What if a memory is the behind things that happened in the past? Do you want to know why? This story is told using different time periods and multiple points of view. Dr Olivia Finn, a psychotherapist in a memory unit based in London, is called by the police in Paris to say her Grandmother is saying something happened 80 years ago. Olivia travels to Paris to help her. This incident leads to secrets, lies, deceptions, betrayals, emotional times and memories from the past that come out in the present. This was an emotional rollercoaster of a mystery read.

A really enjoyable sweet little murder story! Mixed with some interesting thoughts on memories and how they can be used to shape us, there was a lot in this book. I enjoyed the characters and felt invested in them. Thank you to Netgalley for the advance reader copy.

A captivating novel over two timelines- full of fear and hope. Very well written and atmospheric. Having said this, I did not enjoy it, but only because of the subject matter.

The second Matthew Blake book I have read. Like the first book it makes the reader think and challenges us. Set at the end of WWII and present times and jumps between the two. An enjoyable but at times sad read. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

Overall feeling of sadness. The settings moved between the present and the end of WW2.

I really liked Olivia and admired how she just ploughed on with her life despite circumstances.

I also liked the idea that whenever we recall a memory we are in fact reviewing and editing it. The memory can change as a result. That was insightful.

The end of the WW2 in Paris sounded very stressful to me just reading about it. How people managed to cope I fail to understand.

The characters and plot intertwined and made it difficult to appreciate who was dangerous - who was a goodie - who was a baddie!

All in all an entertaining read!

I really liked "Anna O" so when I heard that Matthew Blake had written a second book, I requested "A Murder in Paris". Full of secrets, confessions and a storyline that is linked to a hotel room and what happened in it 70 years ago. Some great plot twists that keep you guessing til the very end.

A fancy hotel in Paris, a portrait hanging in their foyer, one room seventy years apart, a murder and a deadly secret.

A young woman, living in London with her young son, gets a phone call to say her aged grandmother, who lives in Paris, has walked into a hotel and claimed to have committed murder. Olivia Finn is a memory expert who grew up with her Grandmother in Paris after her mother left. When she gets a phone call, she rushes to be with her and tries to understand why her Grandmother is claiming she killed someone in that hotel after WW2. What she discovers takes her down a dark route that started before the Nazi's invaded Paris, and will leave more than one life shattered.

This was a great mix of historical and modern-day stories, as they collide together in a wonderful thriller that makes you wonder if you can truly trust your own memories.

I am a massive fan of this authors first book Anna O, so I had really high expectations for this book. I absolutely loved the memory aspect that was at the heart of this story, however I was a little confused during the first 25% of this book in terms of who was who and having multiple timelines. The story definitely picked up and I did really enjoy all the dots being connected by the end. I will continue to read more books from this author.

I loved Anna O so much that I requested A. Murder in Paris without even reading the synopsis! I have been waiting for another book from this author and was so happy to receive an early copy thanks to Harper Collins.

What an absolutely fantastic book! i loved the historical timeline, and the fascinating story of WWII survivors. What those poor innocent people were put through was just horrific. I do always enjoy multiple timelines in a story and it was so cleverly executed by the author. I couldn’t wait to get back to all the timelines!

Olivia Finn is a memory expert, so seeing her grandmother suffering through dementia breaks her heart. So when she gets a call from Paris to say that her grandmother has confessed to a murder in 1945, she drops everything and gets herself on the Eurostar. Is she telling the truth or is this the illness talking?

Memory plays a big part of this book, what we remember and what we think we remember. How memories change over time and how they can be manipulated l it was such an interesting concept and ai couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. You have to read this book, out on July 3rd.

Olivia receives a phonecall from Paris, her grandmother Josephine has confessed to a murder but it happened in 1945. Olivia makes her way to France to see her grandmother to find out what's going on, her grandmother's memory isn't what it was and dementia has plagued her for a few years. Olivia sets out to find the truth and what she discovers is quite shocking. What significance does room 11 at the Lutetia Hotel have?
I enjoyed that the story is told in flashbacks from 1940's Paris to present day. I did find it took a while for me to be really gripped by the book but I think the back story had to be explained.
Thanks to Harper fiction for the advanced copy.

A Murder In Paris is an emotional tale that sits somewhere between a historical thriller and modern crime fiction, the action moving back and forth between 1945, and a Paris dealing with the immediate aftermath of the war, and modern day in which out central protagonist, Olivia, is faced with a very stark revelation - that her Grandmother, famed artist Josephine Benoit, may not be the woman she thought she was. Facing a slow decline due to dementia, Josephine has made a very dark confession. That, in the days after her liberation from Auschwitz, whilst housed in the Hotel Lutetia and waiting evaluation of her condition, she murdered a woman and stole her identity. How much of that confession is recovered memory, and how much a consequence of Josephine's fractured and damaged mind, is something that Olivia must find out. But there are those that don't want the truth to come out, and trying to prove her Grandmother's innocence may prove deadly.

This is a very clever study of the human mind and of psychology as a profession. Not only does Matthew Blake explore the impact of Josephine's dementia diagnosis, on the credence, or lack thereof, of her confession, but also the emotions tied to the condition itself on both Josephine and Olivia. On a secondary level, Olivia is herself a psychotherapist and understands the fragility of the human mind which makes her investigations all the more meaningful, and her discoveries all the more plausible. It also means that I found myself believing in her and perhaps even becoming a little blindsided to the truth. the strength of her convictions proving to be a source of misdirection as it were - both the positive and negative sides of it all.

