ARC review

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I have a fondness for historical fiction so I put in the request for this book, thinking it would weave in the historical figures more directly. It didn’t do that as much as I thought it would but it was still fun to have nods to the real artists and writers of Paris in the 1920s. The story itself could have been paced better. I dislike the mass introduction of all the characters in the first chapter at the poker game. I found I wasn’t able to keep track of who was who for awhile because they were all introduced so quickly. This may also be a problem of listening to the audiobook because I couldn’t easily flip back to reference the intro.

I really didn’t understand the motivation for having the pieces from Gabrielle’s point of view. It was especially confusing early on in the story, but it got weird later on and then the last moment of the book sort of had me scratching my head.

Unlike other mysteries I genuinely didn’t know whodunnit before the ending. I’m not sure if that means it was well crafted or completely disjointed. I lean towards the latter. A lot of red herrings. Seemed like a lot of people died for a really stupid reason.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I enjoyed Lost in Paris. I think Zoey was spunky and interesting. I enjoyed learning about the art scene in Paris in the 1920's. I think it is a fun mystery that keeps you guessing. I loved the supporting characters, especially the Armenian taxi driver. I love how Zoey, after what happens to her in Alabama and gets sent to Paris, finds a found family and how she takes care of them-and they take care of her. I liked that there were two mysteries going on: the obvious murders, but the second being how Zoey ended up in Paris. I would love to read a second to see if Zoey ever finds what she is looking for. The last scene also evades to more-possibly about Zoey? I recommend this book to historical fiction and mystery fans.

I am not entirely sure how to rate this. The book falls somewhere between a cozy mystery (the cozy aspect coming from art instead of food or drink) and historical fiction. As it is both and neither, I must use both and neither grading criteria.

The plot moves at a nice clipped pace like a cozy, the main character is thrown in the deep end of a murder mystery and must somehow solve it like a cozy and there are references to beautiful art to distract from the gruesome details of seeing and solving murders, like a cozy. Oh and all of the suspects have intriguing backstories with varying levels of detail, enough to be interested and yet not connected, like a cozy.

For historical fiction, you have the clothing details, references to historical events as current events, the adjustment of language to fit the time period. However, while this book had qualifications for both genres, the book didn't fill the desired 'good' factor for either. As either a cozy or a historical fiction, this would have been DNFed. As I was stuck on a train today and trying to figure out which genre this fell into, It was finished.

I can't say that I would recommend this book, but I also didn't hate it.

Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to read this book for an honest review.

While I recieved a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the chance to listen to this story.

I love books that take me to a time period before my own. This one took me back to the 1920s in Paris. Zoe is living on her own as an artist. I love this character. She is so independent and resourceful. The way that you learn of her past as she is reliving things happening in her current life, made me feel terrible for her. In a search for a lost manuscript, she comes across a murder scene and from there things just wind up getting more and more complex for Zoe. I loved this story and the way that the mystery played out. Seeing Zoe use her art as a way to work through the things she's going through and eventually even the things that went on back in the US for her. It is beautiful to see different ways that people cope and learn to deal with grief. I enjoyed this book but probably wouldn't re-read it.

My review 3.5/5 stars

Mix cozy mystery with historical fiction-add in Ernest Hemmingway and you have a recipe for an enjoyable novel. Set in post-World War One Paris, this book follows the life of ex-Pat Zoe Barlow as she embarks on a new life after disgracing her family. Although a bit slow at times, it was overall engaging.

This story had lots of twists and turns. I enjoyed the storyline but I felt that is was fast moving and a bit hard to follow as an audiobook. Maybe it would have been easier to follow as a hard copy book. I have always wanted to go Paris and listening to this really made me want to travel to France.

Thank you Netgalley for the audiobook.

Paris of the 1920s certainly holds its appeal with the glamour of the Jazz Age and the creativity of the Lost Generation. With the promise of a mystery involving the lost writings of Ernest Hemingway, I was drawn to this new novel.

Zoe Barlow is a young American artist with a heartbreaking past. Exiled from her family in
Alabama, her new family has become the artists, writers and celebrities of the day, such as the Hemingways, Gertrude Stein, and others. When her dear friend, Hadley Hemingway, loses a valise on a train containing Ernest's writings, Zoe vows to track it down. But as she does so, the trail leads to a double murder. And as Zoe questions the murderer's connection to Ernest's lost writings, the murderer strikes closer to Zoe's inner circle of friends.

