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Murder on the Eiffel Tower
A Victor Legris Mystery
by Claude Izner
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About the Book
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.
About The Author(s)
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.
Reviews (1)
• “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
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“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
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“A book of great charm—full of delightful historical detail---and deftly written.”—Frank Tallis, author of A Death in Vienna and Vienna Blood
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“[A] clock-beating thriller… entertaining views of nineteenth-century Paris.” —Financial Times (UK)
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"A charming journey through the life and intellectual times of an era."—Le Monde
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"Evokes the electric atmosphere of Paris… in 1889"—Le Nouvel Observateur
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"Isabel Reid's seamless translation captures the novel's many period charms."—The Independent
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"…a charming and amusing whirl around a time of rapid social an intellectual change."—The Morning Star
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"…original...well-plotted and atmospheric."—FidraBooks.co.uk
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"The plot is ecxiting and the story just raced away… an enjoyable introduction to this author."—CrimeSquad.com
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"A fascinating book… strong and intriguing."—MonstersAndCritics.com
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Reviews (2)
From Publishers Weekly "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."
From Booklist "Bookseller Victor Legris investigates when several people die of apparent bee stings during the Universal Exposition of 1889 in Paris. The disparate group of victims includes a rag picker, a poor relation, a wealthy collector, and a budding opera star. Did these people really die of bee stings, or are they being murdered? If so, why? Victor looks for the connection between the four, and to his horror it appears that the link may be either Kenji, the man who raised him after his father’s death, or Tasha, the woman he is beginning to love. This leisurely paced mystery, steeped in the sights and sounds of nineteenth-century Paris and the Universal Exposition—and full of details about the newly open Eiffel Tower—pairs a methodical investigation with a love interest, carefully researched historical facts, and details of the literary world of the time. The only quibble is that the many secondary characters are rather underdeveloped and, hence, difficult to keep straight. Izner is the pseudonym for two sisters who are secondhand booksellers."—Sue O'Brien
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