A Dead American in Paris by Seth Lynch ** Review**

I'm delighted to be taking part in the celebrations for the second book in Seth Lynch's Salazar Mysteries: A Dead American in Paris. The sequel to A Citizen of Nowhere, it can be read as a standalone.

Paris. 1931.

Arty Homebrook lived and died in a world of sleaze which stretched from Chicago to Paris but never beyond the gutter.

He'd been sleeping with Madame Fulton, which is why Harry Fulton promised to kill him. So far as the Paris Police are concerned it's an open and shut case. Harry's father has other ideas and hires Salazar to investigate.

As Salazar gets to grips with the case he’s dragged reluctantly into an unpleasant underworld of infidelity, blackmail, backstreet abortions and murder.

Salazar is far too inquisitive to walk away and far too stubborn to know what's for the best. So he wakes up each hungover morning, blinks into the sunlight, and presses on until it's his life on the line. Then he presses on some more, just for the hell of it.

My Thoughts

I particularly enjoy novels set in the 1930's and this had the added distinction that it was set in Paris. It totally captures the essence of the underbelly of the city, full of murky detail of the lives which some lived. Salazar is a marvellous central character. He is so doggedly determined to get at the truth, inquisitive yet beset with his own demons from the past, he carries on looking for the truth, in dirty streets and squalid apartments. Salazar summons echoes of the poor's struggles of the past as he walks the city where he says he hears 'the screams of history reverberating down every street'. It is details like that which set this book apart.

    In contrast to Salazar, we have his girlfriend, Megan, who seems much warmer and down to earth, with a strong sense of self. I like their relationship which adds a bit of normality in contrast to the horrors which are uncovered. Told in the first person, you feel that you are travelling through the story with Salazar, in a fog of Gitanes smoke, smelling French coffee, cognac and red wine. In fact, Paris stands as a character within the book, as you experience it through the detailed prose. The sights, smells and all of the people- they are all there.

In short: an arresting thriller which is deftly written and an ending which does not disappoint.

 

About the Author

Born and brought up in the West of England, Seth has also lived in Carcassonne, Zurich and the Isle of Man.

With two daughters, his writing time is the period spent in cafés as the girls do gym, dance and drama lessons.

You can follow Seth here: Twitter | Amazon Author Page 

  | Facebook 

Thanks to Fahrenheit Press and Emma Welton of damppebbles.com for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.

Book links:

Buy Seth Lynch’s book direct from Fahrenheit Press:

A Citizen of Nowhere (Salazar Book 1): http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_a_citizen_of_nowhere.html

A Dead American in Paris (Salazar Book 2): http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_a_dead_american_in_paris.html

The Paris Ripper (Chief Inspector Belmont Book 1): http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_the_paris_ripper.html

Follow the rest of the tour!