End of year; short reviews

I did read quite a few books in December, but have not had time to write a proper review. So, I decided to do a couple of short ones instead. I am very pleased with the books I read in December and many of them were very good. Should be, since most of them have been recommended by you. I borrowed several from our library, and being newer than those on my shelves, it was a pleasure to read.    

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

"A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them - setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.

Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.

Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register.

One cold February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley in a hidden apothecary shop, Nella awaits her newest customer. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose - selling well-disguised poisons to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives. But when her new patron turns out to be a precocious twelve-year-old named Eliza Fanning, an unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardises Nella’s world and threatens to expose the many women whose names are written in her register.

In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames, she can’t resist investigating, only to realise she’s found a link to the unsolved “apothecary murders” that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Caroline’s life collides with Nella’s and Eliza’s in a stunning twist of fate - and not everyone will survive."

This is really a book up my sleeve. Just loved it. It is Sarah Penner's debut book, and I am looking forward to see what she will be up to next time. The two parallell stories are well done and very exciting. The characters are well drawn, sharp and clear and the description of London in both time lines is really good. As one might expect when it comes to poison, the historic part of the story is thrilling, and with a great twist in the end.

I enjoyed the detective work that Caroline Parcewell goes through to find out more about where the vial came from. How she was able to find the old apothecary from this clue in the first place, is a little bit of a mystery, and maybe not entirely realistic. But, it does not take away the exciting and interesting reading of this historical enigma. Difficult to put down. 

Invisible Ink by Patrick Modiano

"Invisible Ink is a spellbinding tale of memory and its illusions. Private detective Jean Eyben receives an assignment to locate a missing woman, the mysterious Noëlle Lefebvre. While the case proves fruitless, the clues Jean discovers along the way continue to haunt him. Three decades later, he resumes the investigation for himself, revisiting old sites and tracking down witnesses, compelled by reasons he can’t explain to follow the cold trail and discover the shocking truth once and for all."

I love Modiano's work, definitely my favourite Nobel Prize Laureate. His latest novel is, as most of his books, about a man searching for someone. It takes many years before the narrator has all the answers to who Noëlle Lefebvre is and why she disappeared. Through the years, he talks to friends and acquaintances of her, and finds a world of artists and businessmen, night life and its mysterious, and sometimes, dark surroundings. When he finally discovers what happened, he is up for a surprise he did not expect. 

A wonderful, fine tuned novel à la Modiano. As a reader, you don't know very much about the narrator, only in relation to his search. Many of Modiano's books are built up in this way, and I think that is why one is so present in his world, and part of the search. On top of this, you get to walk through the streets of Paris with him. 

Murder on the Left Bank by Cara Black

"A dying man drags his oxygen machine into the office of Eric Besson, a lawyer in Paris's 13th arrondissement. The old man, an accountant, is carrying a dilapidated notebook full of meticulous investment records. For decades he has been helping a cadre of dirty cops launder stolen money. The notebook contains his full confession—he's waited 50 years to make it, and now it can't wait another day. He is adamant that Besson get the notebook into the hands of La Proc, Paris's chief prosecuting attorney, so the corruption can finally be brought to light. But en route to La Proc, Besson's courier—his assistant and nephew—is murdered, and the notebook disappears.

Grief-stricken Eric Besson tries to hire private investigator Aimée Leduc to find the notebook, but she is reluctant to get involved. Her father was a cop, and was murdered by the same dirty syndicate the notebook implicates. She's not sure which she's more afraid of, the dangerous men who would kill for the notebook or the idea that her father's name might be among the dirty cops'. But that's the same reason she must take the case, which leads her on a goose chase across the Left Bank, from the Cambodian enclave of Khmer Rouge refugees to the ancient royal tapestry factories to the modern art galleries."

I think this is #18 in a series about Aimée Leduc, a private investigator, but it seems there is no problem reading them in which order you like. I really loved the book from the beginning. Loved Aimée as a young woman, living alone with her baby child. A busy lawyer's office which she runs with her colleague. A fascinating murder mystery, a mystery that goes back in history. There is a pace to this story that keeps you stuck to the book until it is finished. Also wonderful to walk through another kind of Paris than in Patrick Modiano's books. There are a few more books in this series to choose from, so no stopping me here.