I really enjoyed this one. The book draws you in from the very first page. I couldn’t put it down. It’s a compelling and emotional edge of your seat thriller that’s fast paced with unexpected twists that keep you guessing.
It’s very well written and atmospheric. A interesting storyline told through multiple timelines, past and present and different POV’s that are clear and easy to follow. I liked the short chapters. The characters are great. I really liked Olivia.
It’s gripping, twisty and entertaining. Definitely recommend. I look forward to reading more from @matthewblake
With thanks to #NetGallery #HarperCollinsUk @harperfiction for an arc of #AMurderInParis in exchange for a honest review.
Book publishes 3 July 2025

Imagine the past returning to you in fragments.
A hotel room, a pillow, a lifeless body.
Your ordinary, innocent life upended by one flash of memory.
You can’t remember what led to the crime.
All you know is that you must return to the scene, to the clues that lie waiting in Room 11.

A well-written story where the dual timelines worked well. It did get a little bogged down in the middle and I found myself flipping forward a few pages until it picked up. An enjoyable read with good characters.

A Murder In Paris is a dual timelined emotional read.
Dr Olivia Finn is a memory expert at Charring Cross Hospital, London. Taking her son to school she receives a call to say her grandmother Josephine who lives in France has appeared at the Lutetia hotel in some distress, she has sat under the painting she has painted and admitted to killing her friend in a room there. Olivia clears her diary and meets her grandmother in France to find her very distressed and confused. Olivia rings her grandmothers oldest friend Louis and hopes he can get to the bottom of of it. Flitting from present day and back to 1945 Olivia needs to find out quickly who she can trust.
This was quite a lengthy read but I preferred it to Anna O. The dual timeline worked really well, making characters backgrounds easier to understand what they had done to get to where they were. It was a well written story and I enjoyed this. I’m not going to go too into this as you are best coming in blind with this book as little knowledge is more powerful in this book.
I would like to thank HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

4.5⭐️

After thoroughly enjoying "Anna O," I was eager to read Matthew Blake's new psychological thriller, A Murder in Paris," and it did not disappoint. Matthew delivers a gripping tale that intertwines wartime secrets with present day danger, becoming more intense and intriguing as the past and present collide with dark and deadly twists.

The story begins when Olivia receives a phone call from Paris informing her that her grandmother, Josephine, has arrived at the Lutetia Hotel claiming her name is Sophie Leclerc and that she has murdered someone. Initially, Olivia dismisses this as a result of her grandmother's dementia.

However, worried for her grandmother's safety, Olivia rushes to Paris to speak with the police and reassure Josephine that she is just confused.

Yet, upon her arrival, things take a serious turn. So Olivia contacts the only person she knows in the city—an old friend of her grandmother’s and her mentor, Louis.

As the narrative alternates between 1945 and the present day, a complex and poignant story unfolds against the backdrop of horrific historical events. As the end of the war leaves the city and its people grappling with the aftermath of cruelty and death.

But Josephine's alarming admission has opened a can of worms, putting Olivia in grave danger and making her unsure of whom to trust.

And with themes of love and betrayal at its core, and a final shocking twist, this was a captivating read that kept me hooked from beginning to end. I would gladly recommend it to everyone!

Started off well and I was instantly drawn in but then too much extra stuff crept in and I found myself a little lost and uninterested towards the end which didn't come as much of a shock. I liked the writing style though and the overall story.

Olivia is a memory expert who has to travel to Paris after receiving a phone call from the police saying her grandmother is at the Lutetia hotel claiming she once committed murder at the end of the Second World War. Olivia sets about to discover the truth about this mystery.

This was a clever, complex mystery which really makes you think. The story is told in a past and present timeline, from both Olivia and her grandmother. I found both perspectives interesting and as someone who doesn’t usually love historical mysteries, I found it intriguing here. I enjoyed the Paris setting and the author did a good job at keeping the story atmospheric.

