Murder on the Eiffel Tower (Victor Legris Series #1)

by Claude Izner

Overview

The brand-new, shiny Eiffel Tower is the pride and glory of the 1889 World Exposition. But one sunny afternoon, as visitors are crowding the viewing platforms, a woman collapses and dies on this great Paris landmark. Can a bee sting really be the cause of death? Or is there a more sinister explanation? Enter young bookseller Victor Legris. Present on the tower at the time of the incident, and appalled by the media coverage of the occurrence, he is determined to find out what actually happened. In this dazzling evocation of late nineteenth-century Paris, we follow Victor as his investigation takes him all over the city and he suspects an ever-changing list of possible perpetrators. Could mysterious Kenji Mori, his surrogate father and business partner at the bookstore Legris operates, be involved in the crime? Why are beautiful Russian illustrator Tasha and her colleagues at the newly launched sensationalist newspaper Passepartout always up-to-date in their reporting? And what will Legris do when the deaths begin to multiply and he is caught in a race against time?

Murder on the Eiffel Tower is painstakingly researched, an effortless evocation of the glorious City of Light, and an exciting opening to a promising series of eight books featuring Victor Legris.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312581619
Publisher:	St. Martin's Press
Publication date:	09/15/2009
Series:	Victor Legris Series , #1
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	89,017
Product dimensions:	5.56(w) x 8.28(h) x 0.84(d)

About the Author

Claude Izner is the pseudonym of two sisters, Liliane Korb and Laurence Lefevre. Both are secondhand booksellers on the banks of the Seine and experts on nineteenth-century Paris.

Editorial Reviews

Izner combines a sparkling puzzle (reminiscent of one of Agatha Christie's most famous novels) with complex characters and appealing descriptions of Paris, and Murder on the Eiffel Tower is a well-executed beginning to a series with great potential.” —The Richmond Times Dispatch

“An extremely satisfying traditional mystery with lots of suspects and panache. Izner writes in a witty, breezy style, which conjures up the Paris of 1889 and the huge sprawl of the exhibition. The plot is terrific, and who can't enjoy another good time in the City of Light...” —Providence Journal-Bulletin

“Fans of quality historical will welcome Izner's debut. The taut pacing and vivid period detail will have readers eagerly turning the pages.” —Publishers Weekly

“...the energetic curiosity of the hero dovetails nicely with the readers' interest in a fascianting era. The colorful supporting cast lays a solid foundation for Victor's further exploits. ” —Kirkus Reviews

“Reading Izner is like taking a ride into the belle epoque in a time machine. A wonderfully breathtaking ride.” —Boris Akunin, author of The Winter Queen, The Turkish Gambit, and Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog

“I read this charming, evocative, and suspenseful book with the mounting excitement I always get when I realize I've found a new series—-I can't wait for the next Victor Legris book. What a pleasure it is to visit Paris with such an expert tour guide!” —Charles Finch, author of A Beautiful Blue Death and The September Society

“A book of great charm—-full of delightful historical detail—-and deftly written.” —Frank Tallis, author of A Death in Vienna and Vienna Blood

“[A] clock-beating thriller . . . entertaining views of nineteenth-century Paris.” —Financial Times (UK)

“A charming journey through the life and intellectual times of an era.” —Le Monde

“Evokes the electric atmosphere of Paris...in 1889” —Le Nouvel Observateur

“Isabel Reid's seamless translation captures the novel's many period charms.” —The Independent

“...a charming and amusing whirl around a time of rapid social an intellectual change.” —The Morning Star

“...original...well-plotted and atmospheric.” —FidraBooks.co.uk

“The plot is ecxiting and the story just raced away...an enjoyable introduction to this author.” —CrimeSquad.com

“A fascinating book...strong and intriguing.” —MonstersAndCritics.com

From the Publisher

I read this charming, evocative, and suspenseful book with the mounting excitement I always get when I realize I've found a new series—-I can't wait for the next Victor Legris book. What a pleasure it is to visit Paris with such an expert tour guide!

author of A Beautiful Blue Death and The September Charles Finch

Fans of quality historicals will welcome Izner's debut, the first of a series to feature an engaging and fallible amateur sleuth. In 1889, Parisian bookseller Victor Legris finds himself in the midst of a baffling series of deaths connected with the newly opened Eiffel Tower. The victims all apparently died from bee stings, but Legris suspects foul play. His inquiry coincides with another role outside his usual occupation, as a contributor to Le Passe-partout, a new sensationalist newspaper. Almost as soon as the bookman seizes on a promising suspect, that person turns up dead as well, leaving him with a dwindling pool, which, to his chagrin, includes Le Passe-partout's attractive illustrator, an enigmatic Russian woman with whom he's become besotted. The taut pacing and vivid period detail will have readers eagerly turning the pages. (Sept.)

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Publishers Weekly

At the 1889 World Exposition in Paris, bookshop owner and photographer Victor Legris witnesses the death of a woman, apparently from a bee sting, atop the new Eiffel Tower. More deaths soon follow, launching an emotional investigation concerning everything that Victor holds dear. Coauthored by two Parisian sisters and booksellers writing under a nom de plume, this debut of a very Gallic series will appeal to Francophiles and fans of historicals. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ5/1/08; a Minotaur First Edition selection; library marketing campaign.]

—Jo Ann Vicarel

Library Journal

The excitement of the 1889 World Exposition is muted, then intensified, by murder. With Paris abuzz over the debut of Gustave Eiffel's magnificent tower, the death of a rag-and-bone man at a parade for Buffalo Bill's visiting troupe merits little attention. Weeks after the fatality is ascribed to a bee sting, maiden aunt Eugenie Patinot succumbs to a similar fate during the world expo for which the Tower serves as an entrance arch. Nearby, bookseller Victor Legris meets his dogged journalist friend Marius Bonnet to celebrate the latter's newspaper, Le Passe-partout. Also in attendance are Victor's mysterious business partner Kenji Mori and Russian emigre Tasha Kherson, who works as Bonnet's illustrator. Romantic sparks flash between Victor and Tasha even before Bonnet publishes an anonymous note suggesting that Eugenie was murdered. When another "bee sting" death occurs outside the Colonial Palace, Victor's insatiable curiosity turns him into an amateur sleuth who juggles clues about the crimes, a budding affair with Tasha, elbow-rubbing with celebrities like Anatole France and an attempt to prove, at least to himself, that his friend Mori is not the killer. In this series kickoff from Izner (pseudonym for a pair of collaborating sisters), the energetic curiosity of the hero dovetails nicely with readers' interest in a fascinating era. The colorful supporting cast lays a solid foundation for Victor's further exploits.

Kirkus Reviews