Books to Put You In the Mood - Paris

Before I jetted off to Paris a few months ago, I stopped into the Traveler's Bookcase, a lovely little travel bookstore on Third Street in Los Angeles, to pick up some guide books, maps, and a travel dictionary. As I've mentioned before, whenever I am traveling I like to try and pack books to read that are set in that location, and the Traveler's Bookcase has a great selection of fiction and non fiction reading materials for just about anywhere you want to go. When I asked the store's owner what she would recommend for Paris, she said "How about a mystery?" I'm a complete mystery junkie, so I promptly replied "Yes please." She handed me Cara Black's: Murder in the Bastille, and said if "You like this, there is a whole series to read."

I read the entire book on the plane, which is the reason I got no sleep, and finished it just as we were pulling into our gate at Charles de Gaulle. Needless to say, I was hooked.


The series features the adventures of the stylish private detective Aimee Leduc who is kind of like a French Carrie Bradshaw. Each book has a murder committed in a different area of Paris, and really highlights the neighborhood's ambiance. Oddly enough, it seems like the people getting murdered have nothing to do with any case she's working on, but the mysteries are compelling enough for a fun read.

While in Paris, I stopped by a great little English language book store in the Marais, called the Red Wheelbarrow. They carry Cara Black; as well, as many other fiction and non fiction books set in Paris. It's worth a stop to pick out something for the flight home. I bought Murder in Rue de Paradis and read it while eating a croissant on my train ride to London. The experience made me feel like I was lingering in Paris just a little while longer.

Traveler's Bookcase
8375 West Third Street
Los Angeles, Ca 90048
tel: 323.655.0575

The Red Wheelbarrow
22, Rue St Paul
75004 Paris
tel: 0148047508