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Loading... The Bones of Paris: A Novel of Suspense (edition 2013)by Laurie R. King
Work InformationThe Bones of Paris by Laurie R. King
   Books Read in 2013 (1,361) No current Talk conversations about this book.  Melline | Aug 13, 2022 |    ) jamespurcell | Jul 3, 2022 |  ) tsmom1219 | Feb 24, 2022 | From the first sentence, to the very last, The Bones of Paris is a wonderful novel. The first sentence is powerful, and the story is well-structured. The descriptions of Paris in the 1920's is evocative, and paints a beautiful picture. I felt connections to the characters, as usual with King's novels, even though we know nothing about them. And the primary narrator, Harris Stuyvesant, is a perfect reflection of the time period in which this novel is set. I was drawn to this book (read as an advance copy from NetGalley) because I am a fan of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series, and because the setting, complete with many of the artistic and literary expats as secondary characters. I did not know until I began to write these comments that there was an earlier book with Harris Stuyvesant and Bennett Grey. I didn't feel that I was unduly confused or missing any necessary background, and, since I love both characters, I will go back and read Touchstone later on. Why not, they are gloriously tattered and worn "people" to be around, and I miss them just a little, now that the book is finished. And Paris, in the 1920's? I've never been! I loved being able to be there at this important time in history, and 'see' what Paris was like. And it was so real, Paris was another character I loved as well. As per usual, King exhaustively researched the time period, the famous people, and I am betting everything else, to make this novel sing true. Adding Man Ray, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway, and Josephine Baker, among other famous people in history, didn't detract from the storyline at all, it just made it seem more believable, since these people occupied Paris at this time. King has woven together a very suspenseful story, here. This novel is intelligent, challenging, and very interesting for me. Although some may have found some of the content disturbing, it didn't seem excessive or gratuitous to me at all. And I thought it stood alone, without having read the first Stuyvesant novel, Touchstone, just fine. Thank you SO much, to netgalley.com for the advanced digital copy, in return for an honest review. (  ) stephanie_M | Apr 30, 2020 | ) moxamoll | Dec 3, 2019 | no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesAwards
Fiction.
Mystery.
Historical Fiction.
HTML:NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE SACRAMENTO BEE New York Times bestselling author Laurie R. King, beloved for her acclaimed Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series, consistently writes richly detailed and thoroughly suspenseful novels that bring a distant time and place to brilliant life. Now, in this thrilling new book, King leads readers into the vibrant and sensual Paris of the Jazz Age—and reveals the darkest secrets of its denizens. Paris, France: September 1929. For Harris Stuyvesant, the assignment is a private investigator’s dream—he’s getting paid to prowl the cafés and bars of Montparnasse, looking for a pretty young woman. The American agent has a healthy appreciation for la vie de bohème, despite having worked for years at the U.S. Bureau of Investigation. The missing person in question is Philippa Crosby, a twenty-two year old from Boston who has been living in Paris, modeling and acting. Her family became alarmed when she stopped all communications, and Stuyvesant agreed to track her down. He wholly expects to find her in the arms of some up-and-coming artist, perhaps experimenting with the decadent lifestyle that is suddenly available on every rue and boulevard. As Stuyvesant follows Philippa’s trail through the expatriate community of artists and writers, he finds that she is known to many of its famous—and infamous—inhabitants, from Shakespeare and Company’s Sylvia Beach to Ernest Hemingway to the Surrealist photographer Man Ray. But when the evidence leads Stuyvesant to the Théâtre du Grand-Guignol in Montmartre, his investigation takes a sharp, disturbing turn. At the Grand-Guignol, murder, insanity, and sexual perversion are all staged to shocking, brutal effect: depravity as art, savage human nature on stage. Soon it becomes clear that one missing girl is a drop in the bucket. Here, amid the glittering lights of the cabarets, hides a monster whose artistic coup de grâce is to be rendered in blood. And Stuyvesant will have to descend into the darkest depths of perversion to find a killer . . . sifting through The Bones of Paris. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Laurie R. King's Dreaming Spies. Praise for The Bones of Paris “Haunting . . . a portrait of the City of Light that glows with the fires of Hell.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch “A compelling thriller . . . complex, more than a little kinky, and absolutely fascinating.”—Booklist (starred review) “Highly entertaining . . . Laurie R. King perfectly captures [the Jazz Age] as she explores the City of Light’s avenues and alleys.”—The Denver Post “Engrossing . . . Readers who enjoy Laurie R. King’s noteworthy Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mystery series are in for a surprise.”—BookPage “A chilling mystery and a haunting love letter to the Paris of Hemingway’s Lost Generation.”—Library Journal. No library descriptions found. |
LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumLaurie R. King's book Bones of Paris was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.  
LibraryThing AuthorLaurie R. King is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing. Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.49)
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Wikipedia in English
4
The main protagonist is a private investigator, not the usual sort but a man who follows the money and goes where he is needed. I found him to be unlikeable and lacking in the kind of judgement I would have hoped to see in a man of this kind, and despite his being on retainer he seems to spend his time throughout the book living from hand to mouth and making bad decisions about most aspects of his life and the case the book centres around. There is no real depth to him, or any of the other characters mentioned in the book, and this made it a slow and plodding read for me.
Location wise though I could not fault the book; Paris at the tail end of the 1920’s and featuring some of its more famous residents, was well written and researched. I particularly enjoyed the references to the Paris catacombs, and the way in which they came about. I seem to be reading a lot of books that feature places I have visited, and this one was no different; because of this the visual elements of the story, such as the aforementioned catacombs came vividly to life. I did find, however, that the lack of pages given over to solving the crime was rather disconcerting and that when the culprit was revealed it was rather an anti-climax.
For anyone who has read the first book in this series, they may enjoy this one; as for me I doubt if I will go back and read book one as this book was a disappointment that would be hard to recover from. I also doubt that I will read anything else by this Author.
Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2015/09/18/review-the-bones-of-paris-harris-stuyvesan...
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