Murder In Bel-air

Cara Black's riveting 18th installment in her New York Times bestselling Parisian detective series entangles private investigator Aimée Leduc in a dangerous web of international spycraft, post-colonial Franco-African politics, people's resistance movements, and neighborhood secrets in Paris's ancient yet tech-centric 12th arrondissement.

Aimée Leduc is about to go onstage to give the keynote address at a tech conference that is sure to secure Leduc Detective some much-needed business contracts when she gets an emergency phone call from her daughter's playgroup: Aimée's own mother, who was supposed to pick up Chloe, never showed. Abandoning her hard-won speaking gig, Aimée rushes to get Chloe, annoyed that, yet again, her mother has let her down.

But as Aimée and Chloe are leaving the playground, Aimée witnesses the body of a homeless woman being wheeled away from the neighboring convent, where nuns run a soup kitchen. The last person seen talking to the dead woman talking to was Aimée's mother-who has vanished. Trying to figure out what happened to Sydney Leduc, Aimee tracks down the dead woman's possessions, which include a huge amount of cash. What did Sydney stumble into? Is she in trouble?