The Montmartre Investigation by Claude Izner

Set in 1891 this is the third in chronological order in the highly entertaining Victor Legris mysteries. In between running a fashionable bookshop and looking after his beautiful Russian mistress, Tasha, Victor solves murders and this one begins with the body of a young woman found at a Montmartre crossroads. The same day a single red shoe is delivered to Victor's shop by a goatherd!! Accompanied by his assistant Jojo, driven to distraction by Tasha, introduced to the nightlife of the Moulin Rouge by a journalist turned cancan dancer Victor pursues the killer. As with the previous novels Claude Izner gives us more than an whodunnit, this is a marvellous tour of Belle-Epoque Paris in the company of a fascinating cast of characters. Full marks also to translators Lorenza Garcia and Isabel Reid.