I find it a little strange that I read two mysteries in a
row that take place in Paris, albeit 250 years apart. Murder at the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner (published in 2009) occurs
during the International Exposition in 1889 when the amazing structure was
opened.
The main character is Victor Legris, a columnist and
bookseller in Paris, who has joined thousands of people visiting the
tower. A woman dies of an apparent bee
sting. The incident doesn’t attract much
attention until an anonymous letter sent to a local newspaper suggests she was
murdered. Soon more people die and Victor
begins to suspect, well, everyone.
I enjoyed the book mainly for the description of late
nineteenth century Paris and the International Exposition. One thing that detracted from the enjoyability
of the story is the numerous head-hops which confuse the reader, but nearly as
bad as the previous book I tried to read.
Izner also builds his characters a bit better.
Readers of Agatha Christie might note a similarity between
Murder on the Eiffel Tower and The ABC Murders by Christie. I won’t go into detail here so you can figure
it out for yourself.
3 out of 5 croissants.
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