The Paris Mysteries by James Patterson with Maxine Paetro | Audiobook Review

(I like the covers on the 2nd and 3rd books better than the hardcover cover of the 1st.  Much easier to hand these covers to guys and gals.)

I love these books!  They all seem too short to me.  I expected nothing less from The Paris Mysteries, and it did not disappoint.

(Oh, and an aside:  you may want to read Confessions of a Murder Suspect and The Private School Murders before this, or there may be spoilers.)

After leaving NYC nearly destitute (or so they thought), the Angel family has taken up residence in their deceased Gram Hilda's mansion in Paris.  (Yes, Paris.  Yay for setting!)  Some rigorous research has reunited Tandy with James, her first and current love.  After only one short night together, they are again broken apart by James' father, Royal, who is intent not only on keeping his son away from the Angels, but also intent on taking over Angel Pharmaceuticals for his own profit.  With one of Gram Hilda's will requirements being that the Angel kids all behave and keep out of the public eye, will the Angels be able to hold on to their inheritance?  Or will they lose it within months with their detective antics around Paris?

This latest installment in the Confessions series is a little less straightforward and little more intense and quite a bit more mature than the previous titles.  Less straightforward:  there isn't a distinct murder to solve in this one.  Instead, Tandy is now investigating the background to Angel Pharmaceuticals; her parents' medicinal developments and the affects on the test subjects; and Royal's motives for keeping her and James apart.  More intense:  this isn't a very lengthy book, and it is chock full of action!  I listened to it on CD, and it was only 4 CDs long.  Within this short book, there are multiple attempts on Tandy's and her family's lives.  This is not for the faint of heart!  More mature:  Tandy and James are together together, and there's references to other characters being together together, alongside references to drugs.  And I know this is just a cultural difference, but Tandy drinks very moderately while in Paris.  There's no description of the behind-bedroom-doors action, just mention that it happened.  Still, I'd recommend this to older teens.

And finally, the narration:  it was ok.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as great as I'd hoped.  The reader sounded a bit "old" for the part, and the reading sounded more rehearsed than authentic.  All that aside, the cadence was comfortable and the annunciation was clear.

I had to look:  and YES, there's a 4th Confessions book in the works!  Due out in October 2015!  Woo hoo!

*I checked out my copy of The Paris Mysteries from my local library, and I suggest you follow suit!