Detective

Bit of bus book. Character light weight,plot average. Try harder james ( )

Luc Moncrief is on a temporary assignment with NYPD. A detective of renown in Paris for his daring solutions to drug cases. Dressing in bespoke clothes, enjoying the high-end lifestyle with a monthly high-end allowance from his father — chairman of a giant pharmaceutical company — Luc is not the typical NYPD cop.

“French Kiss” has Luc working with Detective Maria Martinez, a cop who goes by the book. Luc goes by instinct. Together they make an excellent team.

This time out, he is given some low-end theft cases while Martinez is on loan to Vice to work on a case. When she is murdered Luc is assigned a new partment, Katherine Burke, and the yduty of finding Martinez’s murder. Burke is another by-the-book copy and doesn’t quite get Luc’s style.

Over time, they learn to adjust and appreciate each other’s strengths. They also crack the case.

In “The Christmas Mystery” it is the theft of priceless paintings and art forgery, along with a dose of murder and Luc’s getting over the murder of his long time girlfriend. Christmas isn’t a great time for him.

The missing paintings are stolen from the scene of a brutal murder. How did it happen and where did they go? There is also the word that forged paintings are being sold as originals to wealthy buyers. Where are those coming from? Meanwhile there is another killer on the loose.

In “French Twist” women are dropping dead in upscale department stores. Another possible drug case, but how and where is the drug coming from? A second case, involving horse racing and some very old friends of Luc’s is also on the radar. It seems someone is scamming the odds on the horse the friends own.

The back and forth between the characters, the difference in methodology that each uses, add to the enjoyment of the reading. Luc may dress well and live well, but he is just as serious about his work as his by –the-book partner, Katherine Burke. Meanwhile Burke is exposed to the lifestyle Luc has been raised in and is finding sleuthing doesn’t always need to follow protocol.

I don’t know if there are anymore books for this pair of characters. The co-author is Richard DiLallo. Be nice if there were more… ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this book of three novellas. Each was long enough not to feel like a short story.
The stories were fast paced, and easy reads. I have to say, most of the time I like James Patterson's protagonists, but Luc Moncrief came across as a rich, self-absorbed, know it all. That said, I did enjoy this book. ( )

I found it skipped around a lot and perhaps could have done with fewer story lines. A good read none the less. ( )