Night Train to Paris (A Fen Churche Mystery #2) by Fliss Chester
Genre: Historical Mystery, Cosy, Post-WW2
Read: 22nd November 2020
Published: 26th November 2020
★★★ 3 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Meet Fen Churche, as she steps off the night train with the sun rising over Paris. Cat whisperer, crossword puzzler... accidental detective?
Autumn, 1945. Fen cannot wait to see her beloved godmother Rose, who has invited Fen to stay with her in the city of lights. As she arrives, Fen is dreaming of strolls by the Seine, taking tea at the Eiffel Tower and above all French feasts with Rose where they can trade stories of how they survived the terrifying war years.
But Fen has barely made friends with Rose’s bad-tempered poodle when she returns to the apartment to find her godmother murdered, a paintbrush stuck in her neck. Suddenly Fen is thrown into the middle of a truly puzzling mystery. Who on earth would want to murder Rose, a gentle artist and generous friend?
A blackmail letter convinces Fen that the police have got everything wrong and Fen knows she has to solve the case just like one of her crosswords, one clue at a time. As she meets her godmother’s friends, she makes a surprising discovery: Rose was part of the Resistance during the war…
When a second body turns up, another of Rose’s wartime contacts, Fen must act fast. But as the killer turns their sights on Fen, does she have what it takes to solve this mysterious murder and get justice for her darling godmother?
You won’t be able to put down this utterly addictive historical cosy mystery! The absolutely perfect treat if you love Agatha Christie, Rhys Bowen and Jacqueline Winspear.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Fliss Chester's historical mystery NIGHT TRAIN TO PARIS.
Having been transported back in time to post war France in the tail end of summer 1945 with the first in this cosy series featuring cryptic crossword cluer Fenella Churche, I was excited to sink my teeth in yet another of her historical mysteries with NIGHT TRAIN TO PARIS. And while I didn't find it as enthralling as the first, it was still an engaging read.
October 1945: After uncovering a murderer in a Chateau winery along with the truth about what happened to her fiance Arthur, Fen Churche travelled by train from Burgundy to Paris to visit an old family friend and bohemian artist, Madame Rose Coillard. Accompanied by her late fiance's friend James Lancaster, Fen is looking forward to relaxing and showing James the galleries and beauty of Paris.
Upon arrival they discover that Rose has no room for James as she has recently taken a lodger, Simone, and James is left to find a hotel in which to stay. But his presence has not gone unnoticed by the young Simone who works at a fashion house with upcoming designers Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain, as she sets her sights on the dashing James. Fen is concerned that Simone is only interested in his title and sees him as a meal ticket, having come from meagre beginnings herself. Her almost unseen disdain at Fen's Jewish friend Magda who has, since the war practically gone from riches to rags, did not go unnoticed by me as I felt her niceness was a facade for some other ulterior motive. I didn't like her from the beginning nor did I trust her.
Rose, however, is an accomplished artist she has spent many years copying the artistic greats but also adding her own flourishes to make them her own. But some have accused her of selling forgeries to some of the more affluent dignitaries in the City of Love. Unless her agent has been less then forthcoming with her works, passing them off as originals, and reaping the benefits of the sale without passing it on to Rose herself. She may be bohemian and a little eccentric, but Rose is not a fraud. She just appreciates art.
But that may not be the only aspect of her past that is catching up to her. Rose spent the war on the side of the Resistance by keeping track of all the stolen art from Jewish families and the like by the Germans during the war. All she needs is to find her cipher to decode her list to reveal exactly where these stolen paintings are today. But apparently someone does not want these paintings returned to their rightful owners...or so it would seem.
Then when Fen and James return to Rose's apartment one afternoon, they are shocked to discover her body on the floor of her studio with a paintbrush through her neck! The police are called and a quick search of the apartment reveals some of Rose's more valuable paintings as well as most of her jewellery are missing, and the police rule it as a robbery gone wrong. After the initial shock of finding her old friend's body, Fen and James then join forces to do some investigating of their own...to uncover who really killed Rose Coillard. Was it just an opportunistic killing? Or was it the work of the WW2 double agent known only as The Chameleon?
It took me a while to get into the story as all that seemed to be happening was Simone fluttering her eyes at James and Fen frequenting galleries whilst Rose paints and entertains them for tea. It wasn't until about 40% that the pace started to slowly pick up and things started to happen. Admittedly, I was tempted to give up prior to this as it was taking far too long to get interesting. And Simone was frustratingly sickening. As it was, the subject matter is not one that interests me a great deal as I know very little about art and found some of it confusing. However, the story did get marginally better and was a fairly engaging read.
I found some parts a little repetitive at times with "after hearing a knock at the door and Tipper's usual reception, Fen is relieved to find it is only James". This occurred a couple of times in the space of a chapter that one might assume that door knocking and opening to be an integral part of the story.
As the story took a while to build or go anywhere, I was able to identify the murderer before the said murder even took place! Not that it deterred me in anyway as I was eager to discover if my sleuthing proved to be correct. And despite the slow start, NIGHT TRAIN TO PARIS was something of a page-turner.
Although I did enjoy the first book "A Dangerous Goodbye" far more than this one, NIGHT TRAIN TO PARIS is a delightful step back in time to post-war Paris steeped in history and alas, murder! I enjoyed catching up with Captain (or rather Viscount) James Lancaster and had hoped for a bit more of time together with Fen rather than the sultry Simone. But as the reader is to discover, there is more to learn about James Lancaster, a former SOE operative during the war, than meets the eye.
I am not familiar with Paris or its traditions so I do look forward to Fen's return to England and hope that her next mystery will find her tucked up in her West Sussex village with James Lancaster as a nearby neighbour perhaps, so as to be on hand to assist in future mysteries.
A light and engaging read for fans of cosy and historical mysteries.
I would like to thank #FlissChester, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #NightTrainToParis in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Fliss Chester lives in Surrey with her husband and writes historical cozy crime. When she is not killing people off in her 1940s whodunnits, she helps her husband, who is a wine merchant, run their business. Never far from a decent glass of something, Fliss also loves cooking (and writing up her favourite recipes on her blog), enjoying the beautiful Surrey and West Sussex countryside and having a good natter.
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