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bibliobethreads's review
4.0
First of all, thank you so much to Emma Welton, amazing blogger extraordinaire at damppebbles, all round good egg and now blog tour organiser who invited me to take part in this blog tour via email. Thank you also to Fahrenheit Press who provided me with a copy of A Dead American In Paris in exchange for an honest review. I have a great love for crime fiction although I sadly, I don't read it half as much as I used to as I felt that what I was reading was getting a bit "samey." I tend to reserve reading the genre for books my fellow bloggers have got me really excited about, something out of the box and a bit different where I'm not going to predict the outcome halfway through. That's why I'm so pleased that I read this book. Although it's the second in the series and I haven't read the first, A Citizen Of Nowhere, I genuinely believe that it can be read and enjoyed as a stand-alone. A Dead American In Paris is different in that it reads like a classic book in the genre. This is not only because of the time period it is set in, the early thirties in Paris but the writing style feels vintage, almost as if the author had placed himself directly within the 1930's and is writing about it as he sees it at that moment - if that makes any sense?
Our male lead for the narrative is private detective, Salazar who has become embroiled in a very interesting case that looks remarkably like a murder carried out in a fit of jealous rage. The victim is Arty Homebrook, a rather shady character who sleeps around with a number of married women and appears to live quite a meagre existence in a shady, dirty flat. One of the aggrieved husbands, Harry Fulton is the main suspect in this case and is currently in jail pending trial. However, Fulton's father has recently employed Salazar to find out the truth about what happened that night and of course, the real story behind the murder, is much murkier and more convoluted than anyone directly or indirectly involved in the case could ever have suspected.
A Dead American In Paris was such a pleasant surprise. As I read the synopsis, I instantly knew that I was interested but I still wasn't prepared for the journey that Seth Lynch would take me on. Not only were the characters wonderfully drawn but they felt incredibly authentic and after a very short time of reading, I wanted to know everything and anything about them. We have a wonderful and intriguing male lead in Salazar who is sarcastic, determined, impulsive but also tormented by his experiences during the First World War and by other, more individual worries and mental issues which plague him from time to time. In my eyes, this made him both a delight to read (in the way of his snide comments and that you never knew what he was going to try next!) and that he was undeniably human, with all the anxieties we all suffer at certain points in our lives.
I completely fell in love with this story. The plot, the characters, the way it moved steadily and slowly, each reveal happening methodically and intelligently. However, my favourite part had to be how it ended. As I alluded to in the first paragraph of my review, I hate the predictable and it's a relief to know that Seth Lynch isn't just going to rest easy on his laurels with a cliche....that's all I'm saying!
For my full review and many more, please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
Our male lead for the narrative is private detective, Salazar who has become embroiled in a very interesting case that looks remarkably like a murder carried out in a fit of jealous rage. The victim is Arty Homebrook, a rather shady character who sleeps around with a number of married women and appears to live quite a meagre existence in a shady, dirty flat. One of the aggrieved husbands, Harry Fulton is the main suspect in this case and is currently in jail pending trial. However, Fulton's father has recently employed Salazar to find out the truth about what happened that night and of course, the real story behind the murder, is much murkier and more convoluted than anyone directly or indirectly involved in the case could ever have suspected.
A Dead American In Paris was such a pleasant surprise. As I read the synopsis, I instantly knew that I was interested but I still wasn't prepared for the journey that Seth Lynch would take me on. Not only were the characters wonderfully drawn but they felt incredibly authentic and after a very short time of reading, I wanted to know everything and anything about them. We have a wonderful and intriguing male lead in Salazar who is sarcastic, determined, impulsive but also tormented by his experiences during the First World War and by other, more individual worries and mental issues which plague him from time to time. In my eyes, this made him both a delight to read (in the way of his snide comments and that you never knew what he was going to try next!) and that he was undeniably human, with all the anxieties we all suffer at certain points in our lives.
I completely fell in love with this story. The plot, the characters, the way it moved steadily and slowly, each reveal happening methodically and intelligently. However, my favourite part had to be how it ended. As I alluded to in the first paragraph of my review, I hate the predictable and it's a relief to know that Seth Lynch isn't just going to rest easy on his laurels with a cliche....that's all I'm saying!
For my full review and many more, please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
ljwrites85's review
4.0
It was no surprise to anyone that Arty Homebrook ended up stabbed to death in his dingy little flat. He had affairs with married women, blackmailed desperate people and ran scheme after scheme. The police only have one suspect, Harry Fulton who had been overheard threatening to kill anyone who slept with his wife, something Homebrook had been doing for months. Salazar is tasked by Fulton’s rich father to investigate but he isn’t convinced of Harry Fulton’s innocence.
