Strangled in Paris is the sixth novel in the Victor Legris Mystery Series. In this novel, set in Paris, there are several murders where well-dressed, seemingly wealthy but actually poor women are brutally strangled. Pendants featuring the Black Unicorn Society (an organization devoted to finding the philosopher's stone) are left at the scenes. Victor Legris is asked by an acquaintance to solve the murders.

Francophiles everywhere have been enjoying these mysteries which are excellent, and this sixth novel is the best yet. Victor is a likeable character and is well-developed; his skills are surprising, and are just what is needed to solve these horrible crimes. Anyone who has been to Paris will appreciate that even though the novel is circa 1890s, it is true-to-form even now (Modern Paris hasn’t lost its old historical allure). Those who haven’t been to Paris will see that this novel is very charming and it will make them want to book a flight to Paris.

Izner’s writing is excellent, albeit very French, and he captures the ambience of Paris. He exhibits a witty and fun style that will appeal to those who don’t take their novels too seriously but expect a good story and dénouement.

This series is highly recommended; readers will enjoy Strangled in Paris and will immediately want to read the remaining books in the series. There is plenty of building suspense, as well as surprises. Victor is the perfect protagonist for this series, and Izner has outdone himself in this sixth installment.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This was a good mystery with old fashioned sleuthing. It was not a page turner but it was enjoyable.
Many thanks to Gallic Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This series, unfortunately, has never caught my imagination or fully captured my attention - this one especially felt like homework. Why? I have no idea - perhaps the florid dialogue? It's a solid, final pass for me.

VERDICT: Nice evocation of the setting, but too convoluted and many characters to be fully enjoyable.

I was thrilled to finally try this series by two popular French authors (Claude Izner being their pen name).
Plus, Strangled in Paris takes place in mostly in Paris, obviously, during La Belle Époque, and Victor Legris, the investigator asked to solve the murder of a young woman, is a book-seller! What is not to love here!
I really enjoyed the evocation of the period and of Paris at the time (of the sea as well at the beginning of the book).
It was fun to meet again some real people I bumped into while reading Occult Paris, and The Black Unicorn Society totally fit in the context. Related to this, some scenes were delightfully spooky.
But the plot is quite convoluted and the ending disappointing. There are a lot of characters and it took me a while to get familiar with who is who and what the connections between them are. I also got quickly annoyed by the investigators trying to elucidate the mystery while hiding everything from their wives.
Maybe it is that starting with volume 6 was definitely not a smart move. I can admit that.
But as I have now read similar complaints coming from readers of volume 1, this is not too encouraging, and I don’t think I’ll make more efforts with this series, unless you manage to convince me.