This mystery kept me engaged and the narrator was fantastic with depicting all the accents among the characters. Just when I thought I was certain I knew the murderer's identity, the plot took an unexpected twist. In true 1920s fashion, the author captured the "live for today, for tomorrow we may die" attitude of the post WWI generation, with parties, drinking, and other excesses. I liked Zoe a lot as a character, except for her affair with a married detective. There were some racy scenes that seemed out of place and I skipped over them. Perhaps more disturbing were brief chapters from the point of view of the detective's wife. All in all, I enjoyed the author's well researched, atmospheric depictions of the time period and her detailed mystery that kept me listening. This book left me wondering why more authors haven't tapped into the plotting potential around Hemingway's lost manuscripts.

Lost in Paris was a great adventure through 1920’s Paris. Zoe is a spunky American, living in Paris and enjoying life among the colorful world of artist. When Ernest Hemingway’s works go missing Zoe teams up with a taxi driver named Avec. It is soon obvious that there is more afoot than expected. There are even mentions of the Romanov family, which I always enjoy.

I felt the character development left a little to be desired. I couldn’t immerse myself in the story as much as I wanted to. But it a good read, especially if you are a Hemingway fan!

A special thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Lost in Paris!

The narrators of this made me want to take on a French accent 😊

This audio book felt like an adventure, incorporating so many great people in history! The mystery is well developed, along with the characters (I really want to be Zoe’s friend). I found myself listening as often as possible just because I needed answers.

Thank you NetGalley, Betty Webb, and Dreamscape Media for the advanced listener copy for an honest review!

Lots of twists and turns in this one. What an interesting piece of time in history. Post WWI and pre- WWII, sounds like an interesting time both in the US and overseas. I love that she was able to solve the mystery but I hate that she had to endure through such a tragic past.

🌀Synopsis
Zoe is thriving in Paris. She’s got great friends and a career she loves. When one of her friends asks for a favor, things in her life take a turn.
She ends up being involved with finding two murder scenes, one of them her very best friend. Among the speculation, Zoe keeps trying to get to the real truth of what is happening.
She’s also still grappling with the past and trying to not let the thoughts intrude. She finally must explain what happened in order to be able to move forward with this new life and be able to trust those in it.

I listened to this as an audiobook. I enjoyed listening to it on my way to and from work.

Overall I felt like this book was a whirlwind. There was a lot going on in the plot.

Characters.
The main character, Zoe, has this amazing foundation that you do build throughout the book. I feel like this could be made into a series of books to really get the full amount of depth. Zoe is an extremely strong. smart, determined women who is ready to take the bull by the horns. She shows no one mercy and is ready to step up to the plate. Zoe has a dark background that haunts her yet pushes her through the journey of the book. I would've enjoyed the book more if it were more focused on one part of Zoe rather than all of her. Like I said, I feel like this could be a great series; each book really getting into the nooks and crannies of Zoe.

There were a number of characters in this book. It was tough to keep track of all of them. Focusing in on one or two of them in this book would have made listening easier to me. *This could be something that differs if you read the book paperback and can easily flip back and forth to connect more with characters.*

The Plot.
Usually when I dive into historical fiction it is WWII, not WWI. I really enjoyed this aspect of the storyline. I feel like it thoroughly explained what was important to the plot and left out the areas that would've just been extra fluff.

Again, I think there are parts that could've been moved to form an additional book. As much as it all twined together, I would've preferred to focus on one or two. Being that it started with the gambling, I would've enjoyed more of that aspect intertwined with the war. Zoe's family history and the Hemingway aspects are additional plots that I think would make a great prequel and sequel.

Because there was so much going on, the pace was fast for me. I felt like I was jumping from one place to the next in a way that I had to listen again to ensure I was following along.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley I was able to listen to the audiobook. I love historical fiction, but this one was just middle of the road for me. A lot of names, titles and streets that added nothing to the story and I'd rate it low on when it comes to being suspenseful.

Who Did It?

This is a murder mystery where the murdered and the murderer are all friends of an exiled Alabama girl named Zoe.

She starts searching for a missing valise filled with important writings of her friend's husband Earnest Hemingway. In her searching she runs across two sets of dead bodies and still searches for the papers.

While searching she also tries to solve the case of the murders although the good looking policeman tells her to leave it to the police.

I listened to the audio book and the narrator was easy to understand.
I wasn't impressed with this book, it had some unsavory language and incidents which I felt were distracting rather than adding to the story. It was a bit of a repetitive story in parts and a bit dragging along the way.

Thanks to Betty Webb for writing the story, to Hope Newhouse for the narration, to Dreamscape Media for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the audio book to listen to and review.

