annieb123's Review of Clock Struck Murder (Lost in Paris, #2)

by Betty Webb

Expat Zoe Barlow has settled well into her artist’s life among the Lost Generation in 1920s Paris. When a too-tipsy guest at her weekly poker game breaks Zoe’s favorite clock, she’s off to a Montparnasse flea market to bargain with the vendor Laurette for a replacement. What Zoe didn’t bargain for was the lost Chagall painting that’s been used like a rag to wrap her purchases! Eager to learn whether Laurette has more Chagalls lying about like trash, Zoe sets off to track her down at her storage shed. With no Laurette in sight, Zoe snoops around and indeed finds several additional Chagalls—and then she finds Laurette herself, dead beneath a scrap heap, her beautiful face bashed in.

With Paris hosting the 1924 Summer Olympics, the police are far too busy with tourist-related crimes to devote much time to the clock seller’s murder. After returning the paintings to a grateful Marc Chagall, Zoe begins her own investigation. Did the stolen paintings play any part in the brutal killing? Or was it a crime of passion? Zoe soon discovers that there were many people who had reason to resent the lovely Laurette. But who hated the girl enough to stop her clock permanently? When Zoe discovers a second murder victim, the pressure is on to find the killer before time—and luck—run out.

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Clock Struck Murder is the second Lost in Paris historical mystery by Betty Webb featuring amateur sleuth and American expat artist Zoe Barlow set in 1920s Paris. Released 9th April 2024 by Sourcebooks on their Poisoned Pen Press imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.

Set against the backdrop of the 1924 Olympic games in Paris, expat Zoe is resourceful, intelligent, and plucky. She's surviving as best she can, but life as an artist is fraught and rarely affluent in the long term. She's again drawn into investigating a murder, this time a stallholder at a local outdoor street market.

MC Zoe is somewhat morally ambiguous (she's sleeping with a married man whose disabled wife she knows and reads to). The author herself is knowledgeable about the Paris of the 20's and much of the background research makes it into the book which makes it occasionally feel a bit cluttered and chaotic.

Overall however, it's well rendered and engaging, with complex characters and a mystery interwoven with real life historical events.

Three and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Reading updates

17 August, 2024: Started reading

17 August, 2024: Finished reading

17 August, 2024: Reviewed