Review by Booklist Review
Bookseller Victor Legris investigates when several people die of apparent bee stings during the Universal Exposition of 1889 in Paris. The disparate group of victims includes a rag picker, a poor relation, a wealthy collector, and a budding opera star. Did these people really die of bee stings, or are they being murdered? If so, why? Victor looks for the connection between the four, and to his horror it appears that the link may be either Kenji, the man who raised him after his father's death, or Tasha, the woman he is beginning to love. This leisurely paced mystery, steeped in the sights and sounds of nineteenth-century Paris and the Universal Exposition and full of details about the newly open Eiffel Tower pairs a methodical investigation with a love interest, carefully researched historical facts, and details of the literary world of the time. The only quibble is that the many secondary characters are rather underdeveloped and, hence, difficult to keep straight. Izner is the pseudonym for two sisters who are secondhand booksellers.--O'Brien, Sue Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Fans of quality historicals will welcome Izner's debut, the first of a series to feature an engaging and fallible amateur sleuth. In 1889, Parisian bookseller Victor Legris finds himself in the midst of a baffling series of deaths connected with the newly opened Eiffel Tower. The victims all apparently died from bee stings, but Legris suspects foul play. His inquiry coincides with another role outside his usual occupation, as a contributor to Le Passe-partout, a new sensationalist newspaper. Almost as soon as the bookman seizes on a promising suspect, that person turns up dead as well, leaving him with a dwindling pool, which, to his chagrin, includes Le Passe-partout's attractive illustrator, an enigmatic Russian woman with whom he's become besotted. The taut pacing and vivid period detail will have readers eagerly turning the pages. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
At the 1889 World Exposition in Paris, bookshop owner and photographer Victor Legris witnesses the death of a woman, apparently from a bee sting, atop the new Eiffel Tower. More deaths soon follow, launching an emotional investigation concerning everything that Victor holds dear. Coauthored by two Parisian sisters and booksellers writing under a nom de plume, this debut of a very Gallic series will appeal to Francophiles and fans of historicals. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 5/1/08; a Minotaur First Edition selection; library marketing campaign.] (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The excitement of the 1889 World Exposition is muted, then intensified, by murder. With Paris abuzz over the debut of Gustave Eiffel's magnificent tower, the death of a rag-and-bone man at a parade for Buffalo Bill's visiting troupe merits little attention. Weeks after the fatality is ascribed to a bee sting, maiden aunt Eugnie Patinot succumbs to a similar fate during the world expo for which the Tower serves as an entrance arch. Nearby, bookseller Victor Legris meets his dogged journalist friend Marius Bonnet to celebrate the latter's newspaper, Le Passe-partout. Also in attendance are Victor's mysterious business partner Kenji Mori and Russian migr Tasha Kherson, who works as Bonnet's illustrator. Romantic sparks flash between Victor and Tasha even before Bonnet publishes an anonymous note suggesting that Eugnie was murdered. When another "bee sting" death occurs outside the Colonial Palace, Victor's insatiable curiosity turns him into an amateur sleuth who juggles clues about the crimes, a budding affair with Tasha, elbow-rubbing with celebrities like Anatole France and an attempt to prove, at least to himself, that his friend Mori is not the killer. In this series kickoff from Izner (pseudonym for a pair of collaborating sisters), the energetic curiosity of the hero dovetails nicely with readers' interest in a fascinating era. The colorful supporting cast lays a solid foundation for Victor's further exploits. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
