The Book Artist

Hugo Marston, head of security at the U.S. Embassy in Paris and a former FBI profiler, was the date of the beautiful and promising American sculptor Alia Alsaffar at the opening of her exhibition at Paris's Dalí Museum. When she's murdered at the opening, Hugo insinuates himself into the murder investigation, to the dismay of Paris police Lieutenant Intern Adrien Marchand. Since the opening was invitation only, the suspect pool is limited but motives abound. When Hugo's girlfriend, Claudia Roux, is arrested for the murder, his incentive to find the real killer increases. Simultaneously, Hugo's reckless best friend, former CIA agent Tom Green, is in Amsterdam tracking paroled bank robber and murderer Rick Cofer, who has a vendetta against both Tom and Hugo. This eighth installment of the "Hugo Marston" series (after The Sorbonne Affair) brings back characters from previous novels in starring roles. Hugo is genteel and old-fashioned, using deductive reasoning to solve crimes, so there's little violence.