Monday, March 17, 2014

City Of Darkness And Light-Rhys Bowen

City Of Darkness And Light Rhys Bowen Minotaur, Mar 4 2014, $25.99 ISBN: 9781250011664 In 1905, NYPD Police Captain Daniel Sullivan battles crime in the city while his wife “retired” private detective Molly raises their son Liam. Their happy home ends when an explosion blows up their house injuring the couple and killing their servant Aggie; their infant is okay. Though many assume the gas accidentally was left on unlit, Daniel believes the Cosa Nostra lethally attacked his home to kill him and end his investigations into their activities; with his family and servant expendable collateral damage. They discuss what to do and agree that Molly and Liam will travel to France to stay safely with friends Gus and Sid. After a seasickness voyage across the Atlantic, Molly and her baby arrive at her friends' apartment only Gus and Sid are not there. Molly moves into their abode while searching for the missing pair. She learns that anti-Semite Reynold Bryce, who she planned to visit, was murdered with the motive most likely a reaction to the Emile Zola’s articles on the Dreyfus Affair. The clues lead sleuthing Molly to American expatriate painter Mary Cassatt, where her friends hide because Sid a Jew met with Bryce on the day he was murdered. Feeling right at home in Paris, Molly investigates the homicide. The latest Molly Murphy investigation (see The Family Way) is a superb whodunit that provides fans on a fabulous tour of the City of Lights at a time when anti-Semitism has become publically visible due to Zola’s J'Accuse and in contrast the fine arts flourish; as readers meet a who’s who. The murder mystery is terrific and exciting yet 1905 Paris owns the storyline as the City Of Darkness And Light is also a great historical. Harriet Klausner >

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