Paris Requiem

Paris Requiem, set in 1940, successfully weaves the dark tapestry of Nazi-occupied France, particularly Paris, through characters that are gritty, realistic, and frequently hopeless. Many are venal, ready to take advantage of those weaker than themselves. Some cling to their humanity with all they can muster. Others are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and find that doing any good deed is risky not only to themselves but to their loved ones. Eddie Giral, the detective at the center of the novel, is fully realized, fallible and self-aware and sometimes very vulnerable.

Chris Lloyd has done his research. Occasionally his writing can get a bit bogged down, but there were plenty of surprising turns and twists to pull me along, together with the atmosphere and characters. I enjoyed this book enough to look forward to reading the other two in the series (I started with the second by accident; the third is due out soon).