I breezed through this over two days because the story moved along at a comfortably fast pace and I wanted to know what would happen next. This is one of the many books, recommended by What Should I Read Next, that were slotted under the "mysteries involving books or bookshops" moniker, which tickled both my interests - mysteries and book shops.

This is my first Hugo Marston mystery and my first Mark Pryor book, and I liked it. What appealed was that Hugo Marston makes mistakes and he is a bit rusty on some of the skills he developed as an FBI agent but that aren't needed as the Head of Security for the American Ambassador and Embassy in Paris.

In other words, while he does rush in and save the day, he is figuring things out as he goes. That is where his friend Tom comes in, a retired buddy from the States who is former CIA. They make an entertaining team, Hugo rusty on some of his skills and Tom rusty on his body condition, being a bit out of shape from insufficient activity and too much booze. Hugo bounces ideas off of Tom, and Tom is good at, among other things, helping Hugo clarify his thinking.

No idea if some of the other characters join them in the next book but, not wanting to leave them out, the two that spring to mind as possible repeats are Claudia (a journalist) and Capitaine Garcia (with the French police). Not saying more about either of them so as to not give away any spoilers.