Dr Olivia Finn, a memory expert, gets a call from Paris saying that her grandmother has confessed to murder in 1945. But there’s a problem, her grandmother is using a different name.

This is the story of Olivia uncovering her grandmother’s past and learning about her own false memories and her grandmothers.

This is a catchy story and has you captivated wanting to know how her grandmother ended up where she was.

A Murder in Paris by Matthew Blake is the next publication by the author of one of my stand-out and most recommended thrillers of 2024; Anna O. Hopefully, this new novel reaches similar heights!

Doctor Olivia Finn is a psychotherapist within the Memory Unit at Charing Cross Hospital and is an expert at recovering memories which lay at the heart of psychological issues of her patients. She’s a single mum with a hectic life and one busy morning during the school run, she receives a phone call from a Captain Vidal from the Paris Division of the Direction National de la Police Judiciare asking her to collect her grandmother from the Hotel Lutetia in Paris.

Her Grandmother is a renowned yet reclusive portrait painter and is sat underneath her most famous portrait; The Memory, which is hung within the reception area of the Hotel. She is in a clearly distressed state and has confessed to a murder in room 11 of the hotel just after the end of the Second World War, whilst she was being repatriated after her release from the concentration camps. She is also saying that the murder became the subject matter of her celebrated painting

Olivia travels to Paris and is concerned by her grandmothers disorientated state and believes that dementia may be the cause of her confusion, but her grandmother is adamant that the memories are real and which she has repressed from her past. When Captain Duval confirms to Olivia that an occupant of room 11 did die in Paris 1945 Olivia is clearly concerned that what her grandmother is admitting may actually be true.

As the story unravels, it is clear that some of the secrets of the Second World War are rising to the surface and that there are dark forces who are willing to kill to make sure that the secrets are untold.

The story pivots from the 1940’s to the present day well and the building blocks of the plot are cleverly crafted together through the past and present interactions of the characters. The author perhaps fails to keep the pace and tension at a consistent level throughout and there is a brief lull in the action just before the middle of the story, but if you persist through this there is an absorbing and cleverly structured conclusion.

Not as strong as Anna O, but still a very good thriller in its own right, just not an exceptional one, but as second album syndrome difficulties go, this is not a bad attempt. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ for this effort, and an author to follow in the future.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Dr Olivia Finn is a single mother and psychotherapist with a successful book on memory recovery.

One morning she receives a phone call stating that a woman called Sophie LeClerc is sitting in the reception if the world famous Lutetia Hotel in Paris claiming to have committed murder there at the end of WW2.

From the description,the woman is Olivia's grandmother,the famous artist Josephine Benoit.

Olivia rushes to Paris to help solve this mystery set in the aftermath of the War.

Another twisty psychological thriller from Matthew Blake the author of Anna O. Intriguing until the final page!

I would like to thank Harper Collins Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Olivia receives a message from the French Police that her Grandmother who suffers with dementia has confessed to a murder.
She rushes to Paris to help her at which point what she thought she knew about her grandmother starts to unravel.
An interesting crime mystery with its roots from the end of the war in Paris when people were hunting collaborators and re-patriating French jewish survivors.
Did Olivia's grandmother really kill someone or is she confusing events and can Olivia a mind therapist unravel the mystery whilst coming to terms with her own tragic past.
Good read with events taking place in a different setting.

I loved Anna O so was excited to get into A murder in Paris! I liked the writing and how the story didn’t stale at all, just kept pushing through and intrigued me with the diverse cast of characters their interactions.
I was so intrigued by the premise of this book and it honestly was so much better than I expected it to be it is an incredible read. There wasn't anything I disliked about this book. the writing style and format was good and engaged me the whole way along, the storyline was absolutely riveting and thought provoking. I couldn't put it down and I can't stop thinking about it. I will never stop recommending this book.

Such a brilliantly woven story that switches between the end of war in Paris and the present time. Psychotherapist Dr Olivia Finn, a specialist in memory recovery,, is copin̈g with her French grand mother's dementia. The grand Lutetia hotel features in both the past and the present. A very enjoyable read.

Another great book by this author with great writing . It was full of intrigue and plenty of twists and turns . Fantastic story and characters based on the present time and going back to the Second World War . I definitely would recommend anyone reads this book and give it 5 stars .

A fantastic fast paced thriller full of unexpected twists that kept me up all night reading, my only complaint? I didn't want it to end, love the different perspectives and this is the first time I've read a thriller where I'd like certain characters to get their own spin off/history/backstory, highly recommend! Love this author and always know I'm in for a treat!

A Murder in Paris
By Mathew Blake
*****
Unusually words fail me. Was it good? Excellent. Were the characters and story believable? Without doubt. Has it made me think about the cost of being alive in ww2 France - or any occupied country? Most definitely.

This is a hard book to read as a Baby Boomer. Born not long after that war, we grew up with the lived experiences of parents during it and the deprivation that followed the end. This book has had a profound impact and I would recommend it to my friends of a similar age.

One of the best thrillers I read last year was Anna O. So, I was really excited to be given the chance to read Matthew Blake’s latest thriller - A Murder in Paris.

This is another edge of your seat thriller which keeps you guessing right to the very end. I devoured the book in a day because I just had to get to the bottom of the story. It’s illuminating, emotional and thought-provoking and is a very tight thriller.

Without wanting to give anything away and ruin the experience for readers - it’s quite tricky to review. The book unfolds from multiple points of view and has a strand set in the present day and an historical strand set in Paris immediately after the end of the war, which had a nice rhythm to it. I found the historical strand absolutely fascinating, as it centres at the Hotel Lutetia which was used as a repatriation centre for France’s Jewish Community who were sent to concentration camps and other deportees.

After reading this book, I’ve gone to research the Hotel Lutetia and other themes raised in the book because I found it all so interesting. I really can’t wait to read Matthew Blake’s next book.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Harper Collins, for making this e-ARC available to me to read in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book grips you from the very first page and doesn’t let go as heart-wrenching as it is thrilling. It was razor-sharp, with each twist landing like a gut punch, keeping you breathless until the final, jaw-dropping revelation!

It was an emotional rollercoaster that will haunt you long after you turn the last page… Outstanding!! It kept me glued to the pages wanting to find out more! There were plenty of twists that I didn’t see coming, and one of them gave me goosebumps! Loved it!

I stayed up way past when I should have gone to bed, as I was hooked from the very first page.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ stars!

I can’t give any of the plot away without ruining what a must read this book is.
I devoured it in one sitting.
I really liked the dual narrative and hearing different perspectives.
A huge thanks to the publisher for inviting me to read this book.
It’s fantastic, if I could award never ending stars , I surely would.
Read this book. You won’t regret it.
#Netgalley #AMurderInParis

Wonderful! A great story, moving, interesting, great characters & full of twists. My only criticism would be that it finished too soon - more could have been made of the Ingrid Fox story & possible Bly more about Olivia’s time in therapy. It might be possible too to expand on the time in Auswitz & working in the Resistance. I did enjoy the writing & the story.