Rachel Levin is an American living in Paris who also happens to stumble upon dead bodies. This happenstance has turned her and her best friend, Magda, into amateur sleuths.

When Rachel stumbles upon a dead body in the men’s room of a local cafe, she finds herself working under cover with the local police Capitaine Boussicalt to help find out more about who killed the man who was a librarian in Bibliotheque Nationale’s rare book reading room. While there a second librarian is murdered and it is discovered that pages from rare books have been stolen. While Rachel has helped to gather some additional information on the case, her cover is exposed so that she can listen in the interviews to translate and point out any discrepancies in statements.

Lots of twist and turns, and not just in the stacks, along with several suspects makes for lots of red herrings and second guesses. While I did not read the first book in the series, I had no trouble reading this second installment as a stand alone. It did take me a few chapters before I became fully vested, but once I got into it, it just flew by from there.

When American sleuth Rachel Levis stumbles upon an employee of the French national library strangled in the bathroom of a cafe, she's not surprised to be asked to help with the investigation by her old acquaintance Capitaine Boussicault--after all, she and her best friend Magda solved a tricky murder only eighteen months before.

But right from the start, this case proves to be très difficile. When Rachel goes undercover as a librarian to determine which of his book-loving colleagues loathed the man enough to kill him, the library is rocked by more bad news: a priceless antique book has been mutilated. And the very next day, her favorite suspect for the murder is found dead in the stacks.




Thank you to net galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book it was a great experience

This was a fun mystery story that had me guessing until the end. All of the suspects were plausible and the more you came to know about each of them the more believable a suspect they became - and the actual killer ended up being just want you want in a story like this. The scenes with Rachel and Magda as amateur sleuths were very funny, but also showed how invested they were in being investigators. I also really liked finally reading a mystery where there was nothing but a professional relationship between the female lead and the police detective (not that I don't like in other stories, just that it was refreshing to take the dynamic in another direction). Boussicault sees that Rachel has an interest in and natural talent for investigating and rather than brushing her off does what he can to give her more experience - but of course also has to have those moments when he reminds her that she is not actually a police officer. Alan has the patience of a saint, but his willingness to help out Rachel when she needed it also showed what a great partner he is for her. I will definitely check out future books to see what cases Levis and Stevens (or Steven and Levis) Investigatrices solve next.

I really enjoyed this book! I think the plot was very comprehensive, and the characterization deep. I especially liked the way the writing was evocative and helped you feel and think the same way the characters did! - All in all an excellent book, everyone should read it!

The Books of the Dead is a good mystery that takes place in Paris. The writing is good, interesting characters, and I enjoyed the descriptions.

An amusing romp through Paris. An unexpected murderer with an unusual habit that finally leads to exposure. Two clever women detectives who outwit the police. Not very suspenseful but still a good story revolving around ancient manuscripts and the Bibliothèque Nationale.

I love mysteries and I love Paris, so this book called to me, and I was excited to read it.

The book was well-written, unfortunately, it didn't engage me. I found it too far a stretch to believe the French police would involve a citizen, especially an American ex-pat, to the degree they did in this book, even to the point of letting Rachel sit in on interrogations. And, credibility standpoint aside, that choice also took away what I love best about amateur-sleuth novels--watching the sleuths find ingenious ways to get information the police won't release to them. There was some of that, but not a complete journey I could root for. I felt like I, via Rachel, was being spoon fed the plot, which took away the intrigue and fun for me. Because of that, the plot felt washed out. But that's a personal preference and others may love this approach.

I wanted to like Rachel and Magda, but their jealousy and constant fighting put me off. Fairly early on I found myself hoping Rachel would just leave Magda out of it. Or, join forces with her husband, so it wouldn't feel like he was rescuing them from themselves when they got too far off track.

A large part of why I read a book like this is to be immersed in the location, but this book didn't give me any sense of Paris. If you changed the names (people and locations), this could have been set in New York or Chicago, etc., just as easily, which was disappointing.

