A Treasury of Regrets

Appropriately (although accidentally), I began reading A Treasury of Regrets on Bastille Day. Aside from being a fine procedural with interesting plot twists, it is a fascinating look into post-revolutionary Paris. Alleyn gives us a taste of some of the sub-cultures of Parisian life which we never learned about in school. The characters live and breathe, and Alleyn communicates a real feel for the kind of political correctness which was necessary to survive that period in history.

Anticipating the second book of a series for me is like riding a roller-coaster between high hopes and lows of remembered disappointments. Happily, Alleyn's second historical mystery featuring Aristide Ravel fulfills the former - it's a terrific book, easily as good as GAME OF PATIENCE, maybe even better. Pace, voice, dialogue, narrative are all beautifully done. The fact is, I am a big fan of police procedurals, with a pretty sceptical attitude toward historical mysteries. Why? Too often, an author loses the main plot/story in an attempt to recreate the setting of another time. On and on they go about the details of an unpaved street, the people on the street, the quaint habits, the colorful dress, the inconveniences... until the reader can't remember why we are on the street in the first place. Alleyn's talent is that she recreates the time IN the characters of her story, not in describing their setting in excruciating detail. It is in their views and reactions to events that the reader gains a vivid insight into, in this case, the period in France shortly after the French Revolution. The Place de la Concorde comes alive through Aristide's reaction to the death of a dear friend on the guillotine. There's another great example in the first scene where we learn that Aristide is either an agent of the police, a police spy or an informer... or maybe just a friend of the commissaire, through the eyes of people of that time. (And, it recaps vital info about the previous book without giving any of that story away. That's good writing.) Roughly, the story begins with the death of the head of a seemingly well-off family, and the accusation and arrest of a simple servant girl who is accused not only of the murder but of attempting to poison the whole family (despite the complete lack of motive). Alleyn weaves a twisty, fascinating narrative filled with lots of secrets, more deaths in the family, and great scenes as Aristide searches for the truth. I was often surprised, often guessed wrong, and loved the terrific ending. All in all, a real winner. Very Highly Recommended.

In 1797, the people are trying to form a republic to replace the dead monarchy. Police spy Aristide Ravel is at the jail when Laurence Faueconnet, the widow of revolutionary Aurele, arrives complaining that the police arrested her domestic servant Jeannette Moineau for killing her father-in-law, Monsieur Dupont. He became ill after eating a meal she served and arsenic was found in her room. Laurence doubts the girl could have hatched and carried out the plan. Magdeline, the daughter of the late Dupont, does her best to convince the police that the servant murdered her papa. Aristide questions Jeannette and concludes the girl is innocent while someone within the Dupont family killed the deceased miserly patriarch. He questions the household and deems the victim's other daughter Charlotte knows more than she is saying. When he finds a family member hanging from a rope, he knows the murderer has struck again. Aristide believes everyone had a motive to see Dupont dead and the second victim as collateral damage. He plans to find out who and why. A TREASURY OF REGRET is a fascinating historical mystery set in France just after the Revolution as readers see how the people adapt to the changes that came about. Aristide is an interesting character who cares that justice is served as he goes out of his way to prove the servant is innocent even when the legal system tries to guillotine his case with a fast fix. Susanne Alleyn provides a great tale that brings to life late eighteenth century France during a troubling fledgling attempt to legalize a fair justice system. Harriet Klausner