Susanne Alleyn

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Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur [March 2006]
List: US$23.95
ISBN-13: 9780312343639
ISBN-10: 0312343639

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Paris, 1796. Aristide Ravel, freelance undercover police agent and investigator, is confronted with a double murder in a fashionable apartment. The victims are Célie Montereau, the daughter of a wealthy and influential family, and the man who was blackmailing her.

A friend of Célie's, Rosalie Clément, an enigmatic, bitter young woman, provides Aristide with intelligence that steers him toward a young man, Philippe Aubry. Aubry has a violent past and was in love with Célie, but further inquiry reveals that--according to an eyewitness--he cannot have been her murderer.

As time passes, Aristide finds himself reluctantly falling in love with Rosalie, although he suspects that she knows more about the murders than she will say. From the gritty back alleys of Paris to its glittering salons and cafés, through the heart of the feverish, decadent society of postrevolutionary France, Aristide’s investigation leads him into a puzzle involving hidden secrets, crimes of passion, and long-nurtured hatreds.

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"Susanne Alleyn's Game of Patience is a well-crafted historical mystery, authentic in every detail. Wonderfully entertaining."
--Sandra Gulland, author, The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.

"An engrossing, richly detailed whodunit set in edgy, post-revolutionary Paris . . . I was riveted."
--Karen Harper, author, The Fatal Fashione and The Last Boleyn

"Post-revolutionary Paris is the setting for this sophisticated and stylish novel, a true mystery, penned by American author Susanne Alleyn, who creates the atmosphere of those pre-Napoleonic days that challenges the skills of Caleb Carr of The Alienist fame."
--Big Sleep Books

"This book satisfies on many levels."
--The Poisoned Pen Bookstore (April 2006 History/​Mystery pick)

Alleyn returns to postrevolutionary Paris in her second novel, a taut police procedural. ... Full of authentic historical detail, ranging from the rise of General Bonaparte to the antics of flamboyant incroyables, the story builds to an emotionally charged climax....
--Publishers Weekly


The Paris of 1796 comes alive in Alleyn’s fast-paced novel. Readers will be surprised by the ending, with its twisted scenario of rape and revenge.
--The Historical Novels Review


To take the measure of Alleyn’s writing, one would have to go past today’s fine mystery writers and reach back to three great whodunit writers of the first half of the 20th century--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, G.K. Chesterton and Agatha Christie. ... The novel is riveting along its circuitous route and startling denouement. It goes forward, backward, sideward and nearly upside down in its intense cliffhanger brilliance. ... Aristide Ravel, the undercover police agent, is the kind of charismatic, intensely human detective that is central to all good mystery writing. So good indeed, that one wishes for a series of Ravel novels from Alleyn’s pen.
--Register Star/​Hudson Valley Newspapers


... Grounded by a complex, haunted hero, the suspense in this layered mystery builds slowly but reaches a breakneck speed.
--Booklist


... This is a true puzzle mystery, with the detective reexamining the facts several times until the solution is found. Alleyn knows her French Revolution, creates a complex brain-teaser of a mystery, and excels in making her characters believable. In short, this book has everything; recommended.
--Library Journal

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Game of Patience opens in 1796 post-revolutionary Paris. A police "investigator" (as he prefers to be called, rather than an informer or a spy) by the name of Aristide Ravel is called upon to assist in solving a double murder case. The two victims, an extortionist named Saint-Ange, and a respectable young woman, Celie Montereau, at first appear to have no connection. As Ravel begins his investigation, searching for clues and interrogating witnesses, he unravels a case far more complicated than what he originally suspected.

The synopsis I just gave barely touches upon the plot of the book, but as is the case with many mysteries, it's tough to give an accurate overview without giving away the story. To avoid spoiling the entire book for any potential readers, we'll just leave it at that, and focus on my opinions of the work.

It took me a while to warm up to this story. The language is a bit rough for those of us who don't speak a word of French. Not that there is an overwhelming amount of French vocabulary included in the story, but rather it's the foreign names and places that are involved in the plot that I got hung up on. It's hard (for me at least) to envision a place that I can't envision pronouncing accurately. Once I got past that however, I got sucked into a who done it murder mystery that had me pretty baffled until the end.

Alleyn is an expert on French history and culture, that much is blatantly obvious from reading this book. She weaves her knowledge in skillfully, and is able to transport her readers to another place and time as they read. One that to many readers, is completely new and alien, yet they will quickly begin to feel at home there, as I did. There are several characters that we become intimately acquainted with throughout the story; a few are quite endearing, while others are basically revolting.

Without giving much away, I do have to say that the ending of this book is one of the most satisfying endings I've read in a while. All loose ends are wrapped up into a tight bow, and all unanswered questions are at last explained. The reasoning and logic included at the end of the story make the entire book worthwhile...it's a perfect ending to an all around good read.
-- "Book of the Moment," MySpace.com book reviewer