Overall, I think there are many readers out there who will like this book, so I'm giving it three stars. It's just not the right read for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author/publisher for the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

When Rachel accidentally on purpose walks into the men's room of her favorite cafe she discovers a murdered man. When the police discover that the murdered man worked at the National Library, they ask Rachel to go in undercover.
This is the second book in the Death in Paris series, I have not read the first book,
I found the main characters annoying at times, acting as if they were children instead of women in their 40s. I would have liked better descriptions of Paris and the Biblioteque Nationale.

This book was always going to have a bit of a hard time as I came to it just after reading one of Ann Cleve's Shetland series. That is an author who provides descriptions and characterisations that make you see, feel, smell the landscape/cityscape/characters; you are fully immersed in the story from page 1. The Books of the Dead is an interesting story - murder, theft of pages from medieval manuscripts and plenty of suspects and sub-plots. I've not read the first of the series so I may have missed anything of note about the main characters except that Rachel is married. I thought that the amateur detectives must be in their 20s so was surprised when, in about chapter 10, I learnt that Rachel was 43. She did not act like it. Initially she helped the police Capitaine as she had found the original body but she soon alienated him to a degree by essentially meddling and being an amateur detective. She and Magda, her amateur accomplice, were annoyed when the police told them off for bringing in possible evidence even after it being explained about trackability, securing context, lack of contamination. That's the sort of thing that made them seem much younger than they were. They were devotees of TV crime scene programmes so, presumably, should have had an idea about procedure, and it seemed that they really wanted to impress Capitaine Boussicault rather than much else. The story is based n Paris but we get very very little about the context, no descriptions of the Bibliothèque Nationale, the local streets and cafè scenes. I can imagine them myself but, to fully immerse oneself in a book, the author should be doing this for the reader. As with too many modern detectives the book reads more like narrative with a few clues as to context every now and then. I wanted to give the book 3 stars but felt that, if I had read it in isolation, the story would warrant almost a 4, the weak descriptions and context a poor 3. Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

#TheBooksoftheDead#NetGalley
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The second book by Emilia Bernhard featuring amateur American sleuths Rachel Levis and Magda Stevens is a delight to read. All characters are well drawn with believable backgrounds and motives.
When two librarians employed by the Bibiotheque Nationale in rare books are murdered, Rachel and Magda put their wits together to catch the killer. Recommend highly.

Rachel Levis and her best friend Magda Stevens love adventure and are fascinated with mystery and murder. Rachel is on commission to write church hymns so for inspiration decides to go to the Bibliotheque Nationale to check out the medieval religious manuscripts.

A light captivating mystery novel set in France. This is the second time the girls have been caught up in a murder with Capitaine Boussicault investigating; only sometimes appreciating these amateur detectives and their assistance.

Americans in Paris! A well-paced murder mystery that centers around the Bibliothèque nationale de France and stolen pages from rare books. Engaging main characters and setting.

I loved it! This was an excellent mysteries/thriller! Amateur detective, Rachel, finds her first body in the men’s restroom of a cafe in Paris. The police ask for her help and she is off and running. As the story unwinds, there are many surprises, twists and turns that make this an enjoyable read. It is well written and is a fascinating read that I absolutely loved and highly recommend. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

Paris, Librarians, and murder. What more could I ask for! From the first page I was hooked. The author's descriptions of Paris paired with an excellent story had me up all night.

Rachel Levis amateur detective finds her first body in the men’s toilet. This leads to the police requiring her to go undercover at the French National Library. She finds the man was a blackmailer and universally hated by his colleagues. When another murder occurs Rachel decides to investigate herself along with partner in crime Magda. This will lead to many clashes with the police along the way. This book is a creative who done it and will keep your interest to the end.
I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The story is about Rachel Levis, an American sleuth in Paris. As she walks into the men’s bathroom of a cafe she finds an employee of the French National Library dead. Along with Capitaine Boussicault and her best friend Magda she is hot on the trail.

Rachel goes undercover as a librarian at the bibliothèque in Paris to find out who the killer is, but nothing is easy. To makes matters worse a priceless antique book is destroyed and her number one suspect is murdered.

The book is very entertaining with twists and enough intrigue to keep you interested until the very end.

This is the very first book I have read of Emilia Bernhard and was truly pleased with the outcome. Looking forward to future books.

I recommend this book!!!