by Cara Black
Part of Aimee Leduc Investigations, book 18
First published 2019
A dying accountant carries his oxygen machine into lawyer Éric Besson's office in Paris's 13th arrondissement. He clutches a weathered notebook containing fifty years of meticulous records. The old man has been laundering money for corrupt cops called "the Hand." Now he wants to confess everything to La Proc, the city's chief prosecutor. But Besson's nephew is murdered while delivering the notebook, and the evidence vanishes. Besson approaches private investigator Aimée Leduc for help. She hesitates. The same dirty police syndicate killed her father years ago. She fears what the notebook might reveal about him. When a friend's child is kidnapped while wearing her daughter's hoodie, the case becomes deeply personal. Aimée must decide whether to pursue the truth about the corruption that destroyed her family. Her investigation takes her across the Left Bank, through Cambodian refugee communities, past ancient tapestry workshops, and into modern galleries. She faces the men who murdered her father while confronting the possibility that he may have been one of them.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: 13th Arrondissement, Cambodia, Left Bank, Paris
Period: Contemporary
304 pages · Paperback · Soho Crime
Content warnings: murder