Captain Paul Darac of the Brigade Criminelle arrives at a crime scene to find a woman’s mutilated corpse. Initially routine, the case deepens and darkens into a complex enquiry that threatens to close in on Darac himself. But allegiances past and present must be set aside to unravel a tale of greed, deception and treachery that spans the social spectrum. It is among the winding streets of his own neighbourhood in Nice’s old town, the Babazouk, that Darac faces his severest test yet.
This appears to be the second book of a series surrounding Captain Paul Darac. I enjoyed the setting quite a bit as it was easy to get lost in Morfoot’s descriptions of France because I’ve never been and have always wanted to go. I typically like to read the first book in a series first, but after I picked this (second) book up first instead, I realized that it wasn’t necessary to enjoy them in order, although it may be preferred. It’s a wonderful mystery, quite cozy, though possibly not intended to be so.
I would recommend this book to those in search of a good thunderstorm read, those in search of a series to sink into, and those in search of a good crime novel hero to get to know. Paul Darac isn’t what I expected in a police captain character, but I say that with respect and admiration. Four stars from me.
The only gripe I have in this story is that sometimes Darac and other characters were a bit unreal and unbelievable. I very much wanted Morfoot to give me something extra, some little thing to hang onto that would flesh these people out just a bit more. It won’t stop me from reading more in the series, but the little tad extra would have gone a long way.
To buy your own copy of FATAL MUSIC by Peter Morfoot, you can go to Amazon.com or Titan Books directly. To read about more books by Peter Morfoot, visit his page on Goodreads.
Rhiannon Writes On 