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...

The fast-paced and gripping third title in the bestselling Victor Legris mystery seriesParis, November 1891: The body of a barefoot young woman dressed in red is discovered on Boulevard Montmartre. She has been strangled and her face horribly disfigured. That same day a single red shoe is delivered to Victor Legris's Parisian bookshop by a goatherd. Suspecting more than just coincidence, the charming bookseller sleuth and his assistant Jojo are soon searching for the identity of both victim and murderer. Then, a body is discovered in a wine barrel at the same time as a famous performer from the legendary Moulin Rouge is strangled in her apartment. Victor's investigation takes him and Jojo into the dark alleyways and bustling cafes of the hills of Montmartre, on a trail of evidence that seems to point to a case that shocked the population of Lyons years ago. FromThe sights, sounds, and culture of 1890s Paris are brought to life in this densely written mystery, the third in the series. Bookseller Victor Legris becomes involved in solving another crime when a woman’s red shoe is dropped off at his shop. He learns that a young woman has been found dead, barefoot, her face disfigured by acid. Legris believes that there is a connection between the shoe and the barefoot victim, and as he investigates, additional murders occur—a man found dead in a barrel of wine and a famous performer strangled in her home. Along with his assistant, Joseph Pignot, Legris connects the killings with a scam perpetrated in Lyon years ago. Is one of the victims out for revenge? Meanwhile, Legris, unsure of the loyalty of his lover, the beautiful artist Tasha, struggles with jealousy. Populated with both fictional characters and real people of the time, the novel makes the most of fin-de-siécle Parisian nightlife as a setting for crime. --Sue OBrien ReviewPraise for THE MONMARTE INVESTIGATION:"...a fin de siecle delight. The Montmartre Investigation is...another first-rate escapist pleasure... charming, witty and beautifully evocative." --_BookGeeks___ Praise for the Victor Legris mysteries:"Izner combines a sparkling puzzle (reminiscent of one of Agatha Christie's most famous novels) with complex characters and appealing descriptions of Paris, and Murder on the Eiffel Tower is a well-executed beginning to a series with great potential." --_The Richmond Times Dispatch"An extremely satisfying traditional mystery with lots of suspects and panache. Izner writes in a witty, breezy style, which conjures up the Paris of 1889 and the huge sprawl of the exhibition. The plot is terrific, and who can't enjoy another good time in the City of Light..."--Providence Journal-Bulletin"Fans of quality historical will welcome Izner's debut. The taut pacing and vivid period detail will have readers eagerly turning the pages." --Publishers Weekly"...the energetic curiosity of the hero dovetails nicely with the readers' interest in a fascianting era. The colorful supporting cast lays a solid foundation for Victor's further exploits." --Kirkus Reviews_“Reading Izner is like taking a ride into the belle epoque in a time machine. A wonderfully breathtaking ride.” --Boris Akunin, author of The Winter Queen, The Turkish Gambit, and Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog

The brand-new, shiny Eiffel Tower is the pride and glory of the 1889 World Exposition. But one sunny afternoon, as visitors are crowding the viewing platforms, a woman collapses and dies on this great Paris landmark. Can a bee sting really be the cause of death? Or is there a more sinister explanation? Enter young bookseller Victor Legris. Present on the tower at the time of the incident, and appalled by the media coverage of the occurrence, he is determined to find out what actually happened. In this dazzling evocation of late nineteenth-century Paris, we follow Victor as his investigation takes him all over the city and he suspects an ever-changing list of possible perpetrators. Could mysterious Kenji Mori, his surrogate father and business partner at the bookstore Legris operates, be involved in the crime? Why are beautiful Russian illustrator Tasha and her colleagues at the newly launched sensationalist newspaper Passepartout always up-to-date in their reporting?...

The fourth title in Claude Izner's bestselling Victor Legris mystery series, set in belle-epoque ParisThe clock of the Église Trinité had just struck eight o’clock in the morning when, without warning, an ear-splitting explosion ripped through the district. A building on rue de Clichy rocked on its foundations, and within seconds its staircase had collapsed from top to bottom and its windows had shattered.His body vibrated with the shock of the blast and he thought only: Apocalypse. The street began to dance before his eyes. The dust pricked his nostrils, but what invaded him was something other than its bitter odour, something that seemed to emerge as a long-suppressed memory of a past experience. It was the echo of what had happened long ago. A sign.Paris, Spring 1892. Intrepid bookseller Victor Legris stumbles upon a new case to investigate when his business partner Kenji Mori’s apartment is burgled. Curiously,...

In In the Shadows of Paris, the fifth installment in this c'est magnifique Victor Legris series by Claude Izner, a murderer is at large in belle-epoque Paris.In the turbulent Parisian summer of 1893,Victor Legris has vowed to his fiancée to give up the dangerous hobby of amateur sleuthing to concentrate on selling books.But a killer is at large, leaving mysterious references to a leopard in his notes, and intent on revenge for events that took place many years before during the Commune. When a bookbinder friend of Victor's dies in a house fire that does not seem to be accidental, the young bookseller feels impelled to resume his detective work and uncover the identity of the Batignolles predator. Alongside his trusty assistant Jojo, Victor embarks on a new investigation in the bourgeois quarters of Paris, where scoundrels abound and streethawkers call out their wares among market stalls, under the bloody shadow of the Commune.