I found that the story slowed down a lot by the middle of the book and my attention wasn’t held as firmly as it was at the start. Even so, this was definitely a well written and researched mystery with interesting twists and turns. 3.5 stars rounded down. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

I was impressed, with reservations, when I read this author's debut book Anna O last year. I found it a wee bit messy and a tad on the predictable said. But, that said, there were many important positives that I took so I was always willing to give him a second chance and, obviously as you can see from my star rating, I am so glad I did...
So... we first meet memory expert Olivia Finn as she is trying to get her son TJ off to school. In the car on the way she takes a phone call. It is from the police in Paris. Apparently her Grandmother, Josephine Benoit, has walked into the Hotel Lutetia in a distressed state, claiming she is Sophia Leclerc and that she murdered the real Josephine in room 11 of the same hotel in 1945. Is this true, can it be so, or is it her dementia confusing things. The police think it is worth exploring though...
Obviously, as her only living relative, and with a strong connection as it was Jospehine that actually brought her up, after the death of her mother, Olivia arranges for TJs father to look after him, and travels to Paris.
The rest of the story is told in the present, as things really hot up and get dangerous, the recent past, detailing Olivia's part in a court case, and a boyfriend ghosting her, and 1945, where we follow Sophia and Josephine in the days after they "arrive" in Paris after being liberated from Auschwitz.
As with the sleep stuff, the resignation syndrome, in Anna O, I really enjoyed reading about memory in this book. It's always been something that fascinated me and to have it as the key thing in a book is just brilliant, especially when seamlessly woven into a cracking plot, such as is enacted herein. I'd love to wax lyrical more about this aspect but it will inevitable inject spoilers should I try.
The characters were cracking. All well drawn and all played their parts very well. There was a bit of obfuscation but, on the flip side, it was a bit obvious there was something a bit hinkey about certain people. More on that, I can't say.
The flitting about in time, and having the story told from quite a few of the characters' perspectives could have ended up being as messy as for Anna O but this time the author managed to keep all his juggling balls in the air and in play throughout. I found it all very easy to follow, and only very occasionally did I have to stop and think who was narrating!
And the ending when it came was quite shocking. I had a bit of an inkling there was something there but I wasn't ready for the whole shebang.
All in all, a cracking follow up to what I thought was a weaker debut book. With the way things are going, I really can't wait to see what he has in store for me next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Not the best Blake Pierce book I’ve read, but it’s still a high octane read that you’ll enjoy. That’s to the author, NetGalley and publisher for the arc.

A gripping novel that keeps you reading till the early hours. Olivia works in a London hospital, she gets a phone call from Paris that her grandmother is at a hotel confused. When she gets to France her grandmother said she killed someone in the room in 1945. Told in two timelines with good characters and well plotted. A long book but well worth the time. Thanks to Harpercollins UK and Netgalley for this review ARC.

An insightful read.
A crime relating back to WW2 with repercussions today. Secrets, lies,manipulation of the truth but who is right?
I loved this book,encompassing a dark,period in history and some of the people who lived through it,right up to today with secrets being dragged into the light, families having to face their relatives past offences.
Completely absorbing book.

Memories.
A well written historical book set in Paris.
Dr Olivia Finn, memory expert, receives a call to say her grandmother, who has dementia, has confessed to comitting a murder many years ago, in Room 11 at the Hôtel Lutetia in Paris.
This book encompasses the war, 1945, families, concentration camps and the captivating concept of memories.
To discover the truth, this must be read!
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this ARC.

This story takes us from present day Paris back to the horrors of occupied France and the emptying of the death camps in 1945. It follows the intertwined lives of Sophie, Josephine, Olivia and Louis, the power of recovered memory and just what lengths Hunan beings are prepared to go to just to survive.

You need to concentrate on the chapter headings to ensure you follow the characters story perspective and the timelines but this is a good, suspenseful read.

Another good read from Matthew Blake.

Delve into the lives of Olivia, Sophie and Josephine. From modern day to the horrors of occupied France.

It seems that everyone will do what it takes to survive.

Olivia Finn is a memory expert at Charing Cross Hospital in Lomdon. One night she receives and urgent call from the police at the Hotel Lutetia on Paris's famous Left Bank. Olivia's French grandmother, Josephine Benoit, has appeared at the Lutetia in a distressed state claiming she once committed a murder in the hotel at the end of the Second World War. Travelling to Paris, Olivia finds her grandmother confused. But Josephine insists it is a recovered memory from the past. More disturbingly, the hotel records show that a woman did die in that room of the Lutetia in 1945. Could her story be true? As people start dying in the present day, Olivia's plunged into a race against time to uncover the truth about Josephine and what really happened all those years ago.

This is quite a lengthy read with just over 600 pages. The story follows Olivia Finn, who was living in London when her French grandmother, Josephine, calls her urgently and says she's confessed to a murder she committed in 1945. Olivia starts looking into the past until she discovers the shocking truth.

This story has a dual timeline, the past - post WWII, and the present day. The plot is good enough that you fly through the pages, the characters are well-developed, and it's told from multiple points of view.

