This was fun to read but I didn't think it was excellent. The plot was OK, had you running around in different directions, but I didn't connect with any of the characters and I thought the hero was a bit weird. He was always about to faint. I don't much care for macho men, but I do like them a little stronger. Still, I enjoyed it enough to read more in the series. I do like being in late 19th century Paris! ( )

Murder on the Eiffel Tower is the first in a series of crime novels about a 19th Century Parisian bookseller, Victor Legris. Claude Izner is actually a pen name for two authors who are both Parisian booksellers, so I guess their choice of hero is unsurprising.

The book is set during the Paris Exposition, at the time when the Eiffel Tower was first opened. Victor is asked to write a literary column for a new magazine, just as a series of strange deaths starts occurring. The victims seem to have been stung by a bee and died very quickly. As Victor learns more about this story, he has some disturbing doubts and decides to investigate. The only thing linking these deaths seems to be that the victims all visited the Tower.

The strongest aspect of this book is the way the authors capture Paris during the Expo. They are very effective at describing the impact that this strange new structure, and the Expo overall, has on Parisians and visitors alike.

Unfortunately, Victor is too bland and hapless a character to build a series around; he’s certainly no Rebus, Wallander or Erlendur in terms of character depth. Overall the book is lightweight. For lovers of this genre, where detective and historical fiction meet, I’d recommend Boris Akunin’s Fandorin series instead. ( )

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/hLSWNhTf9rE

Enjoy!

I took me quite a while to finish this book. It started off well, but then fizzled out for me until the end. I enjoyed this novel more for its attention to historical detail than the mystery of the murders. ( )

not a bad book but it made me miss paris!!! ( )