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Jul. 31st, 2010 10:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennariaGAME OF PATIENCE, by Susanne Alleyn.
Cover copy: Paris, 1796. Aristide Ravel, freelance undercover police agent and investigator, is confronted with a double murder in a fashionable apartment. The victims prove to be Celie Montereau, the daughter of a wealthy and influential family, and the man who was blackmailing her.
Celie's enigmatic and bitter friend Rosalie Clement provides Aristide with intelligence that steers him toward Philippe Aubry, a young man with a violent past who had been in love with Celie. According to an eyewitness, however, Aubry could not have murdered Celie. As time passes, Aristide finds himself falling in love with Rosalie, albeit reluctantly, as he suspects that she knows more about the murders than she will say.
When Aristide uncovers evidence that points to Rosalie herself, he must learn whom she is protecting and why before he can obtain justice for Celie and save Rosalie from the guillotine. From the gritty back alleys of Paris to its glittering salons and cafes, through the heart of the feverish, decadent society of post-revolutionary France, Aristide's investigation leads him into a puzzle involving hidden secrets, crimes of passion, and long-nurtured hatreds.
With elaborate French cultural atmosphere, author Susanne Alleyn has created a sophisticated and stylish mystery set in the uneasy and turbulent years between the Terror and the rise of Napoleon.
Gender of detective: male
This is quite good. Admittedly it falls into one of my preferred tropes: Aristide is very much in the style of Sherlock Holmes, capable of emotional connection, but in the end, the puzzle is all. But it's also well-written. It has the same feeling of being a snapshot of time and place, without pointless infodumps, that I've noted elsewhere.
...I will also note, regarding emotional connection, that Aristide develops a friendship with the official Executioner of Paris, which could be read as totally slashy if your mind chooses to go that way, and given the hour, mine kinda is. (Yes, he develops a friendship with Rosalie as well, but there are Other Circumstances afoot there.)
*
Just managed to spill my soda all over myself. But not over my laptop! Am not sure if this exactly counts as a win.
Cover copy: Paris, 1796. Aristide Ravel, freelance undercover police agent and investigator, is confronted with a double murder in a fashionable apartment. The victims prove to be Celie Montereau, the daughter of a wealthy and influential family, and the man who was blackmailing her.
Celie's enigmatic and bitter friend Rosalie Clement provides Aristide with intelligence that steers him toward Philippe Aubry, a young man with a violent past who had been in love with Celie. According to an eyewitness, however, Aubry could not have murdered Celie. As time passes, Aristide finds himself falling in love with Rosalie, albeit reluctantly, as he suspects that she knows more about the murders than she will say.
When Aristide uncovers evidence that points to Rosalie herself, he must learn whom she is protecting and why before he can obtain justice for Celie and save Rosalie from the guillotine. From the gritty back alleys of Paris to its glittering salons and cafes, through the heart of the feverish, decadent society of post-revolutionary France, Aristide's investigation leads him into a puzzle involving hidden secrets, crimes of passion, and long-nurtured hatreds.
With elaborate French cultural atmosphere, author Susanne Alleyn has created a sophisticated and stylish mystery set in the uneasy and turbulent years between the Terror and the rise of Napoleon.
Gender of detective: male
This is quite good. Admittedly it falls into one of my preferred tropes: Aristide is very much in the style of Sherlock Holmes, capable of emotional connection, but in the end, the puzzle is all. But it's also well-written. It has the same feeling of being a snapshot of time and place, without pointless infodumps, that I've noted elsewhere.
...I will also note, regarding emotional connection, that Aristide develops a friendship with the official Executioner of Paris, which could be read as totally slashy if your mind chooses to go that way, and given the hour, mine kinda is. (Yes, he develops a friendship with Rosalie as well, but there are Other Circumstances afoot there.)
*
Just managed to spill my soda all over myself. But not over my laptop! Am not sure if this exactly counts as a win.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-01 02:40 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-01 02:43 am (UTC)