Publish 3rd July 2-25

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinsUK #HarperFiction and the author #MatthewBlake for my ARC of #AMurderInParis in exchange for an honest review.

A Murder in Paris
Matthew Blake

Read and Reviewed: June 2025
Publication Date: 3rd July 2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫

I loved this authors last book Anna O so I was delighted to receive an email offering me an ARC of this latest book and I couldnt wait to get stuck in.

Thanks a million to the author Matthew Blake and Harper Collins publishers for the gift of an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this one.

Told in two timelines - a present day modern timeline and the historical timeline set back in 1945 at the end of WW11.

As a crime read, the historical timeline really gave this book an edge and made it unique and different to anything I've ever read before in the crime genre.

I got immersed in the story from the very start and it kept me hooked (for the most part) until I turned the final page.

The present storyline follows Olivia Finn, who lives in London with her young son. She works as a memory specialist. One morning she receives a call from a french hotel telling her that her French Grandmother Josephine is there at the hotel - quite distressed and claiming to have murdered a woman there many years ago back in 1945 at the end of the war. Her Grandmother has Dementia so Olivia has no idea if her Grandmother is telling the truth or if it is just the Dementia causing her grandma to misremember or get the past all mixed up. She drops everything and books the eurostar from London to Paris to try get to the bottom of this bombshell confession.

The historical timeline is her Grandmother Josephines story, about WW11 survivors who were all put up in this hotel (where present day Josephine confessed to murder) following the end of the war. The two timelines intertwine seamlessly.

The whole story was so well executed, so well written and with really well developed characters.

I thought the books pacing faltered slightly in the middle and the plot slowed down a bit so I docked a star for that reason but despite that one minor flaw, my overall thought on this one is positive.

It is a smartly woven crime read and Matthew Blake is fast making a name for himself as a must read crime author following on from his success with Anna O and I dont doubt his continued success with this one. I wish him the very best of luck with it.

A really enjoyable read and one I will be recommending for sure.

Cant wait to see what Matthew comes up with next.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫

A thrilling murder mystery.

A murder in post was Paris, a confused woman now confessing to the crime but is it all in her head or real.

I love the twists and turns and different POVs throughout the book. The historical information and descriptions of post war Paris were fascinating. The thought on memory’s on how they can change and our perception of them was fascinating as well.

Although I did guess most of the twists I still really enjoyed the story.

I adored Anna O and knew I had to read this one as soon as possible. Whilst I don't feel it reached the same heights as Anna O, I was still thoroughly impressed and would definitely recommend this to all

When Olivia receives a call from Paris stating that her Grandmother Jospehine has come to the Lutetia Hotel and claimed to be someone called Sophie Leclerc and that she had murdered someone, she believes it is her dementia talking. However, she rushes over to Paris so that she can speak to the police herself and reassure her grandmother that she is just confused. Upon arrival, things become quite serious and Olivia contacts the only person she knows in the city, her Grandmother’s oldest friend and her own mentor, Louis to help her sort out the mess. Alternating between 1945 and present day this complex and rather sad story gradually unravels itself. With horrific historical events of the end of the war brought to life, it wasn’t the celebratory time we all expect but the dreadful aftermath of cruelty and death that will remain with the survivors for the rest of their lives. As extreme danger rears its head, Olivia is unsure who to trust and it seems her grandmother’s admission has opened a long buried can of worms. A story of love and betrayal, this was an excellent book that had me hooked and with a final shocking twist that I didn’t see coming.

This is a twisty psychological thriller that blends wartime secrets with present-day danger. It gets more intense when past and present collide with dark and deadly twists.

have read Anna O a while ago, and was extremely excited to get my hands on another book by Matthew Blake. I’m a sucker for historical fiction and a thriller, so right of the bat I was sucked in.

In this story we follow a few timelines: present and past Olivia, Sophie and Josephine in 1945, and a few side characters. The story focuses on memories and a crime that allegedly occurred in the aftermath of the WW2. Two girls joined by past, but only one of them survives. The question that drives the narrative is - which one?

I must say that I really enjoyed the 1945 par of storyline and I did like Olivia as a narrator, but somewhere in the middle of the book I felt like there was a lot of repetition. There are a lot of hints about Olivia’s secret and their previous relationship, but it’s not really resolved till the very end and even then it feels rushed. There were a few side plot points that I felt slowed book rather than make it more exciting, but overall, it was a great, fast read. I must say, just like with Anna O., I felt like the ending was rushed and lacked closure, but overall I had good fun and would recommend the book to fans of historical mysteries and multiple timelines.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy in exchange for this review.