There is a lot of tension and threat coursing through this book, in part as some of the scenes are conveyed from the point of view of a mysterious third party whose role in the proceedings is always clear, but never of good intent. The 'fixer' if you like who has been engaged to remove some of the conflict in a somewhat dramatic manner. Their own history becomes part of the plot, making them a touch less anonymous, but still keeping their exact mission secret until just the right time for the dramatic reveal. Was I entirely surprised when their employer was revealed? No. Not really. I did figure that there was only really one potential candidate on that front quite early on. But that didn't change my enjoyment of the story, and it was as much about watching Olivia's path to the truth, as the big reveal about the person and their motives, that look into the world of psychology, that appealed to me.

What I really did like about this book though was the way in which Matthew Blake has woven scenes from 1945 into the narrative, in a way that felt like a natural progression of the story rather than a diversion from Olivia's investigations. Each scene had an air of authenticity to it, bringing the Hotel Lutetia of the past to life, allowing me as a reader to feel the oppressive nature of Josephine's confinement and the emotional toll that her time in Auschwitz had in her and her fellow prisoners. from the loss of her beloved father, to the discovery, or at least confirmation of the betrayal that cost them everything, there is a melancholy to the text, but also a slight sense of hope. There are other characters in these scenes, ones who are vital to the course that Josephine's story will take, all brought to life, and death, brilliantly by the author. I felt a mixture of emotions about one in particular, whose actions may have seemed unforgivable but also understandable.

If you love a book that delves into the world of psychology, mixing intrigue and suspense with an interrogation of human nature and whether or not memories can every be truly trusted, addled by dementia or not, then I would definitely recommend this book. It blends character and mystery perfectly, highlighting all the ways in which trust can be abused, and making you wonder whether the ends can ever justify the means.

Having read and enjoyed Anna O I was really pleased to be given the opportunity to read this title. As with Anna O it is well written but did not grab me quite as much as the previous title.
In was definitely interesting but did not hold my attention quite as much. It was a little confusing in places and I felt some parts were extraneous to the story. There were twists and turns and it did keep me guessing. I did feel the ending was rather rushed.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Matthew Blake/HarperCollins UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is the first book that I've read from this author and I thought the title and description sounded really interesting.

Olivia returns to Paris following her Grandmothers confession to a murder which happened 1945.

We follow multiple points of view, both in the past and present. I struggled with the writing style as it was all in third person, and I was often getting confused between Sophie and Josephine. There were too many characters to keep up with for me. I also found it to be quite slow and very repetitive in parts. I felt as if I was rereading sections and I didn't feel the story moved very far along at all.

I'm not usually a fan of historical fiction and I wasn't expecting so much to be set in WW2. I feel this would be a great book for those who enjoy complex historical thrillers but it just wasn't for me personally.

Thank you to Harper Fiction for this advanced copy.
Although I did not enjoy this read, I appreciate the opportunity to read it.

Olivia is a memory expert and sadly her grandmother has dementia. One day she confesses to a murder that occurred just after the war. Olivia cannot believe it so she tries to find out the truth. Really interesting read well written and it keeps you guessing throughout.

Olivia Finn a memory expert returns to Paris when her grandmother makes a shocking confession. This confession brings in to question everything Olivia thought she knew about her family.

Whilst the storyline itself is gripping, the book was quite slow paced and repetitive in places. I did ultimately enjoy it but guessed the ending pretty early on and while this isn't necessarily a major problem I don't know if I feel the rest was exciting enough to make up for it.

I loved this book and couldn’t wait to find out what happened to the characters so read it as quick as I could. Part of the story was set in 1945 which I hadn’t realised when I requested the book and I found this part interesting. I didn’t guess the twist at the end which was a bonus. The only thing I didn’t like was that the relationship between Tom/Myles felt unfinished. A very good read otherwise. Thanks for my ARC.

I did enjoy this book, and definitely more than the author’s Anna O, but when I reflect back on it, there is a lot of downsides. There is a lot of repetition, how many times were we told by Olivia that Louis had saved her. I thought it was obvious from the beginning who the baddie was, so when we found out, it was an anti-climax. And it was a bit too convenient that the small number of characters played many roles (a mentor and therapist). The whole memory thing is core to the story, but it never went into it in convincing detail. I thought Olivia and Edward’s relationship was left unfinished, how did Olivia forgive Tom? And the Ingrid story was just left up in the air, I never understood why or how she died. Having said all that , the story did keep me engrossed till the end, it just left me feeling that somebody else would have written it sharper.

Absolutely wonderful book. Crossing the generations and always drawing back to WW2 and the enormous difficulties that people had to come to terms with. So happy to have read it thx

Not normally a fan of historical fiction, I decided to give this a go regardless and I am so glad I did! This is an intricate story that weaves through generations and changes the playing field at different points.

Dr Olivia Finn is a psychotherapist at Charing cross hospital; she is a memory expert at the memory unit trying to recover people memories who have mental health issues. She is also a mum to six-year-old TJ. They both live in London.
Whilst on the school run, she get a call from the police in Paris about her grandmother who once a famous artist now suffering from dementia. She is in the foyer of the Hotel Lutetia saying that she committed murder in 1945. The hotel resided survivors of the Holocaust in WW2 but in Room 11 they find someone murdered.
This is another cleverly written and atmospheric thriller set in Paris going back and forward in time, with several P.O. V’s and quite fast paced as I read it in 24 hours. I did enjoy this tale the mix of the historical and the modern-day tale. Maybe because I am a fan of both. I did read the authors previous novel Anna O and for me personally thought this was better. It did though take a lot to keep up with all the characters in this story, but I enjoyed it regardless. 4 stars from me.