Book Review: The City of Blood by Frédérique Molay

*Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Paris today. There is an excavation on the place formerly known as Parisian slaughterhouse, also called The City of Blood. Thirty years earlier, Samuel Cassian, a major performance artist, made an extraordinary piece of art. He held a banquet at the place and asked each guest to bring something that was later buried. Now, thirty years later, all those things have to be dug up. But what no one expected is the finding of a skeleton, buried thirty years earlier, possibly in the same time with all those pieces of forks and dishes. To make things worse, thirty years earlier, the son of Samuel Cassian, went missing. Is this his body? Is it possible that the artist himself buried his own son? What's more weird is that the body remains show marks connected with modern day murders done by "The Paris Butcher".

The detective Nico Sirsky works on the case. He and his crew are working on the case "The Paris Butcher". The murderer leaves his victims with a specific mark, a piece of flesh on the shoulder is cut off. But these are modern day murders. How come a thirty-years-old skeleton has the very same mark? Is this the first murder? Is this where it all started?

To solve a crime from the present, Nico has to go back in time thirty years ago. All the visitors at the banquet are now suspects. In the very same time, he worries to death about his mother who suffers a heart attack and needs a surgery that she might not survive.

Comparing with the previous book, "Crossing the Line", the investigation in this story is more intriguing. There is more tension, more turn-overs. I enjoyed every single page. Nico is a great character, very tough when it comes for solving crimes. The author also shows his soft side by including his mother as a character and presenting Nico as a good son. Even if it is part three of the series, this book can easily stand alone. Well written, set up in a unusual surrounding, The City of Blood is a real refreshment for all those crime-fiction lovers who want to try something different. Totally recommended. 

My opinion: 4.5 / 5.

Review and Interview: Blood Money by Doug Richardson

Beemer had a simple plan: steal a truck with frozen blood products, then drive it all over to Long Beach and collect the money for it. But, it doesn’t always turn out like you’ve planned. Stopped by a local police officer, Beemer starts shooting. Teenage music star with her boyfriend is on the wrong place in the wrong time. Three people got killed. 

Lucky Dey works as a police detective in Kern. He receives the worst phone call of his life, finding out that his younger brother got killed. The only clue that he has is a big black refrigerator trailer. He has to find his brother’s murderer.

Lydia Gonzales, also called “ Gonzo” is LAPD detective. She has to babysit Lucky Dey. What she does is joining him in order to catch the bad guy.

Conrad Ellis is a millionaire whose daughter just got famous. He made her a teenage music star. He paid for her album. Pepper Ellis has just became a teenage starlet. And she was killed, together with her boyfriend. And her father wants justice. He wants revenge. And he is willing to pay a lot of money for that.

Four lives, four stories, one chase. 

Blood Royal-Harold Robbins

At the beginning, I thought, this is a story about princess Diana. While in real life, the princess divorced, in this story, she murdered the prince.

There are three stories in this book.

The first one is about princess of Wales,her childhood, her duties, her feelings.The whole story is based on Diana's real life. Being raised to be aristocrat, being raised to be a princess, not being able to show feelings in public. Accumulating her feelings, she finally snaps, resulting in murdering the husband.Not just any husband, but the Prince of England himself.

The second story is for her female american lawyer. Her life is similar to the one of the princess, with one big difference, this woman was born poor. She also murdered her husband.

The third story is for a serial killer. A tabloid journalist working on the story for the princess discovered a body in a church. The head was from a different body, and the ears were from a third body.

I didn't feel strong connection between all these stories. Of course, they are all connected at the end, but it didn't turn me upside-down. The connection was very poor. Also, it seems like the final story isn't finished at all. Is there part two?

I read that when Harold Robbins died, this book wasn't finished, so other authors did the job. Maybe, that's why this book isn't good enough like others from this author.

My opinion: 2/5