Cara Black (Author)

Cara Black writes a thrilling crime series set in Paris in the 1990s. Her sleuth is a private investigator and computer security expert named Aimee Leduc. Aimee along with her partner, a dwarf named Rene, solve murders and kidnappings and other crimes in the seedier neighborhoods of Paris. Each novel takes place in a different section of Paris's 20 arrondissements. She expertly weaves the mystery with the history of the neighborhood and its current multicultural character. The stories are firmly set in the 1990s and deal with issues like immigration, terrorism, the legacy of Nazism in Paris from WWII, and even the death of Princess Diana. These too are woven into Cara's mysteries to make them grander and give a more universal scope to her novels.

Cara's 10th Aimee Leduc Mystery, Murder in the Palais Royal, was published on March 1, 2010. I am in the middle of reading #5 Murder in Clichy.

I have to confess, I always thought Cara Black was a resident of Paris. Her knowledge and description of the City of Lights is so detailed, I thought only a native could write like this. But, no. Cara lives in one of my other favorite cities, San Francisco. However, she visits Paris frequently on research trips (one of the joys of being a writer!).

Cara Black is a featured author at the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend in my hometown. She along with Libby Fischer Hellmann, Shilpa Agarwal, and Suzanne Arruda will discuss mystery writing in foreign lands in a forum called "Other Countries, Other Crimes." On Sunday, Cara and Libby will talk about the emergence of the female private investigator in mysteries in a forum called "Good Girls and Bad Guys."

Visit Cara Blacks website for much more on Aimee Leduc, Paris, and her book tour. http://www.carablack.com/