Death in Paris (Mairi Maguire Cozy Mysteries Book 1)

Author:    Kate Darroch

Genre:     Mystery

Digital Book

ASIN #    B09PMP4J6Y

Ad Astra Press, Inc.

181 Pages

$.99 Amazon

March 30, 2022

⭐⭐⭐

8:10 am on 15th August 1970.  They've been in Paris only 12 hours.  Lianna is locked up in jail, charged with murder. Màiri is being hunted by murderous criminals.  She never dreamt that travelling outside Scotland would be so dangerous.  Will Màiri ever again see her comfy home in Merrylea, her loving sisters Morag and Katriona, her schoolboy nephew Niall?

Major Ellis Peverel seldom leaves Màiri's side.  Respected by the Paris police, shrouded in secrets, who is this man?  Is he a true friend to Màiri or does he have an agenda of his own?

Who really killed the corrupt taxman for whose death Lianna has been framed.  Màiri has only 6 days to find the murderer.  Can she free Lianna in time?  Or must she choose between her friend's freedom and her own...if she's still alive.

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Màiri Maguire is a schoolteacher who is on holiday at home, having the term ended.  She is hoping that her boyfriend of twelve years, Brian, who is returning from his work, will finally ask her to marry him.  But instead, he drops a bombshell on her that makes her want to get away quickly.  Fortunately, she has the perfect excuse: she's been asked to teach in Istanbul, and jumps at the chance, especially since she can choose her own assistant -- her best friend Lianna, who wants to leave for her own personal reasons.

But when they arrive on the first leg of their journey, they're in Paris, and just looking to have fun.  But fun isn't what they get when Lianna is arrested for murder, all because she had an altercation with the deceased, on the train to their destination.  Determined to prove Lianna innocent and get her out of jail, she's determined to find the killer.  

But there just might be too many suspects -- all of the people on the train that were in the same place as the now deceased man.  Fortunately, but also suspiciously, aiding her, is Major Ellis Peverel, who is everywhere Màiri is.  Is he one of the bad guys, or is he truly helping her?...

This is the first book in a new series, and I really wanted to like it.  Unfortunately, it felt like homework. You know, where you have a workbook and you have to figure out the answers?  There are even workbook pages with all the names and information, and you have to deduct and insert new information.  Admittedly, Màiri does this, but why are they there?  The plot should not be so convoluted that you have to have this in a book.  (Who was on the train, what time they arrived at the hotel, etc.).  This just seems like overkill.

Plus, there are just too many people.  Granted, it is easy early on to figure out who the 'bad guys' are, but so much intrigue that it just became tiresome.  This, I could even have gotten past; mainly because the writing was good, so I have to give that to the author.  However, what killed the book for me was the fact that I absolutely detest cliffhangers.  I feel like the author is holding her reader captive (Aha!  Now you need to read the next book!).  Yes, I understand it's a series.  But that doesn't make it right in my book.  So I don't know whether I will read the next or not.  Time will tell.

I was given a copy of this book from the author but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Paris-Maguire-Mysteries-Murder-ebook/dp/B09PMP4J6Y/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4649091393

More on Kate Darroch's Books:    https://www.amazon.com/Kate-Darroch/e/B09TR1NZML/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

Quicksand (A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery #3)

Author:  Gigi Pandian
Genre:  Mystery

Five Stars

A thousand-year-old secret room. A sultan’s stolen treasure. A missing French priest. And an invitation to Paris to rekindle an old flame....

Historian Jaya Jones finds herself on the wrong side of the law during an art heist at the Louvre. To redeem herself, she follows clues from an illuminated manuscript that lead from the cobblestone streets of Paris to the quicksand-surrounded fortress of Mont Saint-Michel. With the help of enigmatic Lane Peters and a 90-year-old stage magician, Jaya delves into France's colonial past in India to clear her name and catch a killer.

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When Jaya Jones, historian at a university in San Francisco, receives a first-class ticket and hotel reservation at an upscale property in Paris from her sometime-boyfriend Lane Peters, she hops on a plane to visit him.  When she arrives at the hotel, she finds Lane didn't send the ticket, and didn't know she was coming.  It was a ruse to get her there, because Lane has been recruited for an art heist from the Louvre, and Jaya is insurance that he'll do the job...

Once Jaya has resigned herself to what is happening, things begin to go horribly awry.  When someone who was supposed to help can't be reached, Jaya is reluctantly recruited to take over.  When the theft is complete, Jaya also sees something she's not supposed to, and realizes there is something more going on, something she isn't supposed to find out.

I must say that I enjoyed this book immensely, partly because I enjoy mysteries, and partly because I love history.  The author weaves fact with fiction in such a way that it all seems believable, and that is exactly what a book is supposed to do.  I really don't want to say much more about the plot, because I want everyone who reads it to find out what's happening at the same time as Jaya, and that will only occur if they read themselves.  But I do want to tell you that it is an excellent mystery with enough twists to keep even the most seasoned mystery buff interested.  For myself, I was interested in the imagery of the abbey, and the persona of Sebastien, whom I found delightful.  Highly recommended.  This book will be released in March 2015.

http://www.amazon.com/Quicksand-Gigi-Pandian/dp/1941962270/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1170763927