Set in 1970’s Glasgow and Paris this quirky little mystery is a perfect Sunday afternoon read. Màiri Maguire is a plucky Scots Irish school teacher who makes an uncharacteristically spontaneous decision to take a teaching post in Istanbul with a stopover holiday in Paris. As the title suggests, its in Paris that things go awry and she and her best friend Lianna get embroiled in a murder mystery.

This story is very much in the vein of MC Beaton with an interesting twisty mystery plot that manages to be both dark and lighthearted at the same time. Màiri is no Agatha Raisin, she is bit school-marmish and can be rather old fashioned. She's desperate to find a good English tea and doesn’t appreciate the French way of conducting criminal investigation. But despite being sheltered, she has a childlike wonder at discovering new places that I found endearing.

Although this novella is brief, it is able to firmly establish itself in a time and place. At times it almost felt like the author actually wrote this in 1970s Paris. We are given passing glimpses of the political and cultural climate of the time that add richness and color to the main mystery plot.

Despite its short length, I found that the beginning was both slow to start and jumped around a bit too much. The author gives us little vignettes of Màiri’s life in Glasgow and journey down to Paris, but some of these flashes go by too quickly or not explained in enough detail. However, the story picks up and the mystery becomes quite engrossing once Màiri gets to Paris.

I found that Màiri’s observations about the side characters, some of whom are hilarious, to be the highlight of the book. “The Major is a dangerous lunatic, but he’s right” had to be one of the funniest opening lines for a chapter I have read in a long time. It is clear from the ending that there are more adventures in store for Ms. Maguire and although this book had a rough start, I am looking forward to finding out what will happen next.