The more Salazar digs, the deeper he becomes embroiled in Arty’s lies and deceit. Can he solve the case without losing himself?
So this is the second in the Salazar series but to me it worked perfectly well as a stand-alone.
Now this is how you write a historical novel! The language fit, the setting was vivid and the characters felt right for the time period. It is a beautifully written, almost poetic at times but it is also quite dark. Set in the 1930’s, an era I’m fond of, it shows the real seedy underbelly and seemingly unending poverty of Paris, a place usually associated with romance.
This really reminds me of those hardboiled detective novels of the 1950’s, the murder victim is utterly despicable but the people around him are not much better either!
Then we have the detective. Salazar is sarcastic, intelligent but also a damaged soul. Still suffering from what we’d call post traumatic stress disorder, back in those days they’d probably call it melancholy, from the first world war everyday is a battle for him. He sees ghosts, suffers from paranoia and often blacks out not remembering what he’s done which for a private investigator makes his job that much harder but he never gives up.
The book also deals with the dark topic of back street abortion, women being told not to use contraception but shunned if they ended up with an unwanted pregnancy and what they had to suffer through to terminate a child was absolutely barbaric!
I did cringe a little at the way crime scenes were treated by the police. People smoking, ransacking and stealing from them with little regard for persevering evidence but I suppose back in those days there wasn’t much in the way of forensics.
Overall a dark and compelling historical mystery that you can lose yourself in.
The more Salazar digs, the deeper he becomes embroiled in Arty’s lies and deceit. Can he solve the case without losing himself?
So this is the second in the Salazar series but to me it worked perfectly well as a stand-alone.
Now this is how you write a historical novel! The language fit, the setting was vivid and the characters felt right for the time period. It is a beautifully written, almost poetic at times but it is also quite dark. Set in the 1930’s, an era I’m fond of, it shows the real seedy underbelly and seemingly unending poverty of Paris, a place usually associated with romance.
This really reminds me of those hardboiled detective novels of the 1950’s, the murder victim is utterly despicable but the people around him are not much better either!
Then we have the detective. Salazar is sarcastic, intelligent but also a damaged soul. Still suffering from what we’d call post traumatic stress disorder, back in those days they’d probably call it melancholy, from the first world war everyday is a battle for him. He sees ghosts, suffers from paranoia and often blacks out not remembering what he’s done which for a private investigator makes his job that much harder but he never gives up.
The book also deals with the dark topic of back street abortion, women being told not to use contraception but shunned if they ended up with an unwanted pregnancy and what they had to suffer through to terminate a child was absolutely barbaric!
I did cringe a little at the way crime scenes were treated by the police. People smoking, ransacking and stealing from them with little regard for persevering evidence but I suppose back in those days there wasn’t much in the way of forensics.
Overall a dark and compelling historical mystery that you can lose yourself in.
karlou's review
5.0
A Dead American In Paris is the second book by Seth Lynch to feature Reggie Salazar, a rather world weary English private detective now living and working in Paris. I've not yet read the first, A Citizen of Nowhere so can happily confirm that this sequel can definitely be enjoyed as a standalone. The book opens almost immediately with a murder - or rather with a murder scene because we don't learn whodunnit until much later in the story. However, at this point, the police already have a man in custody; on learning that his wife had been sleeping with Arty Homebrook, Harry Fulton announced he would kill them both. So when Homebrook is found with a knife in his back, it's not surprising that Fulton becomes the chief suspect in what seems to be a crime passionnel. However, Fulton's father understandably wants his son off the hook and has engaged the services of Salazar to investigate whether somebody else could have murdered Homebrook.. Salazar doesn't care much either way if Fulton Jr is innocent or guilty but he does care about justice and so takes the case. Before long he finds himself in danger as he learns more about the sordid life of the victim and discovers there are a few people who may have wanted him dead.
A Dead American In Paris has the Noirish feel of a Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett novel; there is nothing romantic about this Paris and though Salazar may be English, his experiences in the First World War and resulting PTSD mean his dark moods, hard drinking and heavy smoking means he bears more resemblance to Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade than to the quintessential Englishman abroad. The first person narrative makes for a fast paced book and allows the reader to experience the tawdry underbelly of Paris society through Salazar's eyes. Though he rather stumbles around the city, drinking copious amounts of wine and Cognac and smoking Gitanes or reefers, he has also has a more cerebral, contemplative side; he is a vegan, has recently made a vow to avoid violence - although he is not always successful in this regard - and considering the book is set in 1931 he is an enlightened partner to his girlfriend, Megan. She is a wonderful character with strong political opinions on what are still contemporary themes - women's rights, marriage and abortion (which was still illegal in France until 1975), with the the latter being particularly topical following the recent vote in Ireland.
