The Paris Librarian
A Hugo Marston Mystery by Mark Pryor
Review: When Paul Rogers, the director of the American Library in Paris, is found dead in a locked basement room where he had been working on writing a book, the authorities do not suspect foul play, and that he died as the result of a heart attack. His friend, Hugo Marston, on staff at the American Embassy, who found the body, thinks there may be more to his death, in The Paris Librarian, the sixth mystery in this series by Mark Pryor.
Hugo has no real facts to support his case, but it isn't long before a series of strange, if also apparently coincidental, events begin to occur at the library, most centered if only peripherally on a recently acquired collection of papers donated by a famous American actress, who may, or may not, have been a covert spy in Paris during World War II. Paul had been responsible for their safekeeping, and while they had yet to be cataloged, there were plenty of people anxious to see them, and willing to do almost anything to be the first. But murder? Even to Hugo, that seems a stretch. Still, when someone else connected to the papers is murdered, Hugo is convinced Paul Rogers was also killed. But how? And by whom?
The Paris Librarian has an interesting premise for a murder mystery, but the storyline is overly complicated, as if the author was trying too hard to introduce multiple subplots as red herrings to throw off Hugo and his friends. Hugo doggedly sorts through all the (mostly false) leads, and then seems to out of thin air latch on to the one clue that solves the case for him. Mysteries are best enjoyed when the reader feels as if they are part of the investigation; here the reader is an outsider looking in. Not the best of the series to date, and probably not the best for someone not already familiar with the characters and their roles.
Acknowledgment: Seventh Street Books provided an ARC of The Paris Librarian for this review.
Review Copyright © 2016 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author … Hollow Man Seventh Street Books (Trade Paperback), September 2015 ISBN-13: 9781633880863; ISBN-10: 1633880869
Location(s) referenced in The Paris Librarian: Paris, France
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The Paris Librarian by Mark Pryor — A Hugo Marston Mystery
Publisher: Seventh Street Books
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-63388-177-8
Publication Date: August 2016
List Price: $15.95

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Page Author: Lance Wright Site Publisher: Mysterious Reviews
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