Interview with Cara Black, author of Murder in the Palais Royal
Great news for Cara Black fans: her tenth Aimée Leduc mystery debuts today. Murder in the Palais Royal takes Aimée to the decayed aristocratic Palais Royal in Paris and back in time to a crime she discovered in Murder in the Marais, her first investigation.
In Murder in the Palais Royal, private investigator Aimée Leduc is framed for shooting her own partner, and soon she’s tangled up in a complex mystery involving money laundering, blackmail, an unresolved crime from long ago, and a new police detective who’s got his eye on her in more ways than one.
Each of your books focus on a particular arrondissement or neighborhood of Paris. What drew you to the Palais Royal as a setting for a novel?
Do you remember the 1963 film Charade with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant? The shootout scene with Walter Mathau took place in the shadowy arcades of the Palais Royal and I think ever since I saw that film—I was very young—I imagined a scene set there with someone looking wonderful in Givenchy and in danger. But ever since I first visited the Palais Royal in person I was hooked. The decayed aristocratic feel, the quiet oasis in the middle of Paris tucked close to the Louvre, the history, the fact that Colette, my favorite writer, lived there also pulled me to writing about this almost little ‘village’ in Paris.
The characters in the book come from a broad cross-section of French society, ranging from maids to ministers. How do you learn the details of Parisians’ private lives?
Eavesdropping in cafes and busses helps. My French friends are so wonderful and introduce me to contacts—often it’s the friend of their brother-in-law or their dentist’s cousin who lives in the district or works in that field and in France it’s all about the introductions. Sometimes I get amazing introductions to people I would never ever have met and they love to talk about what they do. Over the years I’ve met police, private detectives, and cafe owners and I nourish those relationships over bottles of wine and encourage them to talk, help me get the details, the nuances right. A retired Brigade Criminelle inspector who was in charge of the Princess Diana investigation has been so helpful, he tells me he wants me to get it ‘right’ and spends hours talking to me, telling what is plausible, or would happen in an investigation and I’ve even had to rewrite scenes to get it right.
Does the French police force differ much from the American?
They’re very different. Part of the French police force is run by the Ministry of the Interior and another part is run by the Ministry of Defense. It’s been explained to me many times but it’s still confusing. To make it simple, Paris has its own police headquartered at the Prefecture on 36 Quai des Orfevres where the fictional Inspector Maigret had an office. The elite homicide squad, the Brigade Criminelle, is based there along with the major crimes unit, the fingerprint section, and a small lab. The local Commissariats, neighborhood police stations, handle lesser crimes and refer the bigger cases and most homicides to 36.
What are your favorite places in Paris?
I’d say the Ile Saint Louis where Aimée my detective has a 17th century apartment on the river, because I would like to live there. I love the village feeling of Menilmontant near Belleville where locals live and you stand next to the butcher and a businessman at the cafe counter and everyone talks together. The Palais Royal garden surrounded by the old arcades has a special feeling; it’s a haven of peace with layers of history.
The mystery surrounding Aimée’s mother is very intriguing. Can you tell us a little about that? Will it be explored further in the next book?
I wish I could but I don’t know what will happen. Yes, I think we’ll find out more about Aimée’s mother, there might be some revelations…:)
Which arrondissement is next?
The 16th arrondissement is next. This arrondissement wasn’t incorporated into Paris until the late 1800s and is composed of old villages that were in the countryside. Balzac escaped his creditors there and hid in a house, now his museum, and wrote as fast as he could to pay his bills.
Thank you, Cara! Cara’s book tour for Murder in the Palais Royal began March 1st with a book launch at M is for Mystery in San Mateo. To find out where and when she’ll be appearing next, go to Cara’s web site, www.carablack.com.
You can also visit Cara on Facebook or on Twitter @carablack or Tuesdays on her blog with crime writers from different corners of the world at http://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com
