needed. All in all, it's a good first effort, a promising start to a new series. § Christine Zibas is a freelance writer and former director of publications for a Chicago nonprofit.
Reviewed by Christine Zibas, October 2012
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