Murder in Pigalle
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

AimeeLeduc is crashing around Paris again, this time during the 1998 World Cup in France in search of her pal Zazie, a 13-year-old wannabe detective who has disappeared and may be the latest victim of a serial rapist preying on young girls in the Pigalle district. Ah, but that's not all: Aimee is five months pregnant and is doing her running accompanied by the Bump. Black cleverly mixes the domestic situation (Aimee has yet to tell the Bump's father what's happening) and the red-herring-laden mystery (Is Zazie's disappearance even connected to the rapist?). The plot gets a little crazy this time, and the resolution seems a tad abrupt, but series fans won't notice, as they'll be thoroughly caught up in the ongoing story lines regarding Aimee's romantic life, her relationship with partner and best friend Rene (struggling to keep his own romantic feelings for Aimee secret), and, of course, Aimee's terrorist mother, now confirmed to be alive but still off the radar. The combination of vividly evoked Parisian neighborhoods and a bewitching, stylish heroine (now adorned in vintage Dior maternity togs) continues to make this series as tasty as a chunk of French chocolate.--Ott, Bill Copyright 2014 Booklist

Set amid the madness of the 1998 World Cup final, Black's well-crafted 14th Aimee Leduc investigation (after 2013's Murder Below Montparnasse) finds the Parisian PI, who's five-months pregnant, ready to take a break and ponder her future as a single mom. Aimee has reduced her workload, taking mostly cases involving cybercrime, but the disappearance of 13-year-old Zazie Duclos, the daughter of good friends and an Aimee wannabe, snaps her back into active investigator mode. Further complicating the disappearance-in addition to World Cup fever and a daring heist-is a string of recent rapes by a serial pedophile that the police appear to have put on the back burner. Despite her pregnancy, Aimee throws her whole self into the mix, risking life and limb to rescue the girl. A strong sense of place and a deliciously twisted plot more than compensate for some stilted dialogue. Agent: Linda Allen, Linda Allen Literary Agency. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Edgy and appealing French detective Aimee Leduc is back, and she's got a young detective in her wake: 13-year-old Zazie, the red-headed daughter of the cafe owners at the corner. Distressed by an attack on a girl at her school, Zazie is compiling a dossier with news clippings about a similar attack and tracking a suspect to a local bar. Aimee tries to dissuade her from further sleuthing by promising to look at her dossier, but then Zazie goes missing. While Aimee pulls out all the stops in a frantic search, an ex-con trying to go straight finds himself dragged into one last operation with the daughter he's trying to wrest from her wastrel mother held over his head as a threat. As readers anticipate how these two cases will converge, suspense remains taut, further heightened by Aimee's being five months pregnant. At the end, though, she proves to be one tough mother-to-be with a gun. VERDICT Following Murder Below Montparnasse, this latest in the treasured Aimee Leduc series keeps to the high standard of the series while nicely deepening Aimee as a character and leading her in a new direction.-Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

AiméeLeduc is crashing around Paris again, this time—during the 1998 World Cup in France—in search of her pal Zazie, a 13-year-old wannabe detective who has disappeared and may be the latest victim of a serial rapist preying on young girls in the Pigalle district. Ah, but that's not all: Aimee is five months pregnant and is doing her running accompanied by the Bump. Black cleverly mixes the domestic situation (Aimee has yet to tell the Bump's father what's happening) and the red-herring-laden mystery (Is Zazie's disappearance even connected to the rapist?). The plot gets a little crazy this time, and the resolution seems a tad abrupt, but series fans won't notice, as they'll be thoroughly caught up in the ongoing story lines regarding Aimée's romantic life, her relationship with partner and best friend Rene (struggling to keep his own romantic feelings for Aimée secret), and, of course, Aimée's terrorist mother, now confirmed to be alive but still off the radar. The combination of vividly evoked Parisian neighborhoods and a bewitching, stylish heroine (now adorned in vintage Dior maternity togs) continues to make this series as tasty as a chunk of French chocolate. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Edgy and appealing French detective Aimée Leduc is back, and she's got a young detective in her wake: 13-year-old Zazie, the red-headed daughter of the café owners at the corner. Distressed by an attack on a girl at her school, Zazie is compiling a dossier with news clippings about a similar attack and tracking a suspect to a local bar. Aimée tries to dissuade her from further sleuthing by promising to look at her dossier, but then Zazie goes missing. While Aimée pulls out all the stops in a frantic search, an ex-con trying to go straight finds himself dragged into one last operation with the daughter he's trying to wrest from her wastrel mother held over his head as a threat. As readers anticipate how these two cases will converge, suspense remains taut, further heightened by Aimée's being five months pregnant. At the end, though, she proves to be one tough mother-to-be with a gun. VERDICT Following Murder Below Montparnasse, this latest in the treasured Aimée Leduc series keeps to the high standard of the series while nicely deepening Aimée as a character and leading her in a new direction.—Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

Set amid the madness of the 1998 World Cup final, Black's well-crafted 14th Aimée Leduc investigation (after 2013's Murder Below Montparnasse) finds the Parisian PI, who's five-months pregnant, ready to take a break and ponder her future as a single mom. Aimée has reduced her workload, taking mostly cases involving cybercrime, but the disappearance of 13-year-old Zazie Duclos, the daughter of good friends and an Aimée wannabe, snaps her back into active investigator mode. Further complicating the disappearance—in addition to World Cup fever and a daring heist—is a string of recent rapes by a serial pedophile that the police appear to have put on the back burner. Despite her pregnancy, Aimée throws her whole self into the mix, risking life and limb to rescue the girl. A strong sense of place and a deliciously twisted plot more than compensate for some stilted dialogue. Agent: Linda Allen, Linda Allen Literary Agency. (Mar.)