4 Star Review

Set in Paris right after The Great War, Zoe Barlow is an American artist with a variety of artistic friends and a few interesting ones who were not. She is friends with the renown Ernst Hemingway and his wife. When the Hemingways lose a valise with hundreds of pages of Hemingway’s work, Zoe tries to find it. A simple retrieval of a lost bag turns into a search for a murderer. The one who took the bag along with his daughter is found dead. Then another artist. Then even more. Zoe is attacked and her own paintings ruined. What is going on? This stubborn Southern woman would find out.

From page one, the reader is transported to a world that is too often forgotten or seen through rose colored glasses. Paris still is hurting from the war which has left it severely scarred with bombed out buildings and soldiers who moved about with missing limbs. Mental and physical healing occurs among Hemingway and Picasso. The beauty we read and look at today mingles with the horrors of war on these pages. The reader can see the remains of building and people as Zoe moves through all levels of Parisian society.

They mystery itself is not extremely suspenseful, but the story is more than a mystery. It is a story of mankind, beauty, and the soul. Yes, the mystery is discussed and pursued in every chapter, but I found myself more fascinated with the characters and the scenes there were so expertly recreated.

I listened to the audiobook in this case. The narrator does an excellent job with voices and accents.

If you enjoy historical fiction with mystery woven in, you really need to check this book out.

I listened to two hours of this audio book and just could not bring myself to continue listening. There were so many accents represented as to be entirely disorienting, but more than that, the southern Alabama accent was so poorly done, anytime the protagonist spoke out loud it was like nails on a chalkboard to me (a born a raised southerner). Furthermore, the book seems to be done from the first person perspective, which would lead me to expect that the protagonists thoughts should have the accent also, but the narrator only uses the accent when Zoe speaks aloud. I thought this would be better since the accent is so bad but it really just becomes confusing. Also… the accent changes. It’s not consistent. It would have been less distracting to forgo attempting accents all together. The narrator was very good at pronouncing French places, which led me to believe maybe she is French, but her impersonation of a native French person speaking English felt exaggerated.

Beyond that, the storyline just wasn’t developing. There were so many characters it was hard to keep up with them all. None of them were memorable and then randomly and without warning, the reader is transported back in time to Zoe’s 8th birthday. But the POV didn’t think like an 8year old.. there were many parts that felt developmentally inappropriate for an 8year old.

Things were happening to progress the story, but it was too difficult to find the storyline in and amongst the random historical details and names and facts and reveries…

Thanks to dreamscape media and NetGalley for an advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A hooking historical fiction, with a strong female lead and an interesting murder mystery. This was an exciting book with actually refreshing twists you don't see coming leading to a great ending. It takes a few chapters to fully get into the book and connect to the characters, however once you do this is such a gripping tale you can't stop listening/reading.

A refreshing historical fiction that left you hooked until the very end. I gave a literal gasp in when Zoe's secret form back home was revealed. I do wish more could have been developed with the secret, perhaps a second novel? It was so fun to hear the references to so many famous artists of the time. While I don't follow art as closely, it was easy enough to find yourself raptured in the story.

“Jazz was nothing more than a disguise for the world’s howls of grief.” ~ Lost in Paris

That quote captures the mood and feel of this book. Paris in the roaring 20s was an era of glamour, the embodiment of creativity, love, and wit. But it was also hurting like the rest of the world.

Webb weaves an exciting tale peppering the pages with fact-based historical references of the famous artists creating their masterworks of art, the tense political scene occurring with the Russian Revolution, to social issues concerning racism and the rising women’s movement. I found it fascinating to brush up on my history knowledge and recall how many things were happening then. Webb’s descriptive writing added notes of humor and brought this fictional world to life.

This story was unlike any historical mystery I have read yet. There were quite a few things to follow, and I didn’t see the whodunit or the simple reasoning behind it till the reveal at the end. Having the audiobook truly enhanced my experience with this story. The narrator was excellent and did a superb job with accents and French word pronunciation than I would have done. Her modulation and pace kept the story flowing nicely.

Readers of historical mysteries that enjoy their stories with grit, tragedy, and social commentary will enjoy this book.

Okay I actually enjoyed this audiobook way more than I even thought I would! This one gripped me from the beginning!

This one gradually got better but it took a good 1/3 of the book for me to really get into the story and connect with the characters. I did end up feeling deeply for the main character Zoe and also liked the mysterious whodunit that was at the heart of this story.

Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the alc in exchange for an honest review.