Zoe Barlow, a poker playing American painter in Paris, was inspired to move there by storybook tales of read to her as a young girl in Alabama. Her work on a painting series of the seven virtues and deadly sins is interrupted by a wild goose case to find a valise full of Hemingway’s missing manuscripts.

Zoe rubs elbows with Ernest Hemingway’s wife, Hadley, and Man Rey’s model, KiKi, and a chance encounter with Mary Cassatt. She has a knack for stumbling upon dead bodies, which sparts her involvement with a sexy French detective. This novel is part crime solving and part historical fiction. Though murder is a heavy subject matter, this novel has a light, humorous voice and the audiobook was narrated in that tone.

There is a multitude of characters that caused me some confusion, including an unconscious woman who has conversations with a spider. Zoe’s backstory of family conflict and personal tragedy is gradually revealed but the pieces do not all completely come together.

This book will appeal to fans of historical fiction that highlight the lives of authors and artists such as “The Paris Wife” by Paula McClain and “Z: A novel of Zelda Fitzgerald” by Therese Ann Fowler. Although, this tale of a young American woman in Paris during the Jazz age is more far-fetched and less sophisticated than those intimate character studies.

Thank you @NetGalley and @Dreamscape_media for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The narrator did a good job with the names and places and especially the French language. The pacing of the story was interesting, but sometimes it felt like all this was taking place in one week and at other times it was clear this was taking place over months. Zoe is a interesting character and she was a good narrator with an interesting backstory, but I feel like I wish I knew more about her background from the beginning but the story itself had some great twists and turns.
The only part of this story I didn't care about at all was anything to do with Hemingway. He was the catalyst for the original mystery, but after that I didn't want to hear about him at all.

Synopsis:
Paris, 1922: Zoe Barlow knows the pain of loss. By the age of eighteen, she'd already lost her father to suicide and her reputation to an ill-fated love affair—not to mention other losses, too devastating for words. Exiled from her home and her beloved younger sister by their stepmother, she was unceremoniously dumped in Paris without a friend to help her find her way. Four years later, Zoe has forged a new life as a painter amidst fellow artists, expats, and revolutionary thinkers struggling to make sense of the world in the aftermath of war. She's adopted this Lost Generation as her new family, so when her dear friend Hadley Hemingway loses a valise containing all of her husband Ernest's writings, Zoe happily volunteers to track it down. But her search for the bag keeps leading to murder victims, and Zoe must again face hard losses—this time among her adopted tribe. If she persists in her reckless quest to find the killer, the next life lost may be her own. Pulsing with the glamour and excitement of the Jazz Age, Lost in Paris explores a young woman's journey to redeem herself from the heartaches of her past while finding her way forward in tumultuous, unprecedented times.

I was excited about the concept for this historical fiction particularly being set in Paris in the 20's. This book was a unique take, in my opinion, to be a murder mystery alongside historical fiction. I really wanted to like Zoe but felt like stories about her past were not as thoughtful or formative enough and almost made her an unlikable character when I think the intent was something else entirely. I think the way Zoe was weaved into the stories of the Hemmingways and other artists of 1920's Paris was really fun and interesting. Overall an enjoyable read even if some of the development with Zoe and her adjacent fictional characters was a little underwhelming.

Thank you NetGalley for access to this audiobook 

Paris, 1922: Zoe Barlow knows the pain of loss. By the age of eighteen, she'd already lost her father to suicide and her reputation to an ill-fated love affair, not to mention other losses, too devastating for words. Exiled from her home and her beloved younger sister by their stepmother, she was unceremoniously dumped in Paris without a friend to help her find her way. Four years later, Zoe has forged a new life as a painter amidst fellow artists, expats, and revolutionary thinkers struggling to make sense of the world in the aftermath of war. She's adopted this Lost Generation as her new family, so when her dear friend Hadley Hemingway loses a valise containing all of her husband Ernest's writings, Zoe happily volunteers to track it down. But her search for the bag keeps leading to murder victims, and Zoe must again face hard losses, this time among her adopted tribe. If she persists in her reckless quest to find the killer, the next life lost may be her own. Pulsing with the glamour and excitement of the Jazz Age, Lost in Paris explores a young woman's journey to redeem herself from the heartaches of her past while finding her way forward in tumultuous, unprecedented times.

Set between the two World Wars and after the great flu pandemic this was a great period to be reading about, and an interesting time in history (females being arrested for wearing trousers!). I would recommend this to anyone who loves Historical Fiction and is looking for a book on Paris.

I did not see the ending coming. So many people I thought had done it and only turned out to be wrong. I also didn't realize how Zoeys life had turned. I can't believe how it all turned out. The characters are amazing and definitely likable. I really enjoyed this book and the twists that occurred. I was very upset over some things, but very happy with the ending.

I found the premise interesting and I liked learning more about the time period, the artists, and the culture of Paris. Other than that, I found the story dragged and it didn’t hold my interest. Zoe wasn’t likeable and her relationship wasn’t believable. I’m glad I got through it but it’s not a story that will stay with me.

Journey back to Gilded Age Paris with Alabama native, Zoe Barlow, who becomes friends with some of the literary luminaries of the day, including Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley. When the bag containing Hemingway’s manuscripts disappears, Zoe agrees to help Hadey search for it. What she doesn’t realize is that she’ll be putting her life on the line, because plenty of people are willing to, and do, die to get their hands on Papa’s work. Readers will feel drawn into 1920’s Paris, that reckless and heady time between world wars when anything can, and does happen

Something different in my historical readings. Beeing a suspect in crime and at the same time wanting to resolve the murders in maybe not something new but for me in this enviroment it is. Paris is such a wonderful city. Everyone loves it and it is also a mix of coultures, races. The artist are anyway one of the most relresentative. Mystery history with lots of interesting characters.
Thank you Dreamscape Media ad Netgalley for this audio opportunity.