Fin de siècle
Paris: the world of Verlaine and Zola, Renoir and
Toulouse-Lautrec; a time of anarchists, scientists, and
occultists, when can-can skirts were raised at the Moulin
Rouge and fortunes were lost on the Panama Canal. Armand de
Valois was one of these latter unfortunates, stricken by
yellow fever at the site of his ruin. When his widow Odette
disappears into his tomb in the Père-Lachaise cemetery and
never returns, her maid Denise fears the worst. Alone in the
great metropolis, Denise knows just one person she can go to
for help: Odette’s former lover, Victor Legris. When the
frightened girl turns up at his bookshop, Victor feels there
must be a simple explanation for Odette’s disappearance.
But
it soon becomes apparent that something sinister lies behind
events at the Père-Lachaise. When Denise turns up drowned in
the Seine, and Odette's corpse is found buried in an
overgrown backyard, Victor throws himself into his second
investigation, aided by his trusty assistant Joseph and much
to his lover Tasha’s chagrin.
Once again, Paris and its denizens
come alive, and events of world and local history give the
mystery a thrilling backdrop. From the the Bois de
Vincennes to the streets of Saint-Germain, from trams to
carriages, from artists’ lofts to coffee bars, diligently
researched and tightly plotted, The Disappearance at
Père-Lachaise immerses readers in a fascinating mystery
in the glorious City of Light.
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