The Paris Librarian

Finished October 7

The Paris Librarian by Mark Pryor

Having recently read The Paris Library, and noticing this on one of my shelves, I pulled it out. This story is also set around the American Library in Paris, but in the modern day. It is part of a mystery series featuring Hugo Marston, the head of security for the American embassy in Paris. His roommate Tom is in the FBI, and they are both single.

One acquaintance of Hugo's is Paul Rogers, the director of the American Library.  Hugo has a friend whose friend is doing research on an aging actress who is said to have been active in espionage during World War II, and the American Library has recently obtained her papers. Paul is working on a novel and Hugo arranges to meet with his late one morning to discuss both, but he finds Paul in a locked room in the basement, dead. It seems like a natural death, but something about it bothers Hugo. 

When another death happens soon after, more questions arise.

Hugo has a contact in the French police and brings her into the case early, before it is even established that a crime has occurred and that helps them gather information that otherwise might have been lost. 

One aspect of this case that intrigues Hugo is a death in the past, long before, that has an interesting connection to Paul. 

I enjoyed the character of Hugo, with both his professional knowledge and instincts and his personal life. The various staff at the American Library are minor characters here, but still somewhat interesting. The library is in many ways just a backdrop for the larger story.