The Paris Affair

A strong plot propels Grant’s third Regency mystery featuring the husband-and-wife spy team of Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch (after 2012’s Imperial Scandal). In a Paris tavern, two months after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, Malcolm, in his role as attaché to the British embassy, meets with a French double agent who once served Bonaparte and fears arrest by the Bourbons, Antoine, Comte de Rivère, while Suzanne makes the most of her physical charms to distract the tavern’s other customers. The count not only demands safe passage out of the country but a pension and two residences, threatening to reveal something damning if his terms aren’t met. Before Malcolm can learn more about a secret that would make the Duke of Wellington accede to the outrageous terms, a fight breaks out. In the resulting tumult, someone stabs Rivère to death. Back at the British embassy, the duke charges both Rannochs to find the truth. Grant nicely blends the political machinations of the time with the murder investigation. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary Agency. (Apr.)