1797, and servant girl Jeannette Moineau has been accused of poisoning her master -Martin Dupont. Dupont daughter in Law, Laurence, believes her innocent and wants Ravel and Brasseur to investigate. But is this the end to the killings, and what secrets does Ravel reveal about mutual friends of his and Laurence,
A very enjoyable tale, and I really like the characters and hope there is another in the series. ( )

Oh dear, the Curse of the Second Novel strikes again! I was really impressed by Aristide Ravel's debut in A Game of Patience, but the follow-up, despite being based on yet another historical murder case, fell slightly flat for me. I'm not sure if it was the narrow focus of the investigation - an extended family living together in one house - or the lacklustre narrative and dialogue, but I felt like I was reading the tenth book in the series, not the second. A strong-willed widow seeks the help of Aristide and his official colleague and friend Brasseur to investigate the murder of her father-in-law. Old Martin Dupont, based on Moliere's play 'The Miser', was poisoned, and the family are accusing a kitchen maid, but Laurence Dupont insists that the servant is innocent. Once again, Aristide finds himself drawn to the widow, but this time because of a personal connection - Laurence and her late husband, who was executed as a supporter of Robespierre at the end of the Revolution, knew Aristide's best friend, who was himself sent to the guillotine. Although I am usually wary of homosexual relationships in historical novels, or at least the motives of the author and publisher, Susanne Alleyn handles the subplot sensitively and appropriately. However, all I could think of was another reader's review of A Game of Patience, which suggested that perhaps Aristide Ravel's relationship with tragic best friend Matthieu Alexandre was slightly more than platonic, hence Ravel's typically detective-genre status as the 'eternal bachelor'. Alleyn skirts close to confirming this theory, but of course his story doesn't end here!

The murder mystery itself was fairly obvious in parts - the family doth protest too much - and tedious in conclusion. I did like the individual characterisations of the Dupont family, however, which was intricately constructed and suitably melodramatic. 'Old Man' Dupont lived with his younger second wife, actor son, two daughters, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, grandchildren, assistant (who was bothering with the second wife), and various servants, all with motives to bump him off. I needed a couple of chapters to get all the names and relationships straight, but then it was like watching a soap opera for ten years and getting to know all the characters, good, bad and ugly. Garrulous granddaughter Fanny and demoted-aristocrat Ursule were my favourite family members.

I will read on, because Aristide is a very human and amiable detective, and Susanne Alleyn recreates post-Revolutionary France beautifully, but this instalment was instantly forgettable. ( )

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: For police agent and investigator Aristide Ravel, the teeming streets and alleyways of Paris are a constant source of activity. And in the unruly climate of 1797, when gold and food are scarce, citizens will stop at very little to get what they need.
When Jeannette Moineau, an illiterate servant girl, is accused of poisoning the master of the house where she works, Ravel cannot believe she is guilty of the crime. With stubborn witnesses, a mysterious white powder, and stolen goods all stacked against her, however, he knows it will not be easy to clear her of the charges. But Ravel finds an unexpected ally in Laurence, a young widow of the house, whose past surprisingly intersects with his own.

In a large household brimming with bickering and resentment, everyone seems to have a motive for poisoning old Martin Dupont. But as more family members turn up dead, the list of suspects rapidly dwindles. Tensions rise and Ravel and Laurence must probe the secrets of the city's crafty politicians and confidence artists for clues to clear Jeannette's name. Finding information, though, in dissolute post-revolutionary Paris can lead to costly and dangerous demands.

From the author of Game of Patience comes a new historical mystery, bringing alive the sights and sounds of eighteenth-century Paris---brimming with atmospheric details, scandal, and murder.

My Review: The second published, and fourth in reading order, Aristide Ravel mystery, set in Revolutionary Paris, leads us deeper into the twisty byways of our sleuth's character and, at the same time, deeper into the vanished Paris that was so influential in the creation of the modern world.

I like series mysteries for reasons I've discussed elsewhere...orderly things, mysteries, and the recurring characters make the world feel a little less random than it actually is...but they come with some hazards. Writers under the pressure of deadlines sometimes make us feel as though they're phoning it in, characterization can dwindle to a series of overused tics (like Miss Silver's cough in all those Patricia Wentworth mysteries) or a catchphrase so overused as to make one want to scream blue murder (Hercule Poirot's "little gray cells" oh clam up already).

Alleyn avoids these pitfalls by enriching our understanding of Revolutionary France and its creators as well as our sleuth. This is a spolier, so stop reading if you're spoiler-averse:

**SPOILER**

Aristide, from the last book, is still mourning his childhood chum Mathieu's death at the hands of the National Convention, which judicially murdered a lot of people belonging to an out-of-power political faction. Aristide dreams of this beloved friend's death at the beginning of this book, and we see him relive the horrible ride to the guillotine that Mathieu took, though I'd think that the presence of a friend there, at that moment, would be a comfort to Mathieu...but the kicker is, as we find out in the course of this murder investigation, that Mathieu was actually In Love with Aristide, who until now was blissfully ignorant of this important fact of his friend's life.

**END SPOILER**

So what does Alleyn do with the major revelation that she gives to not one, but two, of the major characters in this book? Does she grandstand a little and make it a huge stonking Brie wheel of a deal? No. She incorporates the revelations into the actual plot, the real mystery to be solved. It's a very nice touch. It's a reason to keep reading in the series, since this isn't the first time she's done this. It's a marker of a careful, considerate writer, one respectful of her readers, and that kind of writer deserves our dollars.

So, in the end, does this book satisfy? Yes. Are there problems? Yeah...none big...a few scanted red herrings, a little bit of background not quite colored in, that's about all. But history, the living breathing thing history, can never fail to satisfy the discerning reader. Be one of Susanne Alleyn's discerning readers, you won't regret it. ( )

A first rate story, difficult to put down. I found the back ground of Paris fascinating. Having spent some holidays in Paris it was most enjoyable to read about the areas that have remained the same and those that have been changed. I shall be getting more of Susanne Alleyn's books when the pension allows. Regrettably our local library does not carry her books and with the financial constraints now imposed they are not willing to add books on request. ( )

Not very interesting. ( )