REVIEWS FROM DEVORAH STONE
 in CANADA

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THE MONTMARTRE INVESTIGATION         
CLAUDE IZNER         
Minotaur Books pb 9/11

I gave Claude Izner first book, MURDER ON THE EIFFEL TOWER, a mixed review. I liked the setting and excitement of walking down Paris streets during the 1889 Worlds Fair, however I thought the plot was farfetched and unbelievable.

I am happy to say that The Montmartre plot is believable, though not always easy to follow with its multiple plot lines.

After the discovery of a young woman in red with her face made unrecognizable because of acid, Victor Legris receives a single red shoe. The co-owners of a book store, Victor and Kenji Mori and their assistant Joseph, or Jojo, solve this mystery and a few personal ones along the way. The unfortunate young lady's roommate at a respectable boarding house has a connection with Victor's business partner and de facto stepfather, the mysterious Kenji, in what is yet another mystery that I found more interesting than the crime.

Victor continues his unconventional relationship with Tasha, the passionate Russian artist, trying not to be jealous and failing. He wants so much to be part of the times for her sake, but finds he can't be. This is a problem because this case takes him right inside the decadent gay Paris of Montmartre, with Moulin Rouge Can-Can dancers and Toulouse Lautrec. Meanwhile, his assistant comes into his own as the reader finds out about Jojo's life. Jojo does his own sleuthing, much to his bosses consternation.

I enjoyed finding out more about all three men whose lives revolve around the bookstore. The crime plot mirrored these men's own personal dilemmas so well. I especially liked that in this book I found out so much about the often underrated shop assistant, Jojo. Gay Paris comes alive in all its splendour and glory. It's a romp through a time and place that is both exotic and yet so familiar.

THE ELOQUENCE OF BLOOD         
JUDITH ROCK         
Berkley Books Trade PBO 9/11

It is a cold and almost cheerless Christmas holiday season for the Jesuit Priests of the Lois le Grand School in 1687 Paris. They have little money and there is a rising sense of resentment towards them from the populous, made far worse because of two murders in the Mynette family, their benefactor. Many of the inhabitants of Paris accuse the Jesuits. The first murder victim was an adopted girl who had to find her papers if she wished to inherit. If not, the money would go to the Jesuits. Confounding the situation is the murder of her uncle. Besides the Jesuits themselves, the other suspect is the girl's cousin, the uncle's son, a gentle lad who refuses to marry his cousin and, instead, yearns for a monastic life, against his father's wishes.

Rhetoric teacher Charles du Luc is sure of two things: neither the Jesuits nor the hapless novice committed these murders, but now he has to find out who did, or an innocent man will be executed and/or the rising tide of anger towards the Jesuits will take full force.

Almost every sector of Parisian life is investigated from the lowliest beggars, servants, dancers, singers, priests and monks to the wealthiest families. The book constantly moves from the sacred to the deeply profane. The ever present cold and the unrelenting bleak lives of most of Paris' inhabitants haunt Charles as he goes around the city finding justice.

I learnt a great deal about Paris, the times and the Jesuits from reading this book. At times it lagged, but the character of Charles and his quest made me come back for more. It is ultimately about one man's relentless search for the truth, no matter where it would lead.

THE SLEEPWALKERS          
PAUL GROSSMAN         
St. Martin's Griffin Trade pb 9/11

Fiction starts with 'what if'. What if there was a Jewish detective, a former WWI German war hero, in the dying weeks of the Weimer Republic? What if he had a taste of what was to come and tried to stop it? What would he do?

Willi Kraus investigates the death of a 'mermaid', an American woman whose legs have been reattached and the disappearance of a Bulgarian Princess. He goes into the underbelly of rising decadence in Berlin and all around him he sees and feels the constant extreme rhetoric and prejudice of Nazi brown shirts. He and his assistant, Gunther, meet brave men and women who want to expose the evil; at the same time he meets the zealots and the opportunists. A beautiful young woman called Putz, the roommate of the dead American woman, gets him an entry inside the Nazi party where he goes disguised. He uncovers a plot that foreshadows the nightmares to come. As the book progresses he realizes he must get his sons out of the country and the full implication of what will happen to Germany becomes apparent.

It is both fascinating and terrifying to walk down the streets of Berlin and see what is unfolding in the graffiti, banners, and signs everywhere. To hear what people then were saying. For many, the full implications didn't come until it was too late. In a few weeks, hate engulfed everything.

I knew what was coming. This is not Alternative history, yet I couldn't stop reading it. I had to know if Kraus would understand what we all now know about the depth of human cruelty. He knew there wasn't much he could do about it when total injustice reigns. Still he knows he has to do something.

This was a real page turner I couldn't put it down. The author successfully took the clichéd overworked subject matter of the rise of Nazism and made it fresh.

Devorah's review of
INSTRUMENTS OF DARKNESS by Imogen Robertson appears on the PAPERBACK PAGE .

THE DEVIL'S RIBBON         
D.E MEREDITH         
Minotaur Books  November, 2011

The Irish troubles are deep and long and not just in Ireland. It's 1858 and the Irish famine is still fresh in the minds of so many. As the Irish Diaspora of London dies from cholera, there are those who seek revenge against the English and the turn coats, those who work for the English.

With a full morgue of cholera victims, Albert Rourmande is training an apprentice, Patrice, a lad from France. They examine one corpse that is suspicious enough for the widow to arrange an investigation. The victim is an Irish landowner who works with British authorities. Adoluphus Hatton is called in to investigate. With the dandy, eccentric Inspector Grey and his Italian valet, often there for comic relief and as a foil for Hatton, the men traverse London through plague, riots and bombings. Green ribbons of the Irish militant groups show up in the mouths of those men with a connection to one area of Ireland. It is also a love story, as Hatton falls under the spell of Scorcha, the beautiful, intelligent young widow.

Rarely does an historical novel allow you to enter that time almost seamlessly, reflecting every facet of life from the grand houses to the poorest slums. Nor do most mystery novels plunge so deeply and passionately into the realm of the human heart, in sharp contrast to the scientific, investigative work. THE DEVIL'S RIBBON takes the reader into the minds of the victims, the rebels and oppressors and shows the face of despair and prejudice of the times that sadly still survive today. This book makes the politics and the issues of the day real, and shows the reader the people behind one of the greatest tragedies of the 19th century. It is the dark side of the Victorian era contrasted with a time of growing scientific knowledge and social unrest put together brilliantly in this novel. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.