Serge performs autopsies in the public morgue, and Aimée often relies on him for the inside scoop on how a victim actually died. He may be a genius, but he’s also known for his macabre sense of humor and exceptionally strong stomach -- he eats his lunch right in the morgue.
Edith Mésard: The state prosecutor, or “La Proc.” Mésard is tough and no-nonsense, and does not look kindly on broken proceedure. But she does appreciate Aimée’s work.
Zazie (real name Juliette): Redheaded 10-year-old daughter of the owners of Café Magritte, right below Leduc Detective. Works in the café before and after school. Her mother’s name is Virginie; Zazie has a baby sister named Lise.
Miles Davis: (pronounced Meels Daveez) Aimée’s well-mannered bichon frisé puppy. Appears in all the books. Fresh horsemeat is his favorite. Not only well-behaved but courageous, Miles Davis receives the canine badge of honor in Murder in the Palais Royal .
Ça va? —How are you?; How’s it going?; Are you okay?; etc.
C’est vrai? —Really?
Vraiment? —Really?
Glossary
bien sûr —of course
tiens —wait; hold
alors —so; then
et alors —so?; so what?
tant pis —too bad
désolé(e) —sorry
attends —wait; listen
mec —guy
clochard —tramp
flic —cop
pute (short for “ putain ”)—prostitute
salaud, salope —jerk (male and female forms)
hôtel particulier —townhouse
Brigade Criminelle —homicide bureau (Paris only)
commissariat —quartier police station
quartier —district contained in Paris arrondissements,
four per arrondissement arrondissement —administrative district of Paris (there are 20)
un zinc —old reference to cafés, for their zinc counter
Armata Corsa: Outlawed Corsican nationalist movement
BRIF: Brigade Recherche et Intervention Fiduciarie
Brigade Criminelle (“La Crim”): The homicide bureau in Paris
CRS: Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (Security Units of the Republic)
DST: Direction Surveillance de Territoire (Anti-Terrorist Brigade)
EPIGN: Elite military sub-unit
ETA: Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (armed Basque nationalists)
GIGN: Military Division of Gendarmerie Raid Police Assault Unit
IGS: Internal Affairs
iKK: radical Kurdish Workers Party
Institut Medico Legal: the morgue, or the coroner’s office
SAMU: Service d’Aide Médicale d’Urgence (Emergency Medical Assistance Service)
TRACFIN: Traitement du Renseignement et Action Contre Les Circuits Financiers Clandestins (Treatment of Information and Action Against Illicit Financial Circuits)
Yellow Crescent: network of militant right-wing Turks
Murder in the Marais (November 1993)
Aimée Leduc is approached by a rabbi to decipher a fifty-year-old encrypted photograph, then deliver it to a woman named Lili Stein. When Aimée arrives at Lili’s apartment in the Marais, the old Jewish quarter of Paris, she finds a corpse: the old woman has been strangled, and a swastika has been carved into her forehead. With the help of her partner, René, Aimée is determined to solve this horrendous crime. Then more murders follow—someone is targeting survivors of the Nazi Occupation of Paris, now elderly Jews who only narrowly avoided deportation to the death camps in the east. The murders seem to be hate crimes, and her search takes Aimée undercover inside a neo-Nazi group, where she must play a dangerous game to fit in and track down the information she needs. As dark secrets of the war come unearthed, however, Aimée begins to wonder whether she has been following the wrong trail. Many of the older Jews in the Marais are afraid and prefer to leave the past alone, but the horrible legacy of the death camps and the words “never forget” propel Aimée to find out the true identities of the criminals, past and present.
Characters
Non–series characters appearing in this book:
Agronski, Inspecteur (Criminal Brigade)
Barrault ( Rambuteau attorney)
Bertrand ( Aimée’s hacker former boyfriend)
Blum, Rachel (