The book delights in notable characters; Salazar's landlord and chess opponent, Filatre; his Russian immigrant friend, Mikhail, who supplies his reefers and has a relaxed attitude to fidelity in relationships; the really quite dreadful Mme Fulton, with whom Salazar has some memorable encounters and Chief Inspector Belmont who is as partial to drink as Salazar, even when working (and who appears in his own novel, The Paris Ripper). However, Paris is arguably the other major character in the novel. By 1931, the Jazz Age is coming to an end as the Great Depression looms over the city. The drinking, partying and shameless infidelity persists but what once seemed carefree hedonism now looks more seedy. This is the underbelly of the city, home to the outsiders and immigrants, to dodgy landlords and squalid homes. Seth Lynch evokes a Paris of run-down cafes where the air is permeated by the smell of the smoke from the ubiquitous Gitanes and Gauloises, cheap wine and strong coffee. This is a city which exudes violence, where body fluids soak into mattresses and between floorboards, where domestic violence occurs unchecked and women are forced to risk dangerous back street abortions.
Salazar's fragile mental health is deeply affected by this case - the growing body count, abject hopelessness of the situation and the ever looming threat of a return of the depression which dogs him give a melancholic feel to the proceedings and yet there is also sharply observed humour here. The descriptive language used is frequently a delight and Salazar himself is deftly perceptive, his sardonic wit and often insouciant attitude to rules mean the book has a surprising lightness of touch despite the dark subject matter. A Dead American In Paris, is a beautifully written novel, with vivid and atmospheric prose, a cracking mystery, brilliant characters and a shocking ending - I loved it!
A Dead American In Paris has the Noirish feel of a Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett novel; there is nothing romantic about this Paris and though Salazar may be English, his experiences in the First World War and resulting PTSD mean his dark moods, hard drinking and heavy smoking means he bears more resemblance to Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade than to the quintessential Englishman abroad. The first person narrative makes for a fast paced book and allows the reader to experience the tawdry underbelly of Paris society through Salazar's eyes. Though he rather stumbles around the city, drinking copious amounts of wine and Cognac and smoking Gitanes or reefers, he has also has a more cerebral, contemplative side; he is a vegan, has recently made a vow to avoid violence - although he is not always successful in this regard - and considering the book is set in 1931 he is an enlightened partner to his girlfriend, Megan. She is a wonderful character with strong political opinions on what are still contemporary themes - women's rights, marriage and abortion (which was still illegal in France until 1975), with the the latter being particularly topical following the recent vote in Ireland.
The book delights in notable characters; Salazar's landlord and chess opponent, Filatre; his Russian immigrant friend, Mikhail, who supplies his reefers and has a relaxed attitude to fidelity in relationships; the really quite dreadful Mme Fulton, with whom Salazar has some memorable encounters and Chief Inspector Belmont who is as partial to drink as Salazar, even when working (and who appears in his own novel, The Paris Ripper). However, Paris is arguably the other major character in the novel. By 1931, the Jazz Age is coming to an end as the Great Depression looms over the city. The drinking, partying and shameless infidelity persists but what once seemed carefree hedonism now looks more seedy. This is the underbelly of the city, home to the outsiders and immigrants, to dodgy landlords and squalid homes. Seth Lynch evokes a Paris of run-down cafes where the air is permeated by the smell of the smoke from the ubiquitous Gitanes and Gauloises, cheap wine and strong coffee. This is a city which exudes violence, where body fluids soak into mattresses and between floorboards, where domestic violence occurs unchecked and women are forced to risk dangerous back street abortions.
Salazar's fragile mental health is deeply affected by this case - the growing body count, abject hopelessness of the situation and the ever looming threat of a return of the depression which dogs him give a melancholic feel to the proceedings and yet there is also sharply observed humour here. The descriptive language used is frequently a delight and Salazar himself is deftly perceptive, his sardonic wit and often insouciant attitude to rules mean the book has a surprising lightness of touch despite the dark subject matter. A Dead American In Paris, is a beautifully written novel, with vivid and atmospheric prose, a cracking mystery, brilliant characters and a shocking ending - I loved it!
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