If I could give this book zero stars, I would. It baffles me why anyone would like this mess of plotting, character, detail. We all are human and sometimes make horrendous errors. To be charitable, I will put this book in that category for Cara Black, who seems to have been overmatched by the challenge to write a prequel. If you are a fan of the Aimee Leduc series, my advice is: "Don't look back!" ( )

Set in 1989 in Paris this is a prequel to later books in the series. Aimee is in her first year in medical school, but when her private detective father goes to Berlin as the Wall falls, she finds herself investigating a murder linked to a the transport of a truckload of Nazi claimed gold during WWII. I'd forgotten how dark this mystery series is with assasinations and intrigue on all sides, and Aimee in the thick of it! ( )

This is a prequel for the Aimee Leduc series and it introduces her and several other recurring characters. It is Aimee's first investigation and she is also at medical school -- she is juggling the school work and the investigation. As with the others books in the series, Aimee's investigations are impulsive and frantic -- she's the proverbial bull in a china shop. However, she gets results.
This is a standalone book because it is introductory and therefore you need not have read others in the series to enjoy this book. I think there may be a follow-up to it because there are some unresolved events, e.g. her father's death, that feature in later books in the series. There's also the recurring theme of the lasting effects of the WW2 Nazi occupation of
France.

Recommended for fans of noir thriller. Another plus, is there's lots of local colour about Paris. ( )

For anyone who's followed Aimée Leduc throughout the course of her many investigations, this prequel is a welcome addition to the series, since it does answer several questions: How did Miles Davis join the family? How did she meet René? What did she do before she became a private investigator? For anyone who's brand-new to the series, Murder on the Quai will be the perfect starting point. To be honest, I wondered how Black was going to follow up Aimée's first outing as private eye/mother in Murder on the Champs de Mars. Aimée has a penchant for getting into danger, and there are bound to be some readers who think she should stay in the office and out of the line of fire. This prequel avoids this issue for now, but it will be interesting to see how Black deals with it in future books.

Murder on the Quai is fast-paced, and the occasional "flashback" chapters to 1942 up the tension and suspense. Who's killing these old men? Why? And... what happened to all that gold? This latest book by Cara Black is a first-rate whodunit that showcases Aimée's natural deductive talents. She does make mistakes, and even though she is intuitive, she is a rookie after all. It's going to be fun to see which direction Black takes her series in next! ( )