Cara Black: Passion for Paris In her setting-centric novels, bestselling mystery author Cara Black shows the seamier side of the City of Light.

BY SHARON MCDONNELL

n her 18 mysteries starring female was inspired by a French friend who what I would do to protect him detective Aimée Leduc, a private showed her a house in the historic and survive”—a theme reflected in investigator who owns a computer Jewish quarter where her mother, at the novel. I security firm, Cara Black tackles age 14, lived alone after her family At the time she was writing her Paris one neighborhood at a time. was deported to a concentration camp. debut, computers were not yet the Jam-packed with delicious insider The building concierge had helped research-friendly resources we know details about each arrondissement the teenage girl with food and coal for today. Black had to learn about the (administrative district), her travelogue- heating, while the concierge’s police- neighborhood she was portraying by like novels—a delight for Francophiles— man son didn’t turn the girl in, even writing letters in French and awaiting explore themes that range from though French police were rounding replies by mail, and later by contacting Vichy France to Balkan War crimi- up Jews for the Nazis. A decade after the press office for the Paris police. nals, from human trafficking to, in her Black visited the house, she started When she began writing about June release, Murder on the Left Bank, writing her debut, Murder in the Leduc—her sardonic, fashion- Cambodian Khmer Rouge refugees. Marais, published in 1999 after almost conscious young detective who zooms The New York Times bestselling four years of writing. In the book, around on a pink Vespa scooter— author has a knack for teasing out local scenes toggle between modern-day there were only three licensed female stories, from police officers to café Paris (where an elderly Jewish woman private investigators in all of Paris, owners. Each book in her catalog is is murdered and Neo-Nazis are active) Black says. So Black interviewed one, based on a real-life account she’s either and the midst of World War II. as well as a female American computer heard or read. “People tell me things Why did it take her 10 years to carry security consultant she’d read about in and I think, What if? Once I hear a out the tale? Her mindset changed: a local newspaper, back when few such nugget, I probe,” says Black, who cites “In 1984, I had no children. [Then] firms existed. curiosity as her best trait. in the 90s, I had a young son. As a Black starts each novel by picking For example, Black’s first book mother, I felt differently, and wondered an arrondissement, and then a crime LAURA SKAYHAN BLACK PHOTO ©

16 I WRITER’S DIGEST I September 2018 that reflects the type of people who lived in Paris, Black was inspired to live and work there. Thus art theft is pen Murder on the Champ de Mars, the primary crime in Murder Below in which a French Roma falls in love Montparnasse, which depicts the arty with someone from the posh 7th neighborhood in which Picasso and arrondissement, the city’s most elegant Gauguin once had studios. The Bastille neighborhood. Says Black: “They’re has a history of artisan woodworking, both closed societies who don’t let which is why a main character in people in, so it fit.” Murder in the Bastille is a carpenter. The To conduct research, she joined a setting itself becomes a character, as Roma cultural center in Paris, where each arrondissement has a different fla- she immersed herself in the popula- vor. “Something [in a location]appeals tion, and managed to talk to some to me,” she says, “and I think about what of Reinhardt’s descendants. She even crime would be organic there.” visited a community just outside of Black has no journalism or law Paris where many Roma live in camps. Agency—a real, female-owned firm enforcement background, but the Because the group is typically afraid of where the fictional Leduc agency is affable ex-nursery school teacher— outsiders, Black had to take her time, headquartered in her books. Every who visits Paris twice a year for several easing her way in through connections night, fans meet up with Black to hear weeks—has superb listening skills. and demonstrating good will. about her favorite Paris finds. Much of her research is hands-on, “It’s about working every angle,” she The idea for novel-centric tours getting into places because she “knows says. The ever-curious Black once began when a Washington, D.C., someone who knows someone.” This asked a cop why he talked to her. His genial nature has allowed her access reply: “Because you bring good wine bookstore, Politics and Prose—which to parts of the city that most tourists and I want you to get it right.” leads regular author tours of Europe— don’t get to experience—such as going While Black speaks French (she asked Black to host one. Now that it down into the underground quarries attended a French Catholic school has become a regular endeavor, she and sewers, roaming Sainte-Chapelle in the Bay Area, where a homework co-sponsors trips with a Paris resident. at night with a fireman after closing, assignment to read Elle in French Black has even offered sweepstakes to or visiting a police firing range after accounts for her vast knowledge bring lucky readers to France with her. having coffee with a policeman. To of French pop culture trivia, which Despite her knowledge of Paris, she round out her research, Black also never fails to impress her sources), admits: “I’m always an outsider. Which joins local historical societies (invalu- she says, “My schoolgirl French didn’t in a way is good, because I’m attuned able for their wealth of materials cut it in modern French argot, so to details that wouldn’t strike a Parisian and documents about their district), I’ve had to re-learn to understand who sees them everyday.” attends symposiums, reads books by Parisians who speak bullet-fast with Her mysteries reveal the noir side Honoré de Balzac and Émile Zola (as lots of slang. I read it much better.” of the City of Light. But what else well as historical accounts of people To further emphasize the role set- would you expect from an author who lived in each arrondissement), ting plays in her stories, Black engages named Black? WD and visits the Police Archives and with readers during her regular trips Bibliothéque Mazarine, a magnificent to Paris by offering tours of the city Sharon McDonnell is a San Francisco-

LAURA SKAYHAN 17th-century public library. (which you can learn more about at based freelance writer whose articles have After a musician friend urged her carablack.com/events). Travelers visit appeared in Travel + Leisure, Fodors.com, to write about Django Reinhardt, the murder locations from Black’s novels, Napa Valley Register, Dallas Morning News

BLACK PHOTO © famous Gypsy jazz guitarist who along with the Duluc Detective and in-flight publications.

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