Murder in Pigalle by Cara Black is a 1990s thriller that takes place in Paris.
2 out of 10 stars. There is an entire base of ex-pats in Paris. This must be the author’s target audience. I can’t imagine anyone else finding this story gripping at all. The author spends way too much time and page space dropping the names of every shoe, handbag, advertisement, etc with brand names. I don’t care. This slows the story down to a snail’s pace. There is also the author’s awkward prose. Almost every sentence begins with a gerund or participle phrase. I was bored to tears.
The story surrounds a pregnant private investigator, who is more like an off duty cop than an American private investigator, who tries to solve the disappearance of her neighbor’s 13 year old teenager. None of the characters were likable. I felt I didn’t know any of them at all and yet I was irritated with them for being stupid and boring. That’s not a good novel.
2 out of 10 stars. An awful and boring way to spend your weekend.
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