Death in Paris by Emilia Bernhard

Death in Paris is a standalone novel and is the story of two American friends in
Paris, who find themselves swept up in a murder and are keen to put their amateur sleuthing skills to the test.

Rachel Lewis is shocked to hear that an old boyfriend of hers has died. Drowned in a bowl of vichyssoise of all things. While not common, it is by no means suspicious, until Rachel learns that a bottle of rosé was on the table when he was found. Not possible! Edgar couldn’t stand rosé! She immediately enlists the help of her friend Magda Stevens and they come up with all manner of theories. When Rachel is called in for the reading of the will, she learns that she has been tasked with cleaning out the library and choosing a book of her liking. What she is shocked about, however, is exactly what has been left to his ex-wife, son, current girlfriend, Girl Friday and butler. Her mind goes into overdrive as more and more suspects become apparent only to have them start dropping like flies. The police don’t believe her and she can’t find definite proof. Is she seeing something that is not there? Maybe her eagerness has blinded her to that fact that it was an accident? Or has it...

This is a fun and easy to read story that flows through scenes comfortably. Rachel is a wonderfully rounded character who is easy to relate to, and you find yourself rooting for her even when she indulges in madcap schemes. I loved the journey of the clues and how she followed them only to go crashing into walls and have to start all over again. I must admit I did have the killer pegged (or was there no killer?), but not for the eventual reasons. I can see these two friends on a crazy journey together in future books righting wrongs in their own way.

There was not much not to like about the book, but a few things stood out for me. There were a couple of editing mistakes like missing quotation marks and scene breaks not being denoted but they didn’t interrupt the reading. I found the use of French terms with no translation a little off-putting as I wasn’t sure what was being referred to and actually had to look some up while I was reading. I only found the glossary at the end of the book once I had finished reading which didn’t help. Some English terms like truculent, allusive and improvident also seemed a little out of place. While the book is in English, there are conversations between characters in French and English and sometimes things like apartment and appartement being used in the same paragraph became confusing and halted the reading flow.

Overall I found it a charming book (if a dead body can be counted as charming), and a pleasurable afternoon read. I do hope the characters return with more crazy encounters.

Many thanks to Thistle Publishing for the opportunity to review the book.