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In many ways, Aimée Leduc has changed from when we first met her. For one thing, Leduc is now a mother, in this, her fifteenth outing. But some things remain the same: Leduc is still passionate about her work in the detective agency she runs, and she still remains fashionably dressed, whether in a slinky black Versace dress or a vintage Courrèges (although perhaps with a little more baby spit-up).
Leduc's past and future intersect on the day of baby Chloé's baptism when two things happen: the baby's father, Melac, returns, as does a gypsy boy from Leduc's past. The boy, Nicu, now a young man, says his dying mother has a message for Leduc—something concerning the death a decade ago of Leduc's father, a former policeman murdered in a bombing. But when she and Nicu appear at the hospital, his gravely ill mother has vanished. Leduc becomes obsessed with finding the woman, and finding the truth about her father's death.
But this stubbornness may put her own daughter in jeopardy, from two fronts—from those who wish to keep a long-ago secret, and from Melac, who has returned with his new bride and wants joint custody of Chloé, arguing that he can provide a better life for his daughter. At times, this seems true; Leduc is so busy running from one appointment to another that she misses a meeting with her lawyer in the custody fight.
Cara Black's series is noir-light, filled with Paris sights that make one want to visit. Each book takes place in a different arrondissement, this one in the chichi 7th Arrondissement. But there's still a dark undercurrent in these books, and Leduc's life seems to become more and more complicated with each new book. This one is no exception, ending in a cliffhanger that will have you anxiously awaiting the next in the series.
§ Lourdes Venard is a newspaper editor in Long Island, N.Y.
Reviewed by Lourdes Venard, March 2015
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