Crossing the Line by Frédérique Molay: Review & Giveaway

My Review

Sometimes the dead leave messages from beyond. Sometimes a written message hidden in a book or someplace that is not very obvious but will eventually be found. A desperate man sure of his impending murder has to leave a message that will definitely be found but will not endanger his family members, where will he hide the message? In a locker with a hidden code? Can the message be hidden in a tooth? That is what the man in this book does. Hide a message "I was murdered" in his tooth and donate his body to Medical Research with the hope of a man "throwing a bottle out to the sea", that somebody would find it. Somebody does find it. Now Chief Nico Sirsky of Criminal Investigation Division of Paris has to solve the case of the tooth with the hidden message. 

The story has a macabre but interesting opening in the University with a senior professor teaching students dentists how to perform wisdom tooth surgery where the tooth with the hidden message is found. With this discovery I was completely drawn into the story and the series of events unfold quickly with more puzzles for Nico Sirsky and us. One mystery leading to another and finally the solution.

Ever wondered what happens to the body donated to Medical Research, about how the whole process works. This police pocedural gives detailed information from filling out the form to finally how it is used in advancement of Medical science. Marcel the body processor at the University is an interesting charcter with his macabre sense of humour. Though this is the second book in the Paris Homicide mystery series, it works as a standalone. It is a fast read. I finished it in a couple of sittings. Interesting Police procedural. Looking forward to other Nico Sirsky books.

Crossing The Line

[police procedural / thriller]

(translated by Anne TRAGER)

Release date: September 23, 2014

at Le French Book

224 pages

ISBN: 978-1939474148

Website | Goodreads

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SYNOPSIS

It’s Christmas in Paris and Chief of Police Nico Sirsky has an uneasy feeling that something is very wrong with the case he’s investigating. He and his team of crack homicide detectives follow the clues from an apparent suicide, to an apparent accident, to an all-out murder as an intricate machination starts breaking down. Just how far can despair push a man? How clear is the line between good and evil? [provided by the publisher]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Called, “the French Michael Connelly,” Frédérique Molay graduated from France’s prestigious Science Po and began her career in politics and the French administration.
She worked as chief of staff for the deputy mayor of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and then was elected to the local government in Saône-et-Loire.
Meanwhile, she spent her nights pursing a passion for writing she had nourished since she wrote her first novel at the age of eleven.
The first in the Paris Homicide series, The 7th Woman,
won France’s most prestigious crime fiction award and went on to become an international bestseller,
allowing Molay to dedicate her life to writing and raising her three children.

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ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Anne Trager loves France so much she has lived there for 27 years and just can’t seem to leave. What keeps her there is a uniquely French mix of pleasure seeking and creativity. Well, that and the wine. In 2011, she woke up one morning and said, “I just can’t stand it anymore. There are way too many good books being written in France not reaching a broader audience.” That’s when she founded Le French Book to translate some of those books into English. The company’s motto is “If we love it, we translate it,” and Anne loves crime fiction, mysteries and detective novels.

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**GIVEAWAY**

This giveaway is open internationally, five print copies for U.S. residents and five digital copies for residents of any country. Giveaway ends 10/7/14. Click Here To Enter The Giveaway. Click Here to view the full tour schedule and see the list of participating blogs.

Disclaimer: I received an ebook from the France Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for this review and all opinions are my own.

Paris, Rue des Martyrs- Review and Giveaway

Review

We meet many people everyday. Some more often that we know enough for a nodding acquaintance. Among those there are some we have a connection even unknown to us. Suddenly you realise that somebody you see everyday at the cafe is your boyfriend's father. After all we live in a very small world. So what is the connection between these strangers whose lives intersect in Rue des Martyrs.

Young Rafael is an Emerald trader from Bagota in search of his birth mother in Paris. Mira, an artist, leaves her unfaithful fiancé in Naples and moves to Paris with her friend. Cecile is bored with her life, her children don't need her and her husband is unfaithful. Andre is an actor whose career is at an end after an accident. What are the connections between these varied people?

It is an easy and fast read. Though I haven't read many books with this premise, I have seen lot of movies with this strangers meeting situation, and so it is the connections and how it is handled that would make it novel and interesting. The connections start appearing in the beginning itself and what I like most are the surprises and everything is not as it seems.

I found Cecile's situation quite interesting. When you are young and you are caught in mischief, and you are compared to the prefect little young lady. You do get irritated. Why does she have to be so perfect? But her mother would be proud, wouldn't she to have taught her daughter to be a young lady with grace and charm? What if the perfect little young lady's mother is a plain woman with no charms? Her husband is involved with somebody else. Her perfect little daughter needs no mothering. She is lonely and bored. Has Cecile decided to embark on an affair because her husband is unfaithful or she feels that her perfect little daughter doesn't need her?

I found some of the character tracks similar in the beginning. Aren't Cecile and Mira facing the same kind of situation- unfaithful partner? Aren't Hugo and Rafael on the lookout for their biological parents with whom they shared nothing else? But as the story progresses the similarity between the situations and the reality behind it is revealed, you realise that how different they are. And I couldn't help wondering if Rue des Martyrs is actually Rue des Artists with the book brimming with artists of all kinds from portrait artists, actors, Jewellery designers, and an upcoming writer too. An interesting easy read for the weekend.

Click the Banner for the rest of the tour and other Giveaways.

SYNOPSIS

There are encounters that make a difference. The paths of four strangers cross amid the beauty, squalor, animation and desolation found on a Parisian street called the Rue des Martyrs.
Each one faces some sort of struggle:
A young man’s search for his birth mother leads him to love and grim family secrets.
An unsatisfied housewife finds her world turned upside down by the promise of a passionate liaison.
An aging actor, troubled by the arrival of the son he abandoned years ago, must make a choice: either lose him forever or put aside pride and seek redemption.
A young woman, betrayed by her fiancé, travels to Paris to begin a new life and forget about love… at least that is her intention.
Four stories entwine, four quests become one. [provided by the author]


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Author Bio

Adria J. Cimino worked as a journalist for more than a decade at news organizations including the Associated Press and Bloomberg News. Adria, who grew up in the sunshine, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida. She now lives in Paris and enjoys sharing her adventures in the city and thoughts about the writing life in her blog “Adria in Paris.” Her first novel, “Paris, Rue des Martyrs,” released on Feb. 10, 2014.

Website | Blog | Pinterest | Facebook | Twitter @Adria_in_Paris

The Winner of the Giveaway is Judy Tretin! Congrats Judy!

Disclaimer: I received an ebook from the France Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for this review and all opinions are my own. Giveaway is sponsored